4 ms·

Analytics and marketing tools used on all websites – such as Google Analytics, GTM (both client- and server-side), Facebook Pixel, and many more – are increasin

Analytics and marketing tools used on all websites – such as Google Analytics, GTM (both client- and server-side), Facebook Pixel, and many more – are increasingly blocked by privacy tools and ad blockers. As a result, 15–50% of front-end data (conversions, attribution, referrals) never reaches dashboards. This missing data has long been accepted as the norm, to the point where front-end analytics are treated as unreliable and approximate. DataUnlocker 2.0 offers a drop-in solution: a proxy and JavaScript protection layer that shields tracking from blockers. It becomes an integral part of your web application — not only hiding analytics from generic blocking filters, but also making the code essential for the app to function. Blockers simply have no safe way to remove it. Your feedback is welcome – happy to dive deeper.

azalemeth 1y ago
Interesting work! I have a question -- How can I block it in umatrix?
- nikitaeverywher 1y ago
  There's no way to block it — that's by design. The only way would be to block the entire website or disable JavaScript entirely. DataUnlocker makes the app function as a single integrated unit, so trying to cut out one piece causes the whole thing to stop working. It's a broader topic worth deeper discussion to be honest. I'll be posting more on it soon — including why I believe the internet privacy "movement" should align with this: instead of breaking tools used in web apps (while I agree if you can, you can), the focus should go on pseudo-anonymizing users (web clients) while preserving functionality – parts of it are already implemented (VPNs, one-time sessions, etc). I can honestly see both sides of the debate — it's a long-standing and nuanced topic.
  - JohnFen 1y ago
    Pseudo-anonymizing is worthless snake oil, and provides little in the way of actual privacy. This tool is just an escalation in the level of contempt being routinely shown against actual people.
    - nikitaeverywher 1y ago
      Can you explain more on why "Pseudo-anonymizing is worthless snake oil, and provides little in the way of actual privacy"? I'm sure when one uses Tor browser (an example of what I mean under pseudo-anonymizing), they are as safe from tracking as possible. They will get tracking cookies and all that, but from a random location, and all IDs the web app could have created will be destroyed right after closing the browser tab.
      - JohnFen 1y ago
        Well, for starters, I don't consider the Tor browser to be anonymizing. It only offers protection against outside attackers, it offers almost no protection against the websites you may browse to (how could it?) Pseudo-anonymization is snake oil because it's not that hard to reverse. All you have to do is combine the "anonymized" data with data from other sources and you can identify people. It doesn't even take that much data from other sources. True anonymization is possible: it requires the collector to just keep general aggregate statistics and to immediately delete the individual telemetry reports. But few entities do that, and we have to just trust that the ones the claim they do are being honest and competent about it. But the track record is extremely poor so trusting in such claims is, in my opinion, very foolish.
        nikitaeverywher 1y ago
        > it offers almost no protection against the websites you may browse to (how could it?) > All you have to do is combine the "anonymized" data with data from other sources I'm struggling to understand why. Can you give a very specific example of how I, using Tor browser to browse web, can still be tracked as an individual? What are "other sources"? Each session of Tor browser has a randomized IP and user agent, and moreover if JavaScript requests for instance the "screen width" of the device, it gives some random numbers. Letterboxing, anti-fingerprinting in action: https://support.torproject.org/tbb/maximized-torbrowser-window/ https://support.torproject.org/tbb/maximized-torbrowser-wind... > True anonymization is possible: it requires the collector to just keep general aggregate statistics and to immediately delete Most businesses store all that "raw" data (pageview and other events) to process it later. It's reasonable – hard to build and unify it otherwise, but at the end of the day it gets aggregated. To add, they have their own data retention policy. So the best and minimally required one can do IMO is to use aka "incognito mode" when browsing, if it matters.

azalemeth 1y ago

Interesting work! I have a question -- How can I block it in umatrix?

nikitaeverywher 1y ago
There's no way to block it — that's by design. The only way would be to block the entire website or disable JavaScript entirely. DataUnlocker makes the app function as a single integrated unit, so trying to cut out one piece causes the whole thing to stop working. It's a broader topic worth deeper discussion to be honest. I'll be posting more on it soon — including why I believe the internet privacy "movement" should align with this: instead of breaking tools used in web apps (while I agree if you can, you can), the focus should go on pseudo-anonymizing users (web clients) while preserving functionality – parts of it are already implemented (VPNs, one-time sessions, etc). I can honestly see both sides of the debate — it's a long-standing and nuanced topic.
- JohnFen 1y ago
  Pseudo-anonymizing is worthless snake oil, and provides little in the way of actual privacy. This tool is just an escalation in the level of contempt being routinely shown against actual people.
  - nikitaeverywher 1y ago
    Can you explain more on why "Pseudo-anonymizing is worthless snake oil, and provides little in the way of actual privacy"? I'm sure when one uses Tor browser (an example of what I mean under pseudo-anonymizing), they are as safe from tracking as possible. They will get tracking cookies and all that, but from a random location, and all IDs the web app could have created will be destroyed right after closing the browser tab.
    - JohnFen 1y ago
      Well, for starters, I don't consider the Tor browser to be anonymizing. It only offers protection against outside attackers, it offers almost no protection against the websites you may browse to (how could it?) Pseudo-anonymization is snake oil because it's not that hard to reverse. All you have to do is combine the "anonymized" data with data from other sources and you can identify people. It doesn't even take that much data from other sources. True anonymization is possible: it requires the collector to just keep general aggregate statistics and to immediately delete the individual telemetry reports. But few entities do that, and we have to just trust that the ones the claim they do are being honest and competent about it. But the track record is extremely poor so trusting in such claims is, in my opinion, very foolish.
      - nikitaeverywher 1y ago
        > it offers almost no protection against the websites you may browse to (how could it?) > All you have to do is combine the "anonymized" data with data from other sources I'm struggling to understand why. Can you give a very specific example of how I, using Tor browser to browse web, can still be tracked as an individual? What are "other sources"? Each session of Tor browser has a randomized IP and user agent, and moreover if JavaScript requests for instance the "screen width" of the device, it gives some random numbers. Letterboxing, anti-fingerprinting in action: https://support.torproject.org/tbb/maximized-torbrowser-window/ https://support.torproject.org/tbb/maximized-torbrowser-wind... > True anonymization is possible: it requires the collector to just keep general aggregate statistics and to immediately delete Most businesses store all that "raw" data (pageview and other events) to process it later. It's reasonable – hard to build and unify it otherwise, but at the end of the day it gets aggregated. To add, they have their own data retention policy. So the best and minimally required one can do IMO is to use aka "incognito mode" when browsing, if it matters.