You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now.

[flavimakes@toot.garden]

@aesthr linkcleaner.app <- I run every link through that these days

[erin@blahaj.zone]

@aesthr@wandering.shop does ppl still use google account?

[fiend_unpleasant@mastodon.social]

@aesthr we could also send invidious links instead of direct YouTube links. That should really chap their ass.

[connynasch@mastodon.social]

@aesthr my browser is DuckDuckGo which blocks cookie pop-ups and tracking attempts. When I watch youtube through them I have no adverts breaking the video.

[sheamuspatt@mstdn.ca]

@aesthr If you're on Desktop and use Firefox, it's simple. There's a "Copy Clean Link" command to copy a link without the tracking parameters.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop#w_copy-clean-link

[janriemer@floss.social]

@tay Yes, exactly this! Thank you for the link.

@eggg @aesthr

[tpaau17db@mastodon.social]

@aesthr That might actually motivate some people to remove them from their URLs

[maddiem4@raphus.social]

@aesthr been removing these for probably a year now out of a sense of resistance and care for my people. I always figured that ceding this usage information would be a visible problem eventually, and an invisible one before that.

[sonjdol@ohai.social]

@aesthr it's what they already do with insta and Tiktok links

[glitc_@corteximplant.com]

@aesthr afaik it's similar to tiktok and instagram. Another brick in the walled garden slash surveillance capitalism nightmare.

[walruths@mastodon.social]

@aesthr

On that note -delete your google account.

[berniedoesit@mstdn.social]

@aesthr Oh wow, do not want!

[leanderlindahl@social.folkdata.se]

@aesthr maybe stop using surveillance tech, if you want to avoid surveillance. YouTube is not a public utility. It a money making machine for Trump donors.

[jernej__s@infosec.exchange]

@aesthr On Windows I'm using Clipboard Fusion and set up rules to clean up the stuff I copy, including cleaning up all unnecessary Youtube parameters.

[leanderlindahl@social.folkdata.se]

@raymaccarthy @SlangC5326 @barryallen2023 @joknopp @aesthr

[frssoft@social.criminallycute.fi]

@aesthr@wandering.shop
any opensource alternatives?
@jernej__s@infosec.exchange

[sodiboo@gaysex.cloud]

@aesthr@wandering.shop on Android, there's LinkSheet which impmements ClearURLs

for YouTube specifically, it's pretty easy to install ReVanced, which will "Sanitize sharing links" among other things such as removing ads and integrating SponsorBlock.

[jernej__s@infosec.exchange]

@frssoft @aesthr No idea, and while I have the Pro version, I think macros work even in the free one.

[tantramar@zeroes.ca]

@aesthr @JoBlakely
@ttscoff made a little app for iOS called Clean Links and, while it hasn’t been updated in more than a decade, I still use it every day. https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/clean-links/id623671942

[jsit@social.coop]

@aesthr I was just about to post mine when I saw this — this is good but removes everything after a question mark, which might be necessary for some kinds of URLs.

I have one that just removes a set of known tracking parameters from the query string:

Shortcuts

(www.icloud.com)