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by lxgr 1203 days ago
Unfortunately that won't help as it's perfectly possible to add tracking parameters in a static-looking portion of a URL.

Removing all query parameters might encourage that practice, and ultimately even push sites towards creating completely opaque, server-side resolved unique sharing URLs.

2 comments

Very true. This is a nuclear arms race that I'm afraid users will ultimately lose. The kind of fingerprinting that has been used to determine TOR users is what the end-game ultimately looks like. It's already being done anyway. It's very difficult to avoid, and you will not be able to use 90% of the mainstream internet if you do.
Sort of. Adding an unexpected query variable is generally well handled, which allows Facebook to add fbclid to all outbound links without breaking most sites. Stuffing the tracker into the static part of the URL requires way more integration work.