Shortlink bypasser built-in? possibility!!!

sbv95

Will there any integrated works in Vivaldi be done to bypass the shortlinks which has huge footprint in terms of data collection?

Looking out to hear regarding this and possible solution.

Pathduck

@sbv95 said in Shortlink bypasser built-in? possibility!!!:

the shortlinks

What do you mean by this?

DoctorG

@sbv95 Which shortlinks are blocked for you with Vivaldi Ad/Tracker Blocker ?

sbv95

@doctorg no, it's not about being blocked.

I'm referring to an solution to reach the source link directly instead of the ad sites similar to AMP bypass.

shortlinks like Bitly, linkvertise, ouo, etc. {URL Shorteners}

DoctorG

@sbv95 Ah, you want a extension which resolves the shortlink on a privacy base and open the targbet directly without the shortlink service.

But i do not know any service and its privacy level.

Pathduck

@sbv95 You can tell people to stop using URL Shorteners - they break the web.

I think your only solution is finding an extension:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/shortener+bypass?_category=extensions

Or, more geeky solution:

$ curl -I https://t.co/7rUaStNa3x
HTTP/2 301
date: Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:08:16 GMT
vary: Origin
server: tsa_o
expires: Wed, 20 Apr 2022 14:13:17 GMT
location: https://forum.vivaldi.net/

DoctorG

@pathduck Yes, but you need a server for this to have privacy.
I would never trust a extension or alien server while needing optimum of privacy.

barbudo2005

@sbv95

Use the extension FastForward. It works like a charm.

https://github.com/FastForwardTeam/FastForward

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fastforward/icallnadddjmdinamnolclfjanhfoafe

https://fastforward.team

pafflick

@sbv95 said in Shortlink bypasser built-in? possibility!!!:

shortlinks (...) has huge footprint in terms of data collection

I'm afraid that ultimately it's impossible to build a tool that would prevent tracking through shortened links. Let's say someone wants to know if you visited their page. They send you the URL short.ly/abc123 which (when visited) resolves to someshadywebsite.com/?visited-by-sbv95=true.
Suppose you use such a bypass tool to preview the real URL. But it has no way of knowing what the destination URL is without opening the shortened URL first. And when it does, the someshadywebsite.com already knows that the link was opened. So even though you didn't open it yourself, it still logs your visit through the bypass tool.
Perhaps it's an edge type of case, but that's basically how these tools work, as far as I understand it.

SusheelaHarinderAhmed

This post is deleted!

Catweazle

I hate shortened links, apart from the risk that they put you, I don't know what, through the redirections, they also prevent you from seeing the URL of the destination, which can also bring unpleasant surprises. For this, since time I use the FastForward extension, but anyway I avoid generally to click in a shorten url befor I had investigated the destiny.
Besides, I can't think of any valid reason to use linkshortener, which from the beginning makes me suspect bad intentions (for example Cryptominers) when using them. It is not a problem to put very long URLs into a word with Markdown or BBcode, this allows you to see the original URL when hovering over this word. I usually do this with URLs from the Chrome Store, like the one for the FastForward extension.

Dr.Flay

I use a link shortener so I can use magnet links with lots of extra sources and hashes. This allows me to use them in sites that don't support embedded magnet links.

A few years ago the devs were interested in the idea of built-in functionality to avoid tracking links, so I submitted reference for an open source redirect bypasser, to a Vivaldi internal to-do document.
That was the last I heard about it.

derDay

beside the fact, that this thread is the total opposite of my feature request 4 years ago
I used this function to easily share URLs with my phone or other messenger, where I had no direct access to the (complicated) destination URL.
now it's easier with sharing through internal qr code or other (trusty) apps

yoursenpai69

You could try Bypass.Ninja for that! It's free and works with pretty much all shortlink services. I've been using it for a while now - just paste any annoying link and it skips straight to the content. Saves a ton of time.