Buffy
February 10, 2021, 3:54pm
1
Just saw this about a proof-of-concept for using favicons as a supercookie:
https://forum.level1techs.com/t/news-story-dump-thread-stories-only/136458/1161?u=buffy
I did some searching and found this possible countermeasure, which is just turning off favicons. IDK if it’s sufficient or just keeps it from showing the favicon but still sends the GET request that allows the tracking? I think we can/should also delete the favicon cache?
https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/lguqvi/how_to_block_almost_all_favicons/
3 Likes
Is that like the Facebook thumbs up/Twitter bird/ Google G+ picture, but for other companies?
Buffy
February 10, 2021, 4:00pm
3
It’s that little picture that shows up in your tab and in your bookmarks.
1 Like
Oh, that’s not good. If I read the article, does it say how to switch it off?
Or just manual entries from the OS hosts file?
1 Like
Buffy
February 10, 2021, 4:17pm
5
Not even in the hosts file cuz they come right from the host and can have different file names.
Here’s some background info on favicons:
1 Like
Will I be safe with Browsh?
Buffy
February 10, 2021, 4:22pm
7
Oh, I never heard of that one so IDK?
Buffy
February 10, 2021, 5:03pm
8
Firefox has this about their version 85 helping thwart supercookies, but doesn’t say anything about the favicons:
Trackers and adtech companies have long abused browser features to follow people around the web. Since 2018, we have been dedicated to reducing the number of ways our users can ...
Est. reading time: 4 minutes
2 Likes
Honestly surprised this only comes up now and not years ago…
4 Likes
oxbird
February 17, 2021, 12:21am
10
I have found evidence of people abusing this for years.
1 Like
thro
February 17, 2021, 1:50am
11
I literally thought that’s probably what they were invented for?