New Update ClearURLs

[oldschool]

On Firefox the page visit count stopped at 2.

Same thing on Brave. I don't really understand the technical details of this tracking other than that it's a pixel tag or similar. Have you tried Cache Killer on FF or Chromium?

@Tiamati - ClearURLs filters eTag tracking headers and doesn't claim to deal with cache-related issues. You could try Classic Cache Killer and see if this tickles your fancy. It has a lot of users maybe but otherwise not much info about this extension. I think @TairikuOkami uses it, so you might ask him.

Or you could use Ctrl - R in Brave or similar shortcuts in other browsers.

 

[oldschool]

Tip for website breakage with ClearURLs: Disable "Skip URLs on local hosts" setting. This fixed a broken feature on one my sign-in websites.

Also, the "Allow domain blocking" setting can cause issues with anti-adblocker on websites - as explained on settings page.

 

[SeriousHoax]

Same thing on Brave. I don't really understand the technical details of this tracking other than that it's a pixel tag or similar. Have you tried Cache Killer on FF or Chromium?

Now it's working as expected on Edge. So not sure what happened then. Probably there's some kind of minor bug there.

 

[Lenny_Fox]

Stateless cookie is (when I remember correct): a WebGL fingerprint which survives browsing sessions because the lifetime in the Etag header is changed (because WebGL Fingerprint is a unique hash the text you entered is retrieved when your browser connects to the website again and loads the cached data) . There are so many ways of tracking (unique) websites visits between different user sessions (even over different devices)

..... resistance is futile ....we are digital marketeers ... you will be dissimilated in search interest, browsing patterns and purchase intends

 

[oldschool]

There are so many ways of tracking (unique) websites visits between different user sessions (even over different devices)

..... resistance is futile ....

We knew this already and even lucieb.com admits this on his webpage. Brave at least has some Tor integration which is very nice. Passes that test easily.

 

[Lenny_Fox]

We knew this already and even lucieb.com admits this on his webpage. Brave at least has some Tor integration which is very nice. Passes that test easily.

I thought you posted that no fingerprinting protection might be better than half baked, so why trying with clear URL's

 

[oldschool]

I thought you posted that no fingerprinting protection might be better than half baked, so why trying with clear URL's

You are correct. It's 6 of 1, 1/2 dozen of the other. Using only built-in protection would be no problem in Brave. In fact I was considering it having seen that test site before, doing more reading and thinking .... It simplifies things even more.

Shft + Ctrl + D becomes your friend in such a simple setup.

 

[Tiamati]

@Tiamati - ClearURLs filters eTag tracking headers and doesn't claim to deal with cache-related issues. You could try Classic Cache Killer and see if this tickles your fancy. It has a lot of users maybe but otherwise not much info about this extension. I think @TairikuOkami uses it, so you might ask him.

Hey @oldschool i'm not sure if i completely understand, but etag headers protection from ClearURLs should block the unique "tag" from cache right? AFAIK , the extension even asks to clear all the cache after intalling the extension, cause it only works with new cache. So, if it was working properly, it should work on that site...isn't?

About, the Cache Killer option, i believe any cache cleaning would solve the problem as it deletes the tags from cache. However, this solution "kills" cache functionality too. I know cache benefits are questionable with a fast internet, but i would not like to clear the cache all the time or delete all my cache. As i posted in another thread, i'm still looking for a solution to keep only the new cache, while deleting old ones (like 1 month old); but that is another matter.

 

[HarborFront]

@oldschool I've been using since yesterday and notice 2 bugs at leasts.



1)The eTag block seems to not be working properly. I made some tests with ClearURLs and the mentioned site still remind me. After cleaning all my cache, it forgets about all my visits, but starts to count again after that, even with ClearURLs enabled and reset to its defaults settings. I tested it with Chrome and Edge 83

View attachment 240956
The image was made with Edge

2) With EDGE, There is an issue when clicking above the extension - and so opening its tab - and then (after any time) clicking again to close it. The extension acts like i was trying to move it through my extension bar


Click to see the video


3) Not an issue. Just to say, it clear URLS better than adguard. For example, adguard doesnt clean google searchs, but clearURLs does.

Ok, tested ClearURLs with Chrome, Ungoogled Chromium and Brave and it's not working properly for eTags.

Firefox has no issue. Switching back to using Classic Cache Killer for Chrome/Chromium browsers with Neat URL

 

[oldschool]

Hey @oldschool i'm not sure if i completely understand, but etag headers protection from ClearURLs should block the unique "tag" from cache right? AFAIK , the extension even asks to clear all the cache after intalling the extension, cause it only works with new cache. So, if it was working properly, it should work on that site...isn't?

You are correct on all points, AFAIK. Please note that extension reads: " Filters ETag headers from requests". IDK the relationship between headers and opaque image. I can only say I lack the technical knowledge to evaluate either the test site in question here or ClearURLs' performance.

