Web Trackers Paint a Fresh Picture of You

[Codemonkey]

20 comments in and no one has noted that BoingBoing.net uses this software - specifically the AddThis version.

[deanputney]

We do not include AddThis javascript in our site’s code. If you are seeing AddThis in your browser, please email me at dean@boingboing.net and let me know what URLs you are seeing it at.

[crenquis]

From the BB Front page:

[deanputney]

Got it, it looks like it’s actually the audio embed in this post: http://boingboing.net/2014/07/23/peter-kuper-cartoonist.html

We use other sites to embed videos and audio in Boing Boing, and if any of them include AddThis you’ll see it appear in Ghostery. I’m seeing that post show the tracker and no others. We’ll replace the embed.

Edit: I’ve removed that embed, you should not see the AddThis tracker on the homepage.

[GlennF]

See Dean’s note below. Boing Boing (and I) would have disclosed if AddThis was being used (as I did about my own site) because of the precise reason you note: can’t hide its use!

[Codemonkey]

Besides what crenquis provided, it looks as though a scorecardresearch.com script is also adding it. I’m a new user so it’s blocking me from uploading images, here’s an imgur link.

[smartr]

This has me thinking… I imagine you could increase privacy by giving an option to partially block any and all information being sent in response to a server that does not exactly match user input or data directly formed from the requested page itself (or information that is part of standard protocol) kind of like a popup blocker. Furthermore, any information that is from the request itself is either commonly used request information, or potentially identifying information. If you have a third party you can trust, users could optionally contribute their internet browsing to establish exactly the whereabouts of information that is likely identifying after enough hits. A search engine would likely be a good participant in such a thing…