(Request) Redirect, rather than block, links with tracking urls #1172

scaryguy commented 2024年08月23日 16:16:03 +02:00

From affiliated links to search engines, urls with tracking parameters are everywhere. Even in the "Private" Firefox, url searches using DuckDuckGo have a tracker token, probably so DDG knows how much it should pay Mozilla to be in the defaults.

uBlockOrigin has a smart technique, it simply redirects the traceable links to their non-tracked counterpart. duckduckgo.com/?_t=ffab_&q=What+is+url+tracking+paramaters+%3F&ia=web becomes https://duckduckgo.com/?q=What+is+url+tracking+paramaters+%3F&ia=web

I believe nuMatrix should automatically remove those parameters. This would lead to a more seamless experience.

Edit: relevant references about uBo's development of 'url pruning".

• Inital reflection of why uBo anti-tracker not necessary
• Why Rewrite not a good option
• Initial implementation in 2020
• Dev doesn't want to implement query jump, ie "tracking.url/real.url" isn't redirected to "real.url". It can only remove tracking strings, not modify or go to another link.

From affiliated links to search engines, urls with tracking parameters are everywhere. Even in the "Private" Firefox, url searches using DuckDuckGo have a tracker token, probably so DDG knows how much it should pay Mozilla to be in the defaults. uBlockOrigin has a smart technique, it simply redirects the traceable links to their non-tracked counterpart. `duckduckgo.com/?_t=ffab_&q=What+is+url+tracking+paramaters+%3F&ia=web` becomes `https://duckduckgo.com/?q=What+is+url+tracking+paramaters+%3F&ia=web` I believe nuMatrix should automatically remove those parameters. This would lead to a more seamless experience. Edit: relevant references about uBo's development of 'url pruning". - [Inital reflection of why uBo anti-tracker not necessary](https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues/issues/46#issuecomment-391303700) - [Why Rewrite not a good option](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/adblock-plus-filters-can-be-exploited-to-run-malicious-code/) - [Initial implementation in 2020](https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues/issues/760#issuecomment-719952467) - [Dev doesn't want to implement query jump, ie "tracking.url/real.url" isn't redirected to "real.url". It can only remove tracking strings, not modify or go to another link.](https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues/issues/1784)

arek commented 2025年01月20日 15:09:40 +01:00

Hey, thank you for the suggestion.

I think this might be out of scope of nuMatrix. I see it as just a firewall application. I think things like that are better handled by other extensions like ClearURLs, which designed specifically for this purpose.

Hey, thank you for the suggestion. I think this might be out of scope of nuMatrix. I see it as just a firewall application. I think things like that are better handled by other extensions like [ClearURLs](https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/clearurls/), which designed specifically for this purpose.

scaryguy commented 2025年02月17日 18:39:11 +01:00

I mean uBo has it but yeah I understand could be a lot of work.

I mean uBo has it but yeah I understand could be a lot of work.

arek commented 2026年06月19日 09:43:56 +02:00

Reopening this, I might actually implement this

Reopening this, I might actually implement this

arek commented 2026年06月20日 11:07:32 +02:00

Implemented, but needs testing.

Implemented, but needs testing.