11 mo. ago • 99%

YouTube adds tracking parameters to shared URLs that can be traced back to individual Google accounts

https:// nitter.net /OldRowSwig/status/1732112446943269347

78 comments

Of course it does. Firefoxes new ClearURL copy feature is great

113
- This was the final thing that convinced me to give Firefox another go, thank you.
  
  26
  
  One of us! One of us! Firefox is fucking amazing, just set up all the recommended extensions like ublock origin and privacy badger.
  
  10
I believe Spotify is doing something similar.

Would be nice if social networks and messengers would automatically strip these parameters.

83
- Firefox on desktop has an option when copying links to copy without site tracking
  
  90
  
  Eventually I think sites will customize every URL for each user.
  
  TikTok is quite sneaky. Sharing from their mobile app, you get: https://www.tiktok.com/t/[9digitCode]/
  
  Only by opening the URL in a browser will you see: https://www.tiktok.com/@[user]/video/[19numerals]?_t=[alphanumericIdentifier]&_r=1 …which can be sanitized.
  
  Here’s how they took it a step further too: YCombinator.
  
  13
- Same with Reddit, FB Messenger, Instagram, TikTok... Some of them are harder to spot, like how Reddit now goes reddit.com/r/example/s/8913y4h93
  
  Would be nice if social networks and messengers would automatically strip these parameters.
  
  I started using URLCheck on Android and SO MANY links have some kind of tracker that you can drop and not lose any functionality. Things like Signal (and even Lemmy/Mastodon) could do something similar and throw up a little warning when it encounters a known tracker, then offer to clean the URL for you.
  
  Another advantage is that the clean URLs are a lot more descriptive
  
  42
  
  I'm using FairEmail on Android. When tapping a link, thr app detects tracking parameters and offers to remove them. I really like that feature and wish other apps would offer something similar.
  
  6
  
  For example, see the link in the post body here:
  
  https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/comments/18dsi68/whats_going_on_with_kim_kardashian_and_taylor/
  
  5
- adding this list to uBlock Origin helps: https://github.com/DandelionSprout/adfilt/blob/master/LegitimateURLShortener.txt
  
  33
  
  best filter maintainer ever
  
  8
  
  This list is a must.
  
  4
- Pretty sure TikTok does it as well
  
  4
  
  That was the first place I noticed it, thought it was really smart of them, someone would send me a meme or whatever and it would show their account at the top. Was impressed that they generate so many links, now they can see who knows who so easily
  
  2
Do people use the share button rather than just copy the URL from the address bar? Am I just really old?

79
- Am I just really old?
  
  Sounds like you have cleaned a few trackballs in your days
  
  52
  
  Now I just try to keep my regular balls clean.
  
  26
- Many people use a phone and many people have youtube app on it.
  
  32
- If you use youtube on a mobile app rather than a browser, it doesn't have an address bar
  
  13
  
  Never use an app for what should be a web page.
  
  13
- An added benefit of the share button is that it generates a minified link – "https://youtu.be/abcde" instead of "https://youtube.com/watch?v=abcde". I find it neater.
  
  5
  
  Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  
  https://piped.video/abcde
  
  https://piped.video/watch?v=abcde
  
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  
  I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
  
  7
  
  That's the problem, though. The long link is the same for everyone. The shortened is unique to an account.
  
  1
- I don't have a choice when using the app, though I have been removing the tracker from the URL.
  
  4
- On the Android app, the share button is the only way. I use ReVanced, hope the devs add a patch for removing the si query param automatically.
  
  3
- Share is easier to do it at a specific time in the video.
  
  Like, you can manually add the "t=x" at the end for seconds, but it's just easier to click the box to make the share button add it.
  
  1
  
  Right click on the video, there is an option to copy the video url at the time you want. As far as i can see it does not contain the account info.
  
  1
  
  Or you could just tell the person what to FF to.
  
  0
Adds?

I thought they always had them?

27
- They didn't until a few weeks/months ago on the web version. Not sure about mobile. I noticed when the generated links became twice as long.
  
  4
  
  No kidding? I always thought they had them. Hmm
  
  4
- The shortened youtu.be links were always associated with individual Google accounts, when I clicked "share" I would get a different URL than someone who shared the exact same video.
  
  4
  
  Huh? That’s just wrong.
  
  youtube.com/watch?v=FOO&si=BAR would be shortened to just youtu.be/FOO?si=BAR
  
  The link to other people’s account is in the &si=BAR part. Probably standing for “share ID” or “source ID”or something. The shortened link is just the same as the long one with watch?v=FOO being included in the URL instead of the parameters.
  
  4
- It wasn't until a few months ago did YouTube add them.
  
  3
Never log in to YouTube

21
- I find it convenient to do so to follow channels.
  
  9
  
  Then use newpipe.
  
  8
  
  use a privacy frontend, they let you login too
  
  6
  
  If you're on Android use grayjay, if you're on Linux use freetube. You can follow channels on both of those.
  
  If using grayjay and you can afford it please do pay for the license; you're not technically required; it's based on the honor system, but it helps the developers at FUTO work on it and it helps them donate to other FOSS projects.
  
  If you use freetube please donate to them, even a dollar, the developers will greatly appreciate it.
  
  Let's support software that doesn't hate us!
  
  3
Copy clean URLs with ClearURL

20
- Don't know if any other browsers do it, but Firefox for desktop added an option when right clicking links to copy without URL tracker. I don't know if it works on yt links, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.
  
  12
This extension will automatically remove tracking elements from URLs to help protect your privacy when browsing through the Internet.

Firefox:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/clearurls/

Chrome:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clearurls/lckanjgmijmafbedllaakclkaicjfmnk/

19
- Heads up, I had to remove this extension on my browser because some websites would get stuck in a redirect loop because it'd remove the tracking stuff it'd use in a redirect chain. Took me months to figure out what was causing it
  
  8
- This is built-in to firefox rightclick menu when copying the URL, no extension needed. Less extensions means less fingerprint
  
  4
  
  That'll address the case where one is copy-pasting an URL, but not where following existing links.
  
  2
I made a PWA that can quickly remove tracking variables called Link Cleaner. If you install it through Chrome or another Chromium browser on Android, it shows up as a share target, so you can share links to Link Cleaner and then share again to the intended target.

9
- I don't understand how to install it. Looked in Google Play store but didn't find it there.
  
  1
  
  When you’re in Chrome or another browser, there’s an install option in the main overflow (three dots) menu.
  
  2
  
  It's a PWA, which basically means it's just a website. If you're using Firefox on mobile opening up the website won't ask you to install it.
  
  2
if i open a youtube link with a share id in newpipe, am I still ok, does it ignore the id? or do i need to delete the id first?

1

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