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submitted 2 days ago by george@feddit.org to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

Meta devised an ingenious system (“localhost tracking”) that bypassed Android’s sandbox protections to identify you while browsing on your mobile phone — even if you used a VPN, the browser’s incognito mode, and refused or deleted cookies in every session.

This is the process through which Meta (Facebook/Instagram) managed to link what you do in your browser (for example, visiting a news site or an online store) with your real identity (your Facebook or Instagram account), even if you never logged into your account through the browser or anything like that.

Meta accomplishes this through two invisible channels that exchange information:

(i) The Facebook or Instagram app running in the background on your phone, even when you’re not using it.

(ii) Meta’s tracking scripts (the now-pulled illegal brainchild uncovered last week), which operate inside your mobile web browser.

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[-] HelloRoot@lemy.lol -1 points 1 day ago

Yes, by different users at different times, thats my point.

[-] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 2 points 1 day ago

But the conversation is unique in each community. And each community may not have federated to every instance. This is the Fediverse, not a single site with sub communities.

I do think it would be nice if a client/backend could:

  • Take any cross-post link from the main post
  • Query any description/comments for cross posts
  • Add to the currently displayed comments
  • Tack on descriptions as comment blocks with an @ to the cross posting OP to the displayed description
  • Mark cross-posts as read when main is read

This would be easier in Lemmy, but could be done with a client, Thunder might be interested.

[-] HelloRoot@lemy.lol 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It was posted 3x to the Privacy@lemmy.ml community. Or at least it looks to me like 3 different accounts posted the same thing to this very community.

I don't really care about how it works, I'm just tired of the chan-esque experience where I have to question my sanity because I see the same posts every day.

Just because people that don't actually participate in a given community, thus not seeing the older posts, share the same article because they look for a community that fits and dump it there.

Some subreddits had bots that detected and removed reposts and guided OP to the original post for them to add their discussion points.

[-] fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com 2 points 20 hours ago

That sounds like a helpful bot.

[-] HelloRoot@lemy.lol 2 points 14 hours ago

if (link was posted this week) {don't post}

this post was submitted on 14 Jun 2025
396 points (99.5% liked)

Privacy

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