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NSA tracks Google ads to find Tor users

cnet.com

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Re: NSA tracks Google ads to find Tor users

#21

Post by Intermernet »

Imagine the world without internet ads. Journalism wouldn't be a click bait race to the bottom, news would still be relatively unbiased, and the nsa would have one less massive vector to track you with.

I'm honestly just waiting for people to realise that online ads are the root cause of most of the things people complain about.

Fake news? Check

Surveillance state? Check

Screen addiction? Check

Lack of nuance in any debate? Check

Unsavoury geopolitical influence? Check

The advertising industry somehow manage to stay relevant, despite the fact that their business is literally the same as the dictionary definition of brain washing.

Ah well, old man yells at clouds...

Re: NSA tracks Google ads to find Tor users

#22

Post by sseagull »

squarefoot wrote: post #10
rbanffy wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not aware of any sandbox escape attack for the Tor browser, but I am no expert. If there is one, even limited, it’d probably be enough to figure out a way to track you down.

The only way to anonymize it enough, also defeating any attempt at cookie/malware injection to me would be to create a VM with the strict necessary to run Tor browser and clone it for single use, that is, a script that clones the VM, opens it, let you use Tor browser, then as you close the browser the VM is also closed and deleted. The script could also create the next VM changing bits here and there for added anonym…

This is largely the motivation for TAILS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tails_(operating_system)

And also Whonix: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whonix

Using the DVD image in a VM would largely suffice for most users. For even more security, you would use the live image on a throwaway laptop at a coffee shop or something, but that's not exactly practical for everyday use.

Re: NSA tracks Google ads to find Tor users

#24

Post by pona-a »

jmclnx wrote: post #4

Yet another reason to purge cookies often :) Everytime I log into a site that I want to buy something from, I always clear cache, cookies, logins before and after using that site. Yes it can be a PITA, but I think that stops other sites from looking to see what WEB sites you really care about.

Firefox has an old slightly broken feature that wipes all cookies, except from a set of origins you whitelist. It actually saved me about half a gigabyte of pure cookie nonsense and made website loading quite a bit faster. Soon after I set it up, they announced their third-party cookie sandboxing, but I still think there's no reason to keep all the adtech trash on your computer in any capacity.

about:preferences -> Privacy & Security -> Cookies and Site Data -> [x] Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed -> Manage Exceptions

Just don't forget to back up your `~/.mozilla/firefox/*.default-release/cookies.sqlite*` beforehand.

Re: NSA tracks Google ads to find Tor users

#25

Post by wslh »

Intermernet wrote: post #21

Imagine the world without internet ads. Journalism wouldn't be a click bait race to the bottom, news would still be relatively unbiased, and the nsa would have one less massive vector to track you with. I'm honestly just waiting for people to realise that online ads are the root cause of most of the things people complain about. Fake news? Check Surveillance state? Check Screen addiction? Check Lack of nuance in any…

But ads are an inevitable effect, no matter if they are online or "offline", except if you think that ads should be prohibited which would turn to a different discussion.

Re: NSA tracks Google ads to find Tor users

#26

Post by samstave »

Intermernet wrote: post #21

Imagine the world without internet ads. Journalism wouldn't be a click bait race to the bottom, news would still be relatively unbiased, and the nsa would have one less massive vector to track you with. I'm honestly just waiting for people to realise that online ads are the root cause of most of the things people complain about. Fake news? Check Surveillance state? Check Screen addiction? Check Lack of nuance in any…

[flagged]

Re: NSA tracks Google ads to find Tor users

#27

Post by tqi »

Intermernet wrote: post #21

Imagine the world without internet ads. Journalism wouldn't be a click bait race to the bottom, news would still be relatively unbiased, and the nsa would have one less massive vector to track you with. I'm honestly just waiting for people to realise that online ads are the root cause of most of the things people complain about. Fake news? Check Surveillance state? Check Screen addiction? Check Lack of nuance in any…

How would removing ads help with any of that stuff? Desire for power and influence are not byproducts of ads.

Re: NSA tracks Google ads to find Tor users

#28

Post by talldayo »

Intermernet wrote: post #21

Imagine the world without internet ads. Journalism wouldn't be a click bait race to the bottom, news would still be relatively unbiased, and the nsa would have one less massive vector to track you with. I'm honestly just waiting for people to realise that online ads are the root cause of most of the things people complain about. Fake news? Check Surveillance state? Check Screen addiction? Check Lack of nuance in any…

I don't have to imagine it, every device I browse the web on has uBlock Origin and I've refused to use anything else for the past 5 years.

Re: NSA tracks Google ads to find Tor users

#29

Post by greenavocado »

tqi wrote: post #27
Intermernet wrote: post #21

Imagine the world without internet ads. Journalism wouldn't be a click bait race to the bottom, news would still be relatively unbiased, and the nsa would have one less massive vector to track you with. I'm honestly just waiting for people to realise that online ads are the root cause of most of the things people complain about. Fake news? Check Surveillance state? Check Screen addiction? Check Lack of nuance in any…

How would removing ads help with any of that stuff? Desire for power and influence are not byproducts of ads.

Ads are an assault on the mind

Re: NSA tracks Google ads to find Tor users

#30

Post by pinewurst »

samstave wrote: post #26
Intermernet wrote: post #21

Imagine the world without internet ads. Journalism wouldn't be a click bait race to the bottom, news would still be relatively unbiased, and the nsa would have one less massive vector to track you with. I'm honestly just waiting for people to realise that online ads are the root cause of most of the things people complain about. Fake news? Check Surveillance state? Check Screen addiction? Check Lack of nuance in any…

[flagged]

This is a three hour advertorial for antipsychotic drugs presented as two homeless crazies waiting for a bus.

I actually thought Thiel was more coldly rational than this nonsense, so I appreciate the enlightenment after reading the transcript.

Note/Disclaimer: I have sufficient Gates Foundation inner knowledge to know this is just nuts.

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