cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/37402366

This is the main reason I completely ditched Reddit, if you use the new Reddit interface instead of the old one (old.reddit.com), you’ll see a constant request being made to “https://www.reddit.com/svc/shreddit/events” (open your DevTools > Network tab, can’t see on Firefox idk why).

The problem is, if you add this to your Ublock Origin filters the website won’t load properly, that’s why uBO team didn’t block it already.

You’ll notice this request isn’t only being made from a interval but also when you do basically any action in the site, like pausing or resuming a video (send timestamps of when did you pause or resumed).

It sends other kind of data like what subjects you’re seeing when closed a tab or the related subjects of a post you click, this all can be used to trace a perfect profile of you and things you like.

You can avoid that using the old.reddit but it still has the same kind of tracker, even tho you can block it here without major issues.

By my analysis, old Reddit interface does the same but to a random URL path that always starts with “reddit.com/api/something”. Ex.: reddit.com/api/friends So you can block anything that starts with “www.reddit.com/api” in your custom filters (after all you’re using old.reddit.com), then you’re mostly free from Reddit trackers (more or less). Side effect is, you won’t be able to use the chat in the old interface.

  • irmadlad@lemmy.worldEnglish
    391·
    2 months ago

    I just use reddit as reference anymore, usually through redlib. Reddit became a seething cauldron of festering carcasses a long time ago, and I have no desire to jump through all their hoops just to use their servers, much like YT and a growing number of other sites. I just don’t have the patience to reconfigure my network just so I can use those outlets. Sad tho. It used to be a decent social media platform until it wasn’t. C’est la vie. Such is the way of the internet.

      • knomie@feddit.org
        4·
        2 months ago

        That looks great.

        But aren’t more addons bad for fingerprinting? I often read the recommendation to use as few addons as possible.

        • PiraHxCx@lemmy.mlEnglish
          6·
          2 months ago

          I asked them exactly that hehe
          So, technically the sites you are redirecting from will never know you tried to access them and the addon is not interacting with any page, but the dev didn’t address/think of probing. I don’t have enough tech knowledge to confirm the addon won’t react to anything, thus making itself known. I don’t know which probing techniques there are and how all those resist-fingerprint and sandboxing settings from privacy-conscious browsers work against it… it does, however, sound like a sophisticated and resource-consuming method that I don’t think they would be using on regular internet unless they have specific targets, so if they have such probing techniques they are probably using it on IPs going through the TOR network (and you shouldn’t use any addon on Tor anyway).
          It’s all about your threat model, if you just want to avoid regular tracking and profiling the addon should be fine, now if you are afraid of some sophisticated and resourceful threat actors targeting you, don’t take your chances with any addon.

    • turdcollector69@lemmy.world
      4·
      2 months ago

      I feel much the same, I want to completely unplug more and more with each passing day.

      It may just be low blood sugar fueled pessimism but I don’t see anything actually replacing these massive sites.

      It’s like trying to get into old multiplayer games where the few players left have a massive experience advantage that makes the barrier to entry impossibly high.

      I think the best response is to just not participate anymore.

      I’m far from that goal, hopefully enshittification will force my hand and push me offline for good.

      • irmadlad@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 months ago

        I think the best response is to just not participate anymore.

        I’ve pretty much felt that way for a very long time now. If all my efforts breaks your site, or prevents me from accessing it entirely, I just don’t bother. For one, the information is, more than likely, replicated somewhere else, if not a direct quote of the article, then pretty much the same data worded differently. It might just be a bit further down on the search page.

    • frongt@lemmy.zip
      1·
      2 months ago

      Such is capitalism. Plenty of stuff is still running fine without turning a profit for the shareholders.

  • pivot_root@lemmy.world
    5·
    2 months ago

    You can block it with a carefully-crafted userscript that hooks the fetch API and returns fake responses for the svc event, but then Reddit starts flagging your IP address as a bot and demands you log in to an account to prove otherwise. You can’t win.

  • yucandu@lemmy.world
    33·
    2 months ago

    I just use the Opera or Brave browser for Reddit and nothing else, with the free VPN turned on.