5 ms·

Folks, every email client and service has an option to not auto-download images. Plenty have it on by default (MS Outlook, notably). All of them ought to (IMO),

Folks, every email client and service has an option to not auto-download images. Plenty have it on by default (MS Outlook, notably). All of them ought to (IMO), but it's better than nothing. I warmly recommend you turn it on. There is no need to switch to text-only email clients just because of tracking.

vim_wannabe 9y ago
Does that help though? I've used Airmail for a long time with "Autoload Remote Images" off and thought it worked. Then couple months ago I installed Little Snitch and saw the client contacting all kinds of places. I had to explicitly deny connections to all other domains except my email provider's.
Dotnaught 9y ago
Last time I checked, Google's Inbox by Gmail did not include a way to disable image loading, which is why I won't use it.
- xpressyoo 9y ago
  Gmelius (https://gmelius.com https://gmelius.com) detects and blocks pixel trackers in Inbox.
- neuronexmachina 9y ago
  All Gmail (and presumably Inbox) images are transcoded/downloaded via Google's image proxies. https://support.google.com/mail/answer/145919?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en https://support.google.com/mail/answer/145919?co=GENIE.Platf...
  - oaeuntsh32nts 9y ago
    Does that mean that if you even receive an email from a list, they get notified that you opened and read it, even if you didn't? If so, that seems bad to me.
    - blacksmith_tb 9y ago
      Bad for whom? If spammers actually wanted to use that as an indication of a live account, they'd need to just give up and ignore all gmail.com addresses, which would be win for ordinary users.
    - j_s 9y ago
      No. From the link: > senders may be able to know whether you've opened an email that has an image attached to a unique link My limited understanding is that the load happens on first open, from Google's servers.
      - deleted 9y ago
        [deleted]
      - patmcguire 9y ago
        Yeah, without the ability to cookie them, which I guess is the gain from that.
beagle3 9y ago
The gmail app on the iPhone does not
- naner 9y ago
  Even if it did block them in the app, we have no way of knowing if tracking pixels links are followed by Google when it scans/sorts you mail server-side.
  - petercooper 9y ago
    You could test the principle by including a graphic in an email, send it to an account with images turned off, and then see if any HTTP requests come in, perhaps.
dspillett 9y ago
That doesn't work for all clients. It usually will, but I have seen some make HEAD requests for inline images to try read the expected download size to display this to the user - if this happens then the server obviously gets the full URL including tracking codes so has a fair idea the mail hit a valid mailbox.
- vanderZwan 9y ago
  Similarly, Gmail screws up its UX (as usual). If you ever make the mistake of clicking "Always display images from <...>", there is no turning back for that sender, as far as I can see at least. No "block images from this sender" button, no list in settings of all approved email senders that you can change your mind about, nothing. The only option at that point is using the PixelBlock extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pixelblock/jmpmfcjnflbcoidlgapblgpgbilinlem https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pixelblock/jmpmfcj...
  - irishsultan 9y ago
    Apparently you can, but it's a bit hidden: https://webapps.stackexchange.com/a/103470 https://webapps.stackexchange.com/a/103470
    - vanderZwan 9y ago
      I could swear I checked that spot! Still, would be nice if there was an overview in the settings page, and a possibility to wipe the entire whitelist at once

vim_wannabe 9y ago

Does that help though? I've used Airmail for a long time with "Autoload Remote Images" off and thought it worked. Then couple months ago I installed Little Snitch and saw the client contacting all kinds of places. I had to explicitly deny connections to all other domains except my email provider's.

Dotnaught 9y ago

Last time I checked, Google's Inbox by Gmail did not include a way to disable image loading, which is why I won't use it.

xpressyoo 9y ago
Gmelius (https://gmelius.com https://gmelius.com) detects and blocks pixel trackers in Inbox.
neuronexmachina 9y ago
All Gmail (and presumably Inbox) images are transcoded/downloaded via Google's image proxies. https://support.google.com/mail/answer/145919?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en https://support.google.com/mail/answer/145919?co=GENIE.Platf...
- oaeuntsh32nts 9y ago
  Does that mean that if you even receive an email from a list, they get notified that you opened and read it, even if you didn't? If so, that seems bad to me.
  - blacksmith_tb 9y ago
    Bad for whom? If spammers actually wanted to use that as an indication of a live account, they'd need to just give up and ignore all gmail.com addresses, which would be win for ordinary users.
  - j_s 9y ago
    No. From the link: > senders may be able to know whether you've opened an email that has an image attached to a unique link My limited understanding is that the load happens on first open, from Google's servers.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - patmcguire 9y ago
      Yeah, without the ability to cookie them, which I guess is the gain from that.

beagle3 9y ago

The gmail app on the iPhone does not

naner 9y ago
Even if it did block them in the app, we have no way of knowing if tracking pixels links are followed by Google when it scans/sorts you mail server-side.
- petercooper 9y ago
  You could test the principle by including a graphic in an email, send it to an account with images turned off, and then see if any HTTP requests come in, perhaps.

dspillett 9y ago

That doesn't work for all clients. It usually will, but I have seen some make HEAD requests for inline images to try read the expected download size to display this to the user - if this happens then the server obviously gets the full URL including tracking codes so has a fair idea the mail hit a valid mailbox.

vanderZwan 9y ago
Similarly, Gmail screws up its UX (as usual). If you ever make the mistake of clicking "Always display images from <...>", there is no turning back for that sender, as far as I can see at least. No "block images from this sender" button, no list in settings of all approved email senders that you can change your mind about, nothing. The only option at that point is using the PixelBlock extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pixelblock/jmpmfcjnflbcoidlgapblgpgbilinlem https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pixelblock/jmpmfcj...
- irishsultan 9y ago
  Apparently you can, but it's a bit hidden: https://webapps.stackexchange.com/a/103470 https://webapps.stackexchange.com/a/103470
  - vanderZwan 9y ago
    I could swear I checked that spot! Still, would be nice if there was an overview in the settings page, and a possibility to wipe the entire whitelist at once