Instagram can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser

Post by andix » Wed, Aug 10, 2022, 9:20 PM UTC

upupandup wrote: post #290

andix wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First Instagram is not a browser. And second the browser manufacturer (usually) doesn’t make any money by tracking their users. They provide them with a tool, a browser. There is the browser Brave, that replaces ads on websites (and makes some profit with that), and there are some serious legal issues coming with that.

My god...you are like the 8th inactive HN user I saw that suddenly springs into action to suggest Brave or post links to Brave I think we can see whats really going on here. Any chance to drop or mention Brave, after not being active for weeks or months, suddenly congregate to push Brave browser Dang really needs to do something about this type of astroturfing

Post by tablespoon » Wed, Aug 10, 2022, 9:24 PM UTC

bigfudge wrote: post #242

smoldesu wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or maybe... just don't give your kids an iPhone? Seriously, using the internet/computers should be treated with the same level of caution as grown-up scissors or fillet knives; powerful tools, but they need training to avoid hurting yourself with them. If this is what you're worried about, why are you even giving them a small computer in the first place? Your kids will always be more cunning than your security policy…

Says someone who doesn’t have kids. I really don’t think it’s a big empathetic leap to imagine that young teens would want to take part in the modern world, and that includes some access to the internet. And no, constant supervision is not an appropriate answer. Teens will want to research some things without their parents’ knowledge. That’s normal. But it doesn’t mean that we should throw our hands in the air and ma…

Post by zionic » Wed, Aug 10, 2022, 9:26 PM UTC

dilDDoS wrote: post #47

I generally don't see any appeal to in-app browsers in the first place. They often have extremely broken navigation controls (i.e. attempting to swipe back to a previous page usually just returns back to the app), block the ability to navigate to a specific URL, content blockers don't work, don't allow opening "smart links" that would typically open in another app if opened from a normal browser, etc. From what I'm g…

Post by rightbyte » Wed, Aug 10, 2022, 9:31 PM UTC

l33t2328 wrote: post #13

pphysch wrote: post #4

Isn't this the main reason why social media pushes their apps over their (once) perfectly functional websites? Better analytics = better product*. * for the true customers, i.e. marketing & communication firms, governments, etc.

Why do you say “true customers”? Is anyone under the impression that they are a customer of a service they don’t pay for? People would readily identify as a “Twitter user” instead of a “Twitter customer”

Post by klabb3 » Wed, Aug 10, 2022, 9:35 PM UTC

eis wrote: post #281

They not only track very invasively what you are doing but they create real problems for websites because certain features wont work anymore. Be it due to them disabling them or third party services having to block their usage because of the huge privacy and data safety issue. Simple example: try to use "Login with Google" from within one of those in-app browsers and you will notice Google had to actively detect them…