Bug & tracking scripts ...?!

[peaceful1]

how do I recognize bugs & trackers ?!

[Print]

It's not simple, particularly finding trackers, however there are ready-made subscriptions dedicated to blocking bugs and trackers: Easyprivacy, Fanboy's Tracking/Stats Blocking, and Adversity Privacy List. Any one of these, used together with its parent, should block the vast majority of bugs and trackers.

[Print]

Oops, I now realize you're compiling a filter subscription. Bugs can be identified by closely monitoring the "blockable items" list. I'm not sure what procedure the maintainers use to identify tracking scripts though, you might try asking in the Filters forum.

[peaceful1]

is there any possible way that it can be explained ?!
please?!

[Michael]

There are usually three pieces of information that I look at to assist me to identify trackers.

1. The name of the item. Many trackers have names that are either self explanatory or indicate a tracking project that may be researched online.
2. Third party domains. In the majority of cases tracking scripts are located on a third party domain which may be researched and, if necessary, blocked.
3. Item source code. Although not possible with objects, the source code may reference the collection of personal data and therefore lead us to block the item.

[peaceful1]

can you please say some examples & explain how you are sure it's a tracker
when I check ghostery I can see mostly it's JavaScript form when I check noscript it looks like an URL when I see adblocker scripts it's third party
I don't understand how I can be sure it's a tracker for example when you block a picture when you reload the site if the photo loads its not blocked or otherwise

[Michael]

I have picked the first filters from the EasyPrivacy source code for an explanation as to how we know that the rules block tracking items.

-xtcore.js
The item is known to track users, as confirmed by the documentation about tagging items in order to analyse the popularity of links.

/fam/view.php?$domain=cnet.com
The report about the item identifies the reasons for this filter in EasyPrivacy; the image name blocked contains various references to the id of the user and the current page.

||123myip.co.uk/ip-address/
This prevents images being loaded that have been installed by webmasters to display the IP address of the user.

||123count.com^$third-party
The website associated with the domain specifically advertises their tracking products.

If there are any other filters in EasyPrivacy you would like me to explain I am willing to do so.

[peaceful1]

thanks for the great explanation!! now I know how they generally behave.
for now that's all I need to know

[peaceful1]

is this aTRACKER ?!
http://10.10.34.34/?type=Invalid%20Site&policy=p1

[peaceful1]

or these two links ?!

||stats.mehrnews.com^
||ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.2/jquery.min.js

[Michael]

It's probably best to report items in a separate topic, as they are otherwise likely to be missed. I have added |stats.mehrnews.com^ to EasyPrivacy, but do not think that the other addressed proposed collect personal information. One references the popular jQuery library while the other doesn't appear to collect any data pertaining to the user, as indicated by the string sent to the domain.

[Guest]

There are usually three pieces of information that I look at to assist me to identify trackers.

1. The name of the item. Many trackers have names that are either self explanatory or indicate a tracking project that may be researched online.
2. Third party domains. In the majority of cases tracking scripts are located on a third party domain which may be researched and, if necessary, blocked.
3. Item source code. Although not possible with objects, the source code may reference the collection of personal data and therefore lead us to block the item.

[lewisje]

that link at 10.10.34.34 is the page that users in Iran get sent to when they try to access a site blocked by the Islamic Republic; if that particular top-level document did collect personal data, I don't think blocking it would work, because ABP does not block the initial document load, only HTTP requests made in the process of that initial load or of the loading of allowed HTTP requests.

[guest]

But why after applying all recomended filters, Ghostery still shows active tracking elements? Weird.

[MonztA]

I think that Ghostery displays active trackers by checking the source of the page which Adblock Plus does not touch.