About, the Cache Killer option, i believe any cache cleaning would solve the problem as it deletes the tags from cache. However, this solution "kills" cache functionality too. I know cache benefits are questionable with a fast internet, but i would not like to clear the cache all the time or delete all my cache. As i posted in another thread, i'm still looking for a solution to keep only the new cache, while deleting old ones (like 1 month old); but that is another matter.

I don't know if your statement re: cache clearing is entirely accurate. I do it regularly and experience no ill effects other than slightly slower browser cold start.

 

[oldschool]

Response from developer concerning ETag filtering bug in Chromium:

"That's weird. ClearURLs removes the ETag header, but Chromium somehow seems to store it anyway, so it doesn't matter if ClearURLs deletes it or not.
I have to investigate this again. Maybe it would help if I also remove the If-None-Match header. If it is no longer sent, it should theoretically not be possible to map it anymore with the ETag. However, this header is also used for POST requests to avoid duplicates. So here we need to make a distinction by request type. I don't know yet whether this is possible so easily."

Added a "research required" tag to issue.

 

[SeriousHoax]

I've create a new issue about the random bug I'm facing. If anyone else face this bug please share it here to let the developer know:

Random freezing on random websites (#535) · Issues · ClearURLs / ClearURLs · GitLab

Prerequisites Can you reproduce the problem in a fresh firefox profile...

gitlab.com

 

[oldschool]

ClearURLs v. 1.18.0 released.

ClearURLs releases for full info.

Changed

• Replaced sha256.jquery.plugin with native hashing
• Replaced jQuery dependencies with native JavaScript in all core files (jQuery is only required for the log page)
  • Hopefully this fixes the performance problems that some users experience when using this addon in conjunction with other addons
  • #256
  • #535
• Restricted the log limit to max. 5000 entries
  • Default value is now 100
  • Too many log entries have resulted in performance losses for users who have forgotten that they have turned on the log. This step should prevent this.

 

[SeriousHoax]

ClearURLs v. 1.18.0 released.

ClearURLs releases for full info.

Changed

• Replaced sha256.jquery.plugin with native hashing
• Replaced jQuery dependencies with native JavaScript in all core files (jQuery is only required for the log page)
  • Hopefully this fixes the performance problems that some users experience when using this addon in conjunction with other addons
  • #256
  • #535
• Restricted the log limit to max. 5000 entries
  • Default value is now 100
  • Too many log entries have resulted in performance losses for users who have forgotten that they have turned on the log. This step should prevent this.

Good to see my reported issue has likely been fixed
I haven't received the update yet neither in Firefox nor in Chrome. Probably still under review.

 

[HarborFront]

Good to see my reported issue has likely been fixed
I haven't received the update yet neither in Firefox nor in Chrome. Probably still under review.

v1.18.0 is out now for Chrome.

EDIT :- eTag issue still not resolved when tested in Ungoogled Chromium and Brave

ClearURLs - Chrome Web Store

Remove tracking elements from URLs.

chrome.google.com

 

[oldschool]

eTag issue still not resolved when tested in Ungoogled Chromium and Brave

No it hasn't since it is being researched by developer.

This is a post regarding the issue:

"@Moheeb Aljaroudi @_Egoist · 2 days ago

A possible way you can try is by modifying the value of the ETag. Chromium doesn't seem to like removing the ETag entirely. When trying add-ons that modifies the response header, leaving the value empty would keep the ETag unchanged which produces the same outcome for your extension. However, changing its value to anything (static or random value) seems to work with test websites."

 

[simmerskool]

minor observation: at the chromestore it says ClearURLs is "Offered by: Kevin Robert, but oldschool posts Kevin Roebert. But this appears to be typo at chromestore as it does show the developer as @kevinroebert.de
Also as that as of 06 June version 1.18.0 (this is a new extension and thread for me) trying it now.

EDIT installed on 2 machines, chrome and brave. liking it!

 

[oldschool]

eTag issue still not resolved when tested in Ungoogled Chromium and Brave

BTW - Privacy Possum also fails the ETag test at that site. It's a chromium issue. We'll have to see if someone comes up with a solution, but not a deal-breaker for me.

 

[oldschool]

Update to v1.18.1 - 2020-06-07
Compatibility note

• Require Firefox >= 55
• Require Chrome >= 37

Changed

• Hotfix for the endless loop on new log limit (#545, #541, #539)

 

[simmerskool]

Update to v1.18.1 - 2020-06-07
Compatibility note

• Require Firefox >= 55
• Require Chrome >= 37

Changed

• Hotfix for the endless loop on new log limit (#545, #541, #539)

apologize in advance if this is dumb question, will ClearURLs update itself or do I have to go to chromestore and play with it?