4 ms·

ghostery blocks trackers and analytics

by angryasian 14y ago

carlob 14y ago
This. Just remember to set it to auto update and to blacklist new trackers.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
guelo 14y ago
Also NoScript for more granular control. But when I see the anger that these types of plugins, especially AdBlock, produces in content publishers I wonder if we're not headed towards a new RIAA/MPAA-style battle front. As online publishers of all kinds get more established and consolidate their power they could start lobbying to regulate against these plugins. It might seem farfetched now but so did paying a tax to the RIAA for blank media, until it happened.
Zirro 14y ago
Should you prefer to whitelist sites yourself instead, I can recommend: https://www.requestpolicy.com https://www.requestpolicy.com
- mylittlepony 14y ago
  While this is awesome and powerful, it ends up being quite annoying. And Ghostery does not seem to miss anything, it blocks everything it should block, and allows everything it should allow. Just perfect.
jcarpio 14y ago
Thanks for the tool recommendation. Interesting to note how much it blocks on 42floors.com.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
cpeterso 14y ago
I use the Ghostery add-on for Firefox, but note that if you enable "GhostRank" then the add-on will send every URL you visit to Evidon. This is purportedly for "tracking the trackers", but it does give one pause.
- graue 14y ago
  Their FAQ says otherwise: https://www.ghostery.com/faq#q16 https://www.ghostery.com/faq#q16 “When a user opts-in to GhostRank, Ghostery sends the following information each time a tracker is encountered: the tracker identified by Ghostery the blocking state of the tracker domains identified as serving trackers the time it takes for the tracker to load the tracker’s position on the page the browser in which Ghostery has been installed Ghostery version information” Nothing about the URL you visit. Do you have reason to believe they're lying?
  - cpeterso 14y ago
    Ghostery's Alert Bubble does not report any trackers on this Hacker News page, yet every time I reload this page, my HTTP monitor (Charles Proxy) logs a ping to ghostery.com: http://l.ghostery.com/api/page/?d=news.ycombinator.com%2Fitem&l=304&s=0&ua=firefox&rnd=7639974 http://l.ghostery.com/api/page/?d=news.ycombinator.com%2Fitem&l=426&s=0&ua=firefox&rnd=5747246 http://l.ghostery.com/api/page/?d=news.ycombinator.com%2Fitem&l=346&s=0&ua=firefox&rnd=8989043 Why does Evidon need to know about pages that have no trackers? The FAQ says the domains serving trackers will be identified, not the complete URL path (minus query string parameters) for pages that have no trackers.
- ademartino 14y ago
  Adam from Ghostery here. This is a known bug, and we're fixing the issue in the next releases. We don't need or want URLs that aren't associated with trackers.
- ademartino 14y ago
  Hey - until the fix, we've made a note on our FAQ. You can visit the FAQ here: https://www.ghostery.com/faq#q16 https://www.ghostery.com/faq#q16 We'll make a blog post soon, too.

ghostery blocks trackers and analytics

carlob 14y ago

This. Just remember to set it to auto update and to blacklist new trackers.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

guelo 14y ago

Also NoScript for more granular control. But when I see the anger that these types of plugins, especially AdBlock, produces in content publishers I wonder if we're not headed towards a new RIAA/MPAA-style battle front. As online publishers of all kinds get more established and consolidate their power they could start lobbying to regulate against these plugins. It might seem farfetched now but so did paying a tax to the RIAA for blank media, until it happened.

Zirro 14y ago

Should you prefer to whitelist sites yourself instead, I can recommend: https://www.requestpolicy.com https://www.requestpolicy.com

mylittlepony 14y ago
While this is awesome and powerful, it ends up being quite annoying. And Ghostery does not seem to miss anything, it blocks everything it should block, and allows everything it should allow. Just perfect.

jcarpio 14y ago

Thanks for the tool recommendation. Interesting to note how much it blocks on 42floors.com.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

cpeterso 14y ago

I use the Ghostery add-on for Firefox, but note that if you enable "GhostRank" then the add-on will send every URL you visit to Evidon. This is purportedly for "tracking the trackers", but it does give one pause.

graue 14y ago
Their FAQ says otherwise: https://www.ghostery.com/faq#q16 https://www.ghostery.com/faq#q16 “When a user opts-in to GhostRank, Ghostery sends the following information each time a tracker is encountered: the tracker identified by Ghostery the blocking state of the tracker domains identified as serving trackers the time it takes for the tracker to load the tracker’s position on the page the browser in which Ghostery has been installed Ghostery version information” Nothing about the URL you visit. Do you have reason to believe they're lying?
- cpeterso 14y ago
  Ghostery's Alert Bubble does not report any trackers on this Hacker News page, yet every time I reload this page, my HTTP monitor (Charles Proxy) logs a ping to ghostery.com: http://l.ghostery.com/api/page/?d=news.ycombinator.com%2Fitem&l=304&s=0&ua=firefox&rnd=7639974 http://l.ghostery.com/api/page/?d=news.ycombinator.com%2Fitem&l=426&s=0&ua=firefox&rnd=5747246 http://l.ghostery.com/api/page/?d=news.ycombinator.com%2Fitem&l=346&s=0&ua=firefox&rnd=8989043 Why does Evidon need to know about pages that have no trackers? The FAQ says the domains serving trackers will be identified, not the complete URL path (minus query string parameters) for pages that have no trackers.
ademartino 14y ago
Adam from Ghostery here. This is a known bug, and we're fixing the issue in the next releases. We don't need or want URLs that aren't associated with trackers.
ademartino 14y ago
Hey - until the fix, we've made a note on our FAQ. You can visit the FAQ here: https://www.ghostery.com/faq#q16 https://www.ghostery.com/faq#q16 We'll make a blog post soon, too.