Author Topic: Ad And Tracker Blocking (Read 29643 times)

Lady · « **on:** December 10, 2015, 03:15:12 am »

The issue I'm wrestling with at the moment: ad and tracker blocking. I'm always very concerned about my online privacy. I've been using DuckDuckGo as a search engine and the extension AVG PrivacyFix and thought my privacy was all protected but I saw a documentary on Dutch TV about trackers and started looking myself. They used Ghostery to see which trackers were present. So I installed Ghostery and although there weren't as many trackers as other people seem to have (I read some have more than 200 on some sites!) still I knew I had to do more. In the documentary they advised installing uBlock but while I was using Ghostery I found out that Ghostery not only shows trackers but also can block trackers and ads and widgets. I started using it and find it very easy to use and it seems to work fine. Sites load faster and the pages don't jump up and down during loading of ads which I found annoying. But I continued reading on the subject and now I found out that Ghostery is owned by an advertising company which some people find tricky. They use Ghostrank to collect your anonymous data and sell it to advertising companies. But they give the option to collect your data or not (which, obviously, I turned off

). I haven't tried uBlock yet, it gets good and bad reviews and it seems to be more difficult to use.

Do you have any experience in using ad/tracker blockers? While I'm writing this I'm thinking that maybe this is an issue that is important enough to make into a new topic, so everybody can contribute. What do you say?

Samson · « **Reply #1 on:** December 10, 2015, 03:54:48 am »

Hi, sorry if I am interrupting a conversation

I use Firefox, with DDG and uBlock Origin.
I did have Ghostery, but ditched it for uBlock Origin, page load times are even quicker

I feel that this is sufficient for my needs without "breaking" the internet, there is no such thing as 100% privacy protection, but this goes a long way towards it in my opinion.

Hope that helps?

Edit: I use the standard filters in uBlock Origin, plus Fanboy's Annoyance List.

Boggin · « **Reply #2 on:** December 10, 2015, 04:37:58 am »

My main browser is IE11 and I use Adblock Plus in that and have Firefox as a spare browser should I need to trouble shoot if a problem is just IE related and I have uBlock installed for that.

I've seen a discussion where Adblock Plus have an arrangement with some advertisers to whitelist their adverts, so some are going to get through, but I've found that my ISP email is more responsive with ABP installed - so it does have some effect.

Certain websites will always take some time to load because of the sheer content on the web page and the Huff Post is one as such, but generally, I'll just take a web page as it comes.

I also have a gmail account which when I first started using it used to have adverts at the top of the page, but as they are supposed to reflect the sites that I visit, I haven't seen any for some time.

I'm not familiar with DuckDuckGo or Ghostery, but in IE under the Privacy tab there is a box you can check to Never allow websites to request your physical location.

Lady · « **Reply #3 on:** December 10, 2015, 05:00:41 am »

Oh no, Samson, I'm very happy that you responded. I need all the help I can get. I too often feel I'm inventing the wheel here.

That's very helpful indeed. Just needed you guys to say what works well in this jungle of ad/tracker blockers. (I didn't mention it but I use Firefox as well.) And thanks for that edit, Samson, so I don't have to rack my brain figuring out the settings.

I'll install uBlock Origin. I guess that AVG extension can go and maybe even has to go, for it may interfere. Right?

And I laughed out loud reading your signature, Samson! Hahaha. Can a person be any more scary than Trump??

A laugh a day keeps the doctor away.

Oops, new question arose. In Firefox - Options - Privacy: the first two options about tracking, do I have to check them or leave them unchecked since I now have this trackerblocker installed?

This might be an interesting site for you guys. If you don't already know about it.

https://guardianproject.info/

Samson · « **Reply #4 on:** December 10, 2015, 05:38:31 am »

Quote from: Lady on December 10, 2015, 05:00:41 am

And I laughed out loud reading your signature, Samson! Hahaha. Can a person be any more scary than Trump??
A laugh a day keeps the doctor away.

It is actually a quote from Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, a pretty querky and divisive figure himself but he hit the nail on the head there.

Regarding your Q, I leave the first 2 unchecked and leave "Do not tell.... etc " checked.

fanboy's annoyance list gets rid of Facebook, Twitter etc on webpages, so depending on your use/ preference you may or may not wish to add it.

Lady · « **Reply #5 on:** December 10, 2015, 07:45:52 am »

I have a Dutch version of Firefox. So the first two I leave unchecked. But I don't understand the Do not tell one.
Which one is that? See the image. It's never too late to learn a new language.

Samson · « **Reply #6 on:** December 10, 2015, 08:36:08 am »

Ah, looks like it is not in the latest version of FF, so no need to worry about it

I was working from memory, but having looked it is no longer like that

I use the ESR version 38.4.0 so it is a way behind yours on features, but up to date on security fixes.

Here's mine.....

Lady · « **Reply #7 on:** December 11, 2015, 04:59:38 am »

As expected, after installing uBlock Origin I have no idea which options to check and which not.
Could any of you post a picture of your general settings and third-party filters?

jraju · « **Reply #8 on:** December 11, 2015, 05:22:36 am »

Hi, You could just install and it will block the sites that it considers as bad or suspicious.
If you want to change the settings, for eg, to allow one website, that it blocks, then you could just click the alert, to allow temporarily for this time or permenantly .
These are all the filters that is needed. The sites ublock blocks could be found here
here is a link that could be helpful to you.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Quick-guide:-popup-user-interface

Samson · « **Reply #9 on:** December 11, 2015, 06:00:37 am »

Quote from: Lady on December 11, 2015, 04:59:38 am

As expected, after installing uBlock Origin I have no idea which options to check and which not.
Could any of you post a picture of your general settings and third-party filters?

