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Author Topic: Unping all the links!  (Read 12534 times)

Tuxman

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Unping all the links!
« on: April 19, 2019, 10:01 AM »
In April 2019, Chrome-based browsers lost their ability to disable hyperlink tracking, resulting in major security/privacy problems.

I wrote a Chrome extension that removes hyperlink trackers right from the HTML code.

Chrome Web Store: https://chrome.googl...cikojdkmfgncbbgadkkj
Code repository: https://hub.darcs.ne...der/unping_all_links

Enjoy.
« Last Edit: August 21, 2019, 04:53 PM by Tuxman »

mouser

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #1 on: April 19, 2019, 10:03 AM »
oh nice!

Deozaan

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #2 on: April 19, 2019, 10:54 AM »
I didn't know hidden pinging in links like that was a thing! Worrisome that all the major vendors are enabling it by default, with no way to disable it! :'(

But there is some good news for folks who use Firefox or Brave:

Going forward, if privacy is important to you and you want to reduce the risk of being tracked online, then you will need to use Firefox or Brave.

Tuxman

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #3 on: April 19, 2019, 11:00 AM »
I doubt that Mozilla won't change that. They even removed the "enable JavaScript" checkbox long ago, and they are continuously evaluating new ways to hurt your privacy.

Deozaan

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #4 on: April 19, 2019, 02:42 PM »
Also, it looks like even though Vivaldi has it enabled by default, you can still disable it (for now):

vivaldi://flags/#disable-hyperlink-auditing

Tuxman

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #5 on: April 19, 2019, 02:45 PM »
I assume that more and more Chromium-based browsers will get rid of that flag over time. Wait for 2020!

(I had not tested Vivaldi this time. I can confirm that my version - a recent(ish) beta - still has the flag.)

4wd

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #6 on: April 19, 2019, 03:34 PM »
The latest version of Iridium, (based on Chrome v73), has it disabled by default.

Privacy enhancements
  • Disable "Use a web service to help resolve navigation errors"
  • Disable autocomplete through prediction service when typing in Omnibox
  • Always send "Do-Not-Track" header
  • Network/DNS prediction is disabled by default
  • Block third-party cookies by default
  • Link auditing (<a ping="...">) is disabled by default
  • Fetch plugins list from iridiumbrowser.de where it will be updated regularly
  • Site data (cookies, local storage, etc.) is only kept until exit, by default
  • Passwords are not stored by default
  • Input form autofill is disabled by default
  • For IPv6 probes, use a DNS root server instead of Google
  • The default search provider is Qwant
  • Load "about:blank" on new tabs instead of the currently set search engine and/or promotions.
  • Don't report Safe Browsing overrides.
  • Don't use autofill download service.
  • Disable cookies for safebrowsing background requests.
  • Disable the battery status API.

wraith808

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #7 on: April 19, 2019, 08:14 PM »
How is Iridium?  So many choices... all based on Chromium.

4wd

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #8 on: April 19, 2019, 11:46 PM »
How is Iridium?

About all I can say is it works well since I currently have no real preference in a browser and have something like 8 of them on the machine and bounce between them all depending on the sites I'm visiting.

I did install it as the default on the wife's machine because Palemoon was becoming incompatible with the sites she used and with Iridium's predisposition towards privacy it meant I didn't need to trawl through its settings beforehand.

I haven't heard any screaming about anything not working so it passed that test.

It's available as a portable so it's easy enough to try it out.

Tuxman

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #9 on: April 20, 2019, 07:51 AM »
It seems that I'll have to port the extension to Firefox...

https://www.ghacks.n...-default-in-firefox/

4wd

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #10 on: April 20, 2019, 10:00 AM »
If you use (Grease|Tamper|Violent)Monkey then there's also Disable Hyperlink Auditing which just removes the ping attribute from the tags.

Code: Javascript [Select]
  1. // ==UserScript==
  2. // @name         Disable Hyperlink Auditing
  3. // @namespace    https://tech.jacenboy.com/hyperlink-auditing
  4. // @version      1.0
  5. // @description  A simple script that removes hyperlink auditing from all websites.
  6. // @author       JacenBoy
  7. // @match        http*://*/*
  8. // @grant        none
  9. // @run-at document-end
  10. // ==/UserScript==
  11.  
  12. (function() {
  13.     'use strict';
  14.  
  15.     var hyperlinks = Array.from(document.getElementsByTagName("a"));
  16.     hyperlinks.forEach(a => {
  17.         a.removeAttribute("ping");
  18.     });
  19. })();

Tuxman

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #11 on: April 20, 2019, 10:02 AM »
That's what my extension does, but with less "first you'll have to install this other extension".

4wd

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #12 on: April 20, 2019, 10:52 AM »
That's what my extension does, but with less "first you'll have to install this other extension".

Still, an alternative if you already run (x)Monkey with userscripts already.

nickodemos

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #13 on: April 20, 2019, 11:27 AM »
Still, an alternative if you already run (x)Monkey with userscripts already.

Kinda how I feel since I use a Monkey clone as well. You should make one for FF as there are many people who do not use scripts.

Tuxman

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #14 on: April 20, 2019, 11:32 AM »
Once Firefox disables it, I will.

Tuxman

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Re: Unping all the links!
« Reply #15 on: August 21, 2019, 04:54 PM »
Moved the repo over to Darcshub:
https://hub.darcs.ne...der/unping_all_links