Ask HN: Is there a script that auto rejects tracking on all websites at once?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37183717

by yieldcrv • 3 years ago

2 3 3 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I’m looking for a tool to auto reject tracking/cookies on all major websites all at once. I want it to do this on all browsers I use, on my phone’s browsers and on my phone’s in app browsers just everywhere a user session persists.

It is so time consuming to always accept/reject cookies and I swear I’ve done it before on many sites but I cant keep track to verify

Before I make this myself, is anyone aware of this tool?

dangus• 3 years ago

Basically any ad blocker plus the right lists enabled will do this.

jacquesm• 3 years ago

The reason why you have to keep doing it over and over again is because they keep trying with short lived cookies to get you to accept and once you accept (accidentally or on purpose) you get a cookie that is super long lived so you will not be able to opt out again without being moderately technical.

These are all dark patterns, this one I call 'the ratchet'.

1vuio0pswjnm7• 3 years ago

A forward proxy is one way. This can be compiled from source and hence completely controlled by the user. One way to set this up is to route DNS traffic to one computer where where the user controls DNS and HTTP, including HTTP headers such as cookies. All HTTP traffic then sent to this computer and it is managed by the proxy. This works really well for me.

With ad blockers and application firewalls (Snitch, Rat, whatever), one must install them on every computer.

If an ad blocker is a browser extension, then it only works for the web browser not other applications. The browser vendor, usually an advertising-supported company, has ultimate say on whether the extension will work or not.

If the ad blocker extension is managed by a third party and it auto-updates, then one must trust that party and make sure that the extension is not sold out to an adtech-related or other "tech" operation looking to profit from data collection and advertising services.

These ad blocker extensions have potentially full access to every page a user views in the browser. The privacy risk does not get any worse. Vigilance is essential.

Ask HN: Is there a script that auto rejects tracking on all websites at once?

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