Website trackers

Noscript + Adblock Pro + relevant Adblock Pro subscriptions

I used NoScript for years but it prevents most “modern” websites doing anything useful. There are just a few sites which carry anything useful but are still just plain HTML with no scripts – e.g. mine

Adblock is pretty good. What I find curious is that the server can detect its use, and many sites now block clients which are adblocking. I can’t see why Adblock can’t download the ads but just not show them. After all, bandwidth is not the issue these days, usually. On facebook, use the Facebook Purity plug-in – it is brilliant!

As regards tracking, EuroGA uses google analytics just for audience stats. We get a variety of graphs and such like out of it, all totally anonymous.

Peter wrote:

I used NoScript for years but it prevents most “modern” websites doing anything useful. There are just a few sites which carry anything useful but are still just plain HTML with no scripts

It is quite flexible and does not necessarily suppress all scripts. Scripts coming from the same site are enabled by default. It also shows you where the scripts on the current page come from, and you are free to mark the corresponding sites as trusted or untrusted. It’s not just the tracking and advertising scripts that can be suppressed – for example, I often turn off the functionality I don’t use (such as pop-up chats with customer service).

What I find curious is that the server can detect its use, and many sites now block clients which are adblocking. I can’t see why Adblock can’t download the ads but just not show them.

Loading but not showing is detectable as well. However, in many cases you can disable these anti-Adblock scripts by fine-tuning NoScript.

Loading but not showing is detectable as well.

I wonder how that is done…

Believe me, I am capable of being just as paranoid as the next guy but I have long ago stopped bothering about this stuff. IMHO the most important stuff is

• don’t use your real full name on the open internet
• if you have to, mis-spell the surname
• try to minimise the publication of photos showing you with your name right underneath
• anything to do with google, use a fake name whenever possible – this is quite amusing
• avoid using the google feature for syncing multiple Chrome installations, unless you use a fake name etc

Peter wrote:

try to minimise the publication of photos showing you with your name right underneath

Compartmentalise your photos: establish one set for business-related pages, one set for personal pages other than social networks, and one set for social networks and other outfits with dubious privacy practices. These sets should not overlap! And if you are really paranoid, do the same with the texts you write.