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Show HN: Firefox extension to obfuscate web page text

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Show HN: Firefox extension to obfuscate web page text

#1

Post by Vinnl »

Sometimes you might want to share a screenshot of the website you're on, without revealing the personal data that is visible at that time. With Obfuscate, you can make text unreadable without changing the structure of the web page.

Hit the extension button or press Alt+Shift+O to activate for the current page.

(Note that extensions can't modify the add-on website, so trying it on there won't work.)

Credit for the original idea: https://chaos.social/@maris/108379386421123630

Show HN: Firefox extension to obfuscate web page text
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Re: Show HN: Firefox extension to obfuscate web page text

#3

Post by progbits »

Nice idea!

Looks like spaces are preserved, and the bar lengths seem to match the world length. Is that the case? I didn't measure it precisely and didn't check the source code.

If so you might want to add some random noise. Sometimes it might be possible to reconstruct parts of the text just based on the word lengths.

Re: Show HN: Firefox extension to obfuscate web page text

#5

Post by Vinnl »

Komodai wrote: post #2

No chrome?

Not yet, unfortunately, since Chrome broke compatibility with other browsers for new extensions.

(Specifically: it now mandates "Manifest V3" for new extensions, which Firefox is still implementing (it basically has to follow what Chrome is doing, given Chrome's reach). Once Manifest V3 works on more browsers, I should be able to relatively easily upgrade, and then support Chrome as well.)

Edit: oh, I should probably also add that I'm a Mozilla employee, but this is a personal project, and I'd have done the same if I hadn't been.

Re: Show HN: Firefox extension to obfuscate web page text

#7

Post by Vinnl »

progbits wrote: post #3

Nice idea! Looks like spaces are preserved, and the bar lengths seem to match the world length. Is that the case? I didn't measure it precisely and didn't check the source code. If so you might want to add some random noise. Sometimes it might be possible to reconstruct parts of the text just based on the word lengths.

Yep, really all it does is change the font! And blur images that have alt texts, which supposedly can also be reversible. Probably best not to use it for classified government docs :)

Re: Show HN: Firefox extension to obfuscate web page text

#8

Post by mkoryak »

progbits wrote: post #3

Nice idea! Looks like spaces are preserved, and the bar lengths seem to match the world length. Is that the case? I didn't measure it precisely and didn't check the source code. If so you might want to add some random noise. Sometimes it might be possible to reconstruct parts of the text just based on the word lengths.

If someone is going to reconstruct words in your screenshots, then you got problems that aren't going to be solved by any plugins

Re: Show HN: Firefox extension to obfuscate web page text

#10

Post by zeronine »

mkoryak wrote: post #8
progbits wrote: post #3

Nice idea! Looks like spaces are preserved, and the bar lengths seem to match the world length. Is that the case? I didn't measure it precisely and didn't check the source code. If so you might want to add some random noise. Sometimes it might be possible to reconstruct parts of the text just based on the word lengths.

If someone is going to reconstruct words in your screenshots, then you got problems that aren't going to be solved by any plugins

please elaborate
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