Sure, I'm on my phone right now. I will upload screenshots of both settings this evening when I get home.

Samson · « **Reply #10 on:** December 11, 2015, 08:40:48 am »

Ok, here you go.

You can see the only change/ addition that I have made is to add Fanboy's annoyance list....I'd leave that for now, see how you get on with the default settings before you try tweaking them

Lady · « **Reply #11 on:** December 13, 2015, 02:20:29 am »

Jraju, thank you for the quick guide link. That was helpful although not an easy read.

I visited the uBlock main page on github.com before but was put off by all the tech stuff there and didn't look any further.

Samson, thank you for the images. The thing was, uBlock's popup in the toolbar showed figures which made me feel they weren't blocking much. Whereas Ghostery is very clear about which trackers etc. are on the page. See images of their popups on the same random website. But now I know that uBlock is doing its work! So that's why I read that uBlock is much more difficult in its UI than Ghostery. I liked Ghostery though for its clarity and simplicity. Is uBlock really much better?

Samson · « **Reply #12 on:** December 13, 2015, 04:37:04 am »

"better" is hard to judge.

I agree, Ghostery is easier in some ways, set it and forget it. But that is true for uBlock Origin too, it auto updates ( mine updated to 1.4.0 yesterday and the filter lists auto update too).

Like with most things it comes down to personal choice and what works for you. But given we both have similar setups, ie Firefox, DDG and uBlock Origin I can confirm they all play nicely together with no conflicts and a minimal hit on system resources. In summary I find uBlock Origin does what I want and that page load times are faster than with Ghostery, which to be honest is an added bonus. Your mileage may vary

The only way to ensure 100% privacy and security is to cut the plug off, so it is a balancing act. Remember most people use Google and don't use ad/ tracker blockers, so you are well ahead of the game already

Lady · « **Reply #13 on:** December 13, 2015, 05:33:43 am »

I feel MUCH more protected right now. Just wish I had known about this before.

But hey, I'm ahead of the game! Yayyy!!!

You made me smile there, Samson. For that and for solving this issue for me, I'll give you a karma point.

jraju · « **Reply #14 on:** December 13, 2015, 07:28:49 pm »

Hi, julian,
one sub question on Lady thread since it is connected to ublock.
Even i install ublock, it does not show in the top right of firefox as usual before. How i could get it back? When i see in add on tab, it is showing as enabled. Could you say why? I tried remove and reinstall

Samson · « **Reply #15 on:** December 13, 2015, 10:20:55 pm »

Drag and Drop the icon to your chosen location on the navigation bar.

jraju · « **Reply #16 on:** December 14, 2015, 03:11:50 am »

Hi, Thanks Samson,
where do find the blocked list of ublock. Even source forgenet is being blocked by ublock and source forgenet is supposed to host free downloads

Samson · « **Reply #17 on:** December 14, 2015, 04:20:38 am »

If you look at the page that loads when trying to access SourceForge you will see that it is "Found in: uBlock filters – Badware risks"
Check that filter in the dashboard takes you here...https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Badware-risks

Also read here http://www.myce.com/news/downloading-from-sourceforge-official-links-deliver-fakes-also-76749/

So you got your Icon back?

jraju · « **Reply #18 on:** December 14, 2015, 04:22:52 am »

Hi, Yes . Thank you

jraju · « **Reply #19 on:** December 14, 2015, 06:45:00 pm »

Hi,
Samson, another sub question.
Sorry Lady for using your thread to get clarification. Otherwise, i have to start a new thread.
What are those
request blocked on this page 2 or 3% means,since install..... domains connected 1 out of 2.
I use this because, it does not eat much cpu

Samson · « **Reply #20 on:** December 14, 2015, 07:29:30 pm »

It shows, what requests are blocked as a number and a percentage for the current page...then the total since install...then the number of domains that are connected....All based on what filters you have chosen.

https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Quick-guide:-popup-user-interface

Julian · « **Reply #21 on:** December 15, 2015, 12:41:38 am »

Quote from: jraju on December 13, 2015, 07:28:49 pm

Hi, julian,
one sub question on Lady thread since it is connected to ublock.
Even i install ublock, it does not show in the top right of firefox as usual before. How i could get it back? When i see in add on tab, it is showing as enabled. Could you say why? I tried remove and reinstall

lol wow am I that renowned in the forums? hahaha don't want my ego to inflate. Anyways I don't use ublock or this Ghostery. To be honest I've never heard of them before. I just ignore adverts and I use an amazing program called peerblock.
here is the online userguide explaining about the program:
http://www.peerblock.com/userguide
And here is the release version.
http://www.peerblock.com/releases

Lady · « **Reply #22 on:** December 17, 2015, 10:35:56 am »

Jraju, no problem. Go ahead and use my thread!

Everybody: I mentioned the importance of this subject in my first post (#67) and it shows this is worth a separate thread.

Is there a way to move all the posts since #67 to a new thread? If so, I'd be happy to start a new one. Just let me know how.

Julian, thanks for making things simpler! Hahaha.

Julian · « **Reply #23 on:** December 17, 2015, 02:10:15 pm »

I can move them over it will take me a bit

Julian · « **Reply #24 on:** December 17, 2015, 02:29:01 pm »

finished Woot lol i changed the subject to Ad and Tracker Blocking.