Adblock Plus gives Facebook users a way to block its extended tracking efforts

Post by nfoz » Thu, Jun 26, 2014, 1:34 PM UTC

fchollet wrote: post #9

tech-no-logical wrote: post #4

and to all site owners moaning about people using adblock : this is why we can't have nice things. as long as policies like this exist, I'll block anything remotely able to track me.

It is very difficult to get somebody to understand something when they have some amount of income depending on not understanding it. Of course site owners are always going to stand behind the ad-supported model of the web, even though it creates all the wrong incentives for content creators and massively degrades the user experience. And generally, degrades the very value proposition of the web. (disclaimer: I run a…

Post by tokenizerrr » Thu, Jun 26, 2014, 2:11 PM UTC

zvrba wrote: post #33

daemonk wrote: post #17

Someone should make a plugin that actively sends facebook false tracking information along with your own.

I was seriously considering to make a browser plugin which would scrape pages for Google Analytics unique IDs, make a local database of them and randomly mix them up. Like this: 0. [page visited] 1. Does the page contain GA tracking ID? no: do nothing yes: add it to the database and replace it with another randomly chosen ID from the database

Post by king_jester » Thu, Jun 26, 2014, 2:24 PM UTC

nfoz wrote: post #61

fchollet wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is very difficult to get somebody to understand something when they have some amount of income depending on not understanding it. Of course site owners are always going to stand behind the ad-supported model of the web, even though it creates all the wrong incentives for content creators and massively degrades the user experience. And generally, degrades the very value proposition of the web. (disclaimer: I run a…

At least part of the problem is that we, as a society, have no idea how to fund the development of creative / digital works. We can't find good business models for this in general. I agree that ad-supported is terrible. But how else? I'm hopeful for donation-crowdfunding and simple, liquid micropayment options online. But I don't know that that could significantly displace ads.

Post by jdjb » Thu, Jun 26, 2014, 2:30 PM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #62

coldpie wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, it is AdBlock, not TrackingBlock. There are other extensions out there to help with that problem. Popular ones are NoScript (which improves the web in many more ways, as well) and Ghostery.

From as often as I hear people complaining on forums like HN and reddit that a linked site doesn't work due to NoScript, I would question how many people would agree that it improves the web.

Post by chimeracoder » Thu, Jun 26, 2014, 2:38 PM UTC

spindritf wrote: post #49

ben0x539 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also walk around town completely uncamouflaged, voluntarily displaying my uniquely identifiable face and whatnot, and yet somehow most businesses can still restrain themselves and do not follow me around, colluding to enable each other to videotape my every step for analytics purpose. Sure, there's some technical steps that can be taken but there's also a social or cultural dimension to what behavior is popularly a…

Do you wear an ID around your neck? Do you walk into an establishment, introduce yourself, tell the keeper where you came from, when was the last time you visited, check in with an inter-business tracking device, and then ask them to forget all that? This is what a browser with (or more appropriately, on) DNT is doing. Long way from camouflage. And offline, we should also employ techniques like randomizing MAC addres…