[Repost] Clean YouTube links.
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
@VisualStuart @franky Thank you! Added ?si to my Clipboard URL Cleaner: https://code.rosaelefanten.org/clipurlcleaner/dir?ci=tip
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So, everything after the =
@Lorraine Not quite. Delete the ? and everything to the right of it. Enjoy!
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
@VisualStuart Thank you for posting that. I've been scolded for posting links with trackers, but they've never bothered to give instructions, so I ignored them. No idea what they were talking about.
Happy to remove trackers, now that I know what and how. -
I run an extension on the various Firefox instances I use called ClearURLs which cleans those up.
I also use NewPipe on my Android phone to view YouTube. It doesn't add those suffixes.
There are other options I'm sure.
@artnacrea Yeah, I am aware of such browser extensions. I am extra cautious about using or recommending browser extensions only because they are difficult to vet and pose security vulnerabilities. That's just me.
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@VisualStuart @franky Thank you! Added ?si to my Clipboard URL Cleaner: https://code.rosaelefanten.org/clipurlcleaner/dir?ci=tip
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
Works with links in newsletter as well, particularly ones from media
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@VisualStuart @franky I haven't seen any website with ?si= that would be relevant when sharing links yet.
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
@VisualStuart Thanks for the tip!
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@artnacrea Yeah, I am aware of such browser extensions. I am extra cautious about using or recommending browser extensions only because they are difficult to vet and pose security vulnerabilities. That's just me.
Absolutely. There's a tradeoff in all these options. I'm willing to live the pluses and minuses but others may need to do things differently.
Caveat emptor!
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
@VisualStuart I delete everything beyond the actual link needed to get to a website when clicking links on Facebook as well. I'm not going to make Zuckerberg more wealthy through ad clicks.
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
@VisualStuart Will do!
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@Lorraine Not quite. Delete the ? and everything to the right of it. Enjoy!
Okay! Thanks so much!
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
How are YouTube links formed, to embedded the playable video, and not a link.
Oh wise one. Please.
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How are YouTube links formed, to embedded the playable video, and not a link.
Oh wise one. Please.
@kevinrns I don't know. That sounds like a great question to ask the great Mastodon community. Best luck!
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
@VisualStuart use DuckDuckGo
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
@VisualStuart YouTube isn't the only site that appends trackers to its links. I always confirm that I am only posting the actual link.
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
@VisualStuart For iOS friends, I've written a shortcut that will remove the surveillance from the URL in the clipboard. I have an icon right next to the YouTube app for this. It makes sharing links on my phone so much easier.
Edit: make sure the replace function is set to regex mode.
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
@VisualStuart don't forget that lot's of other media companies do the same.
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
@VisualStuart delete it before pasting to whatsapp or similar, as those are going to immediately take the link and creating a thumbnail/preview. And so youtube will know and can track. Sometimes, even after editing, the thumbnail retains the tracking ID and all your friends will be tracked as well.
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[Repost] Clean YouTube links. When you get a link from YT, it includes an ID tracking back to YOU. It's a "query string" on the end of the URL like this:
...?si=[tracker_ID_here]This ID allows YouTube (and their owner, Google, and *their* owner, Alphabet, and ALL of their associates) to track the people who click on the link, and the apps they used, back to you, building a network of none-of-their-business.
Good news: DELETE the "?si=..." part & the link works just fine without the tracking.
@VisualStuart better still - change a few characters in the bit after the si and mess with their algorithm. Also works.
