Why is there a "meta analytics" script on most web sites.
How do Facebook and Instagram apps track what you do in the browser, even in incognito mode?
Meta apps start a local server on the phone and keep it running in the background. The Meta analytics script, running on most websites, pings any "localhost" server with the anonymized tracker ID for that session. The app then associates the browser ID with your Meta account, and voilà, all your browsing history is now linked to your Facebook account.
Android is designed to block such things, but Meta found a workaround using basic Sockets and transmitting the tracker ID in the initial handshake of a WebRTC (voice call) request. It's genius and evil as fuck.
https://www.zeropartydata.es/p/localhost-tracking-explained-it-could
Discussion
If you are selling ads or buying ads, you have to add to increase their effectiveness. It also gives you a complete report of what type of people visit your website. Everybody loves it.
So they can track and analyse the users who visit the site, what content they consume and what products they buy.
This information is sold both to the website owner (when they buy ads on meta's platforms) but also packaged up and sold on to companies that make a living from interpretating that data and selling it (down to the detail level of households and/or individuals).
Use Firefox+ublock origin, install a DNS adblocker like pi-hole on your network and last but not least: if you have to use their crap, do it in an isolated environment (virtual machine for example).
Interesting. This works also if you don't have a Facebook account and/or their mobile app?
nostr:nprofile1qqsyvrp9u6p0mfur9dfdru3d853tx9mdjuhkphxuxgfwmryja7zsvhqpzamhxue69uhhv6t5daezumn0wd68yvfwvdhk6tcpz9mhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejj7qgswaehxw309ahx7um5wghx6mmd9u2mk7fe 's report said something about the mobile app installing a local server.
I use Brave everywhere sort of hoping it does something there but haven't really looked into what that is that is does I admit.
Yep. You don't need a Facebook account to be tracked. They just correlate everything you click on and report it back.
Brave blocks meta scripts by default and replace it with their own ad tracking stuff.
Similar to how Apple also blocks and forces Meta to use Apple Ad identifiers instead. Which in the end can be correlated together.
Ok but that's just like any other tracking cookie.
Not that they're good but it's not the next level what with the local server
Do you know if livre wolf/iron fox offers any protection?
Ps: I use noscript, which blocks all Javascript except what I approve
Would help If the JS name of this was disclosed