is it possible to disable site engagement tracking
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I'm specifically talking about this url:
vivaldi://site-engagementI was personally hoping this page wouldn't exist
but just like any other chromium browser, this page keeps track of how much activity you do on visited websites.
it does reset every so often at least, but still, I'd prefer if there was no tracking at all.is it possible to disable this page entirely??
for security reasons -
https://github.com/WernerFP/vivaldi-clear-engagement.sh
Seems like you can't disable it, but you can clear it. -
@Tcll
Hi, you can create a feature request to disable it and may add
vivaldi://media-engagement/
too.
It seams useless for most user anyway but for me it not a security issue.Cheers, mib
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I was just about to start a thread about this asking if anyone knew what timeframe the site engagement was calculated over? And what precisely do the numbers mean?
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@bonetone the numbers are weight values that map activity
except the weights are not limited between 0 and 1as for the time frame, it seems to be random
I've had it clear from once a day to once a week, and it seems entirely automatedthat said though, I usaslly go back and zero them out every now and then
@mib2berlin thanks for informing me about this one, wonder just how many more of these there are.
as for the insecurity, I'm referring to the fact other sites use this data to maintain a profile on you.
(much like the trackers blocked by ublock and similar extensions) -
posting this here for others who don't know about it:
http://www.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/site-engagementthis explains the use of engagement tracking
EDIT:
btw yes I've tried to fight it before
Opera doesn't seem to care much -
@Gwen-Dragon the issue is clients (websites, extensions, apps) using this data to keep a profile on you.
what bothers me the most would be malicious websites like facebook or google collecting the data from adsense or other such APIs on other sites I visit
be it a forum like this or just site-surfing some random blog
they do not have the right because I have not allowed them to collect that data.extensions and apps are given a bit of a pass, but I should still be able to disable it for them if I so choose.
otherwise, if you recall the Avast extension issue which collected users' browsing habits...
engagement tracking is just another route they can take to obtain that info.and btw, yes I use the Avast extension, because it's very good at telling me which search links (DDG or google or such) might be malicious.
(much like WoT except with a focus on viruses rather than trust) -
@Gwen-Dragon fair
I generally think having security gives you privacy, so a privacy issue is a security issue, but I digress, it's an issue that threatens user privacy and should be addressed. -
@Tcll Per one of our more technically adept testers, "The engagement tracking is local and is not sent to any server. It might become a privacy issue if someone else has local access to your computer and you did not get rid of it before, though."
So the privacy threat is concerning whoever else sits in the chair in front of your machine.
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The question is: Who is tracking you?
If it would be
- a 3rd party: That would be bad.
- Vivaldi, the company: Not quite as bad but it would be a breach of trust.
- the browser locally to determine if some video should be played or not or determine if it should look for newer content or not: OK.
The site and media engagement stuff is not sent to any server, not even to Vivaldi's own, but is saved in the preferences file in your local profile only.
The only small privacy risk I can see there is that anyone with local access to your computer and your profile can look into the preferences and see which sites (not pages!) you have visited.
As long as you can make sure that nobody has access to your computer, you should be fine.
PS: I want to get rid of that data too, but for another reason:
It is unnecessary for the way I browse and just blows up the Preferences file.
You can look up the raw data in the Preferences file under the keys:
"site_engagement" and "media_engagement" -
I would expect the site engagement data to clear when I clear out the history and cache, but what about the media engagement data?
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@Ayespy ah thanks for that confirmation, other devs aren't so transparent...
so that crosses out websites for the most part, unless they use APIs that grant access to the machinethe only issue then is extensions and apps which could likely scan things in the background
(wouldn't surprise me if Avast does this... heh)@QuHno nobody is tracking me
I'm only identifying what could've been a potential privacy riskpersonally I'd still like to disable it just because I see no need to have the tracking running
As long as you can make sure that nobody has access to your computer, you should be fine.
well, I'm not 100% certain I may have removed a RAT
but aside from that, I should be good... yes I've had a RAT on this linux machine
stopping thewoopsie
process seems to have terminated all idle (no user apps running) UDP network activity...
but that's not the type of tracking I'm referring to when I say nobody's tracking me
no, I've blocked all big corporate media trackers, and even added them to iptables (pretty much a DIY PiHole)
so there should be no corporate ad networks or media tracking -
@Tcll I appreciate the vote of confidence. To be clear, tho, I'm not a dev (can't code a lick) and don't even work for Vivaldi. I'm a volunteer moderator with a middlin' good reputation, and with the ability to converse with the staff one-on-one back stage. The tester whom I quoted is another person like me, but with some serious technical skill.
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@Ayespy lol woops I wasn't meaning to insinuate you were a dev
but yeah, that quote is absolutely from a dev
the upvote was simply for the info note, and thanks again for thatI'm just a hacker (the good type, just for knowledge) in that I like to dig deep into what I like if there's a problem that could be fixed or improved upon for either security or functionality
I'm also a python programmer, and have done a few hacky things like truly private attributes
(soon to be rewritten in C to knock off the unfixable exploits)don't ask me to work on Vivaldi though
I've already drowned in my own ocean of projects, and don't have the ability to to keep up with adding yet another tanker of code to it... lol
if I'm gonna work on a secure browser, I may as well just build my own
I mean heck, I'm already working on abolishing TCP/IP with my own network protocol... lol
(think of Tor+HIPS without exit nodes) -
just started using LibreWolf, and I gotta say, I love how this functionality is hard disabled in it
as it should be.
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