I’ve noticed a rise in people sharing links to YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and reddit that include tracking parameters in the URL.
It might largely be harmless for now, but it’s not good to let companies build a web of links between users of this site, and to link the usernames of users on this site to their off-site accounts, which may include sensitive info.
| SM | URL Part | Appearance in URL | Filtration technique |
|---|---|---|---|
| Youtube | Query | ?si=* | Remove query string |
| Query | ?igshid=* | Remove query string | |
| Query | ?t= | Remove query string | |
| Tiktok | Subdomain and path | (vm/vt).tiktok.com/(random_string) | Block |
| Path | /(sub_name)/s/(random_string) | Block |
This site should only allow canonical links to the content to limit the information exposed.
I am very much in favor of getting as many of these as convenient off Hexbear. I made a smaller thread about I think the twitter ones a long time ago and it didn’t go anywhere at the time.
Don’t forget the general purpose UTM ones:
utm_content=site-enterprise-button&utm_source=organic&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=null
These are used across the net, various sites document what they are, like this one: https://mailchimp.com/resources/utm-links/
