Live data from Hacker News

LinkedIn checks for 2953 browser extensions

github.com

191–200 of 263 posts

Re: LinkedIn checks for 2953 browser extensions

#191

The list of extensions being scanned for are pretty clear and obvious. What is really interesting to me are the extensions _not_ being scanned for that should be. The big one that comes to mind is "Contact Out" which is scan-able, but LinkedIn seems to pretend like it doesn't exist? Smells like a deal happened behind the scenes... https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/email-finder-by-con...

interesting to see why they don't block Claude in chrome or even this: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/dassi-ai-coworking-...

Re: LinkedIn checks for 2953 browser extensions

#192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Just" have a database, and then what? I can set up a database of all UUIDs very easily, but I don't think it's helpful.

Where are you storing them, a black hole?

I would store them as offsets within the digits of pi.

Re: LinkedIn checks for 2953 browser extensions

#193
post #44

Looks like Firefox is immune. This works by looking for web accessible resources that are provided by the extensions. For Chrome, these are are available in a webpage via the URL chrome-extension://[PACKAGE ID]/[PATH] https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/manif... On Firefox, web accessible resources are available at "moz-extension:// /myfile.png" is not your extension's ID. This ID is randomly gener…

Anecdotally, I sometimes notice my computer fan spinning ferociously... it's almost always because I have left a firefox tab with linkedin open somewhere. Are they bit coin mining or are they just incompetent?

If the two are indeed "Linked", I see a case for users-first browsers to show system metrics right along the page.

Re: LinkedIn checks for 2953 browser extensions

#194

Skimming the list, looks like most extensions are for scraping or automating LinkedIn usage. Not surprising as there's money to be made with LinkedIn data. Scraping was a problem when I worked there, the abuse teams built some reasonably sophisticated detection & prevention, and it was a constant battle.

By looking the list it seems like it is not really “sophisticated”. It is just list based on names (if there is a “email” in the name). Majority of extensions do not even ask for permissions to access linkedin.com.

Re: LinkedIn checks for 2953 browser extensions

#195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just have a database of UUIDs. Seems pretty trivial to generate and sort as it's only 16 bytes each.

That's actually a bright idea! Have you ever thought about applying for VC funds? Once you deliver that, you can also think about a database of natural numbers!

But that has no moat. Anyone can generate a database of natural numbers using SOTA models.

Re: LinkedIn checks for 2953 browser extensions

#196
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, it's (re)randomised upon each restart, whew, thanks for the heads up edit: er, I think that that also suggests that I need to restart firefox more often...

Doing it on restart makes the mitigation de facto useless. How often do you have 10, 20, 30d (or even longer) desktop uptime these days? And no one is regularly restarting their core applications when their desktop is still up. Enjoy the fingerprinting.

You just need to open so many instances and tabs in each instance that it crashes every couple days

Re: LinkedIn checks for 2953 browser extensions

#197
post #44

Looks like Firefox is immune. This works by looking for web accessible resources that are provided by the extensions. For Chrome, these are are available in a webpage via the URL chrome-extension://[PACKAGE ID]/[PATH] https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/manif... On Firefox, web accessible resources are available at "moz-extension:// /myfile.png" is not your extension's ID. This ID is randomly gener…

It's ok, they can fingerprint you for using Firefox.

Re: LinkedIn checks for 2953 browser extensions

#199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chrome has become much worse than IE6. Microsoft was not in the business of tracking users and selling ads back then.

It certainly doesn’t feel like I have a worse UX, as a daily chrome user.

That's because you're not aware enough of being spied on at every single step you make. The issues are now more or less invisible (the tracking being more, and the lobotomized adblockers being less)

Re: LinkedIn checks for 2953 browser extensions

#200
LinkedIn has also started sending a great deal of spam:

  A $7.5B chip merger
  Pinterest prepares layoffs
  Healthcare premiums surge
  Autodesk to cut 7% of jobs
  Ozempic keeps getting cheaper
Since the "unsubscribe" link does not lead to a working page, this seems like a trivial violation of even what laughable protections CAN-SPAM alleges to offer.

And what's with some of these? Bad mouthing employers is an odd choice for a platform that makes its money from them? Or perhaps now all the revenue is ad derived?

Post reply on HN