Ask HN: So what happened to Facebook "localhost" tracking?

Post by frictasolver » Fri, Jun 05, 2026, 9:27 AM UTC

netsharc wrote: post #81

htx80nerd wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

im failing to see the connection >standard pixel tracking, linked to meta (js , web) >Meta exploited Android's localhost (os level)

- Instagram/Facebook app listening on localhost port X. - A website running JS on the browser tries to connect to localhost port X. If it succeeds it's now talking to Zuck's app. - The JS can report whatever it wants to the app, and the app knows the identity of the browsing user, because ~100% of the time it's the user also logged into the app(s).

Post by woodrowbarlow » Fri, Jun 05, 2026, 12:57 PM UTC

hluska wrote: post #43

woodrowbarlow wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

that's definitely a big question and i don't pretend to have enough expertise to answer fully; however, i will point to the Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan which is (per Wikipedia[1]) "one of the world's largest institutional investors [...] over $266 billion in net assets, with a one-year total-fund net return of 9.4%, and a 7.4% 10-year total-fund net return". the union runs their own investment fund; it's an extens…

That is only a pension plan. It provides no insurance to teachers who are still employed.

Post by ChrisRR » Fri, Jun 05, 2026, 3:02 PM UTC

Retr0id wrote: post #48

applfanboysbgon wrote: post #4

> Meta must face a lawsuit alleging that it secretly tracked Android users' browsing activity on mobile websites that embedded Meta's analytics pixel, and linked that activity to users' identities, a federal judge ruled Monday. > The decision, issued by U.S. District Court Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco, grew out of a class-action complaint initially brought last June by California resident Devin Rose (and later joi…

Not at all to defend Meta but "a feature that allows software developers to test applications" is a dubious definition of localhost. I also can't come up with a better one.

Post by austin-cheney » Fri, Jun 05, 2026, 8:49 PM UTC

FuckButtons wrote: post #92

austin-cheney wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here is the explicit definition of localhost. The term "localhost" refers to the default entry in all modern operating system host files. By default modern operating systems provide a hosts file that provides domain name resolution without reliance upon the Domain Name System (DNS) protocol. By default these host files typically ship with one entry, a domain named "localhost" that points to IPv4 loopback interface 12…

Sure, but you lost the non technical audience by the end of the first sentence.

Post by woodrowbarlow » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 12:09 AM UTC

woodrowbarlow wrote: post #34

volkercraig wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Start one. Unions are worker owned. You could also join the IWW.

are there examples of unions that have started around a focus on the ethics of the services they provide? unions traditionally start locally, around issues for which the locality is a hotspot, which is why they usually focus on pay and working conditions. it's also easier to get a large group to agree on a set of improvements to working conditions vs a set of ethical boundaries.