Is there something I can use to randomly fuzz every tab individually as I browse the web?
They can track me through websites and I don't want that. Already using ublock origin.
Why is Stack Overflow trying to start audio?
91–100 of 416 posts
Re: Why is Stack Overflow trying to start audio?
#92I just wanted to chime in from Stack Overflow here and let people know: we are aware of the issue. And we're NOT okay with it. We're trying to sort out how to kill the audio behavior now. It's not very straightforward to find where it's coming from, but we are working on it. We've also reached out to Google for their assistance in tracking it down. If anyone can offer advice, we'll more than happily take it. - Nick C…
From the post:
"The ad is attempting to use the Audio API as one of literally hundreds of pieces of data it is collecting about your browser in an attempt to "fingerprint" it... Your browser may be blocking this particular API, but it's not blocking most of the data."
Seems like killing the audio is the metaphorical putting a finger in the dyke of serving arbitrary JavaScript to your users.
Re: Why is Stack Overflow trying to start audio?
#93And this is why, even with the best intentions of site operators, my browser will continue to use the best ad-block tools I can get, and my networks will be protected by tools like PiHole.
Re: Why is Stack Overflow trying to start audio?
#94I don’t get how it can get the fingerprint to be so unique as to attribute ads. Most mobile browsers are exactly the same, you have the same screen resolution and so on. And most desktop browsers when maximized are the same resolution. I mean there must be groups of thousands of users for each combination of fingerprinted features. So it’s not all the way down to the person, right? It’s just correlations?
No, it's not all the way down to the person. Yes, it's just correlations. Even if the fingerprint was so unique and it went down to 1 user, it wouldn't be able to actually identify that person's name etc.
The most likely use-case here is ad fraud detection anyway.
Re: Why is Stack Overflow trying to start audio?
#95Maybe it's to identify users behind a VPN as this is fingerprinting the device, not the connection. That's why I think the idea of running each site in a container is so effective. And while we're at it the container should just spit out random shit like different resolution, audio api, user agent, once in a while (unless the user turns it off) to thwart such attempts. Unfortunately when the creator and maintener of…
Use Brave.
Re: Why is Stack Overflow trying to start audio?
#96Has there been any serious thought / discussion about how the cat and mouse chase of the ads vs ad blockers is going to end? It would be interesting to see where we are in ten years.
I think ad blocking is a misnomer. What people are trying to do when blocking ads is prevent marketing people from spying on them. And the performance and resource consumption that comes from that. Personal opinion: Laws are needed to make what advertisers are doing illegal. Advertisers are spying on people to the extent where if the government did it they'd need a warrant.
Laws are not needed and will have unintended consequences. Technology is needed.
Re: Why is Stack Overflow trying to start audio?
#97I just wanted to chime in from Stack Overflow here and let people know: we are aware of the issue. And we're NOT okay with it. We're trying to sort out how to kill the audio behavior now. It's not very straightforward to find where it's coming from, but we are working on it. We've also reached out to Google for their assistance in tracking it down. If anyone can offer advice, we'll more than happily take it. - Nick C…
Why are you allowing arbitrary javascript to be served to your users?
Wish I could upvote this 1,000 times.
It's ridiculous. It's a text-based ad. At worst, it's a clickable image. At what point did it become okay in your minds to let advertisers run arbitrary code?
I've left ads turned on specifically on StackOverflow because 1) I want to support StackOverflow, and 2) I trust them not to run malicious ads.
I don't even care that they're running ads network-wide. But if they're going to be running these kinds of ads anywhere on the site, they're going right on the ad block list along with everyone else.
Re: Why is Stack Overflow trying to start audio?
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
They realized it was a risk so they built their own browser to have more control. And it worked. Only now, users are wising up and moving to Firefox.
Is firefox less fingerprintable?
I'm not an expert, but I'm running Firefox Nightly for exactly that reason.
https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases/2019/04/09/protectio...
Re: Why is Stack Overflow trying to start audio?
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes I thought about it that's why "unless the user turns it off" comment in parens. I think out of 100 sites I visit everyday no website needs to access the audio api without my consent maybe except one or two which i can whitelist. Same for user agent, I don't think it should break if the container says I'm running firefox v65 or v67, etc.
If websites had to ask permission to enable responsive features like screen size detection, then nobody would use them
Good! Then maybe they'll go back to writing normal html and let my user agent present it to me how I like and how my device best does
Re: Why is Stack Overflow trying to start audio?
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
They realized it was a risk so they built their own browser to have more control. And it worked. Only now, users are wising up and moving to Firefox.
Is firefox less fingerprintable?
Firefox has been putting a lot of attention to this area. https://blog.mozilla.org/firefox/how-to-block-fingerprinting...