cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/31187638
Earlier today I came across a Reddit comment with a link to an Instagram post. The link had
?igsh=at the end.When I clicked on the link, I got this popup. It had a name and profile photo that was different from that of the post being shared.
Join Firstname Lastname on Instagram
See photos, videos, and more from Firstname Lastname.
[ Open Instagram ]
not now
I avoid link trackers. However, I did not realize it was this bad.
To my knowledge, TikTok does the same thing and lists the name of the person that shared the link. Assuming this increases engagement, any website could enable such a feature, even on old links that you shared in the past.
You should manually remove any trackers before sharing, or use an app for it.
Note that a TikTok link is un-cleanable. It will always trace back to you. Do not ever share TikTok links unless you’re willing to expose your identity to the person you’re sharing with.
I think you can go find the video in an incognito tab, then grab the link from there
Specifically, you can “share” it to yourself, open that link in an incognito tab, then strip out everything but the user and video id
https://www.tiktok.com/@USERNAME/video/LONGSTRINGOFDIGITS
You have to do the same thing with Amazon a.co links I think
This. Alternatively, share the link to URL Cleaner, unshorten it, and remove the extra junk. It’s an extra few steps, but worth it.
It would only show the info relating to the account though, right? I don’t share my Instagram because I can’t figure out how to disconnect it from my Facebook (plus it doesn’t embed on discord - very rude), but I don’t use my real info for any of my other accounts.
Yuuuup, found out the hard way that tiktok shows you when someone watches a link you sent them.
My dad loves sending me cat videos on the tiktok, he sends me the links on Facebook.
I have two tiktok accounts because I knew there was a risk that my dad would be able to find me on tiktok through contacts. My dad is a transphobe, so in order to not poke the bear I maintain a cis persona when dealing with him.
But it took him 0.3 seconds to realise that he sent his daughter a link, and then an openly transmasc account user with a similar name opened that link, and then his daughter replied to his message reacting to the link…my ears are still bringing from the phone call he made to me.
So thats how my misunderstanding of tiktok trackers outted me to my transphobic father.
(fortunately I’m a fully grown adult and can cut him out of my life if he doesn’t calm down)
I’m so sorry you have to deal with this. And so terrified that anonymity is wiped out that easily
I don’t remember which site this was, but I remember it being a pretty big one…
Anyway - I shared a link on reddit about 10 years ago, and I got a PM from a user addressing me by my first name telling me to delete the link.
Not only did it say who I was - the link logged people into my account.
Jesus, now that its terrifying!
What would even be the point of a link that allows you that? Like, why was it designed to do that!?
Props to that person who PM’d you the warning.
They were probably just lazy in their site design and the link itself contained the token for the login or whatever.
He’ll come around, some people just take longer
I’ve been out as queer since I was 14. I’m in my 30, he still hasn’t come around.
Given his age and health, if he’s planning too come around he’d better get on it quick, at this rate he’s dying a bigot.
I’m not waiting any more, I put my whole life on hold waiting for him to come around so I could live my life safely. If I need to cut him out of my life I will.
I appreciate they kind words, but please keep in mind mind that it’s not always smart or safe to tell a trans person to be patient. The individual will know their level of safety, and advice to be patient and understanding can in some cases case be very, very harmful.
Is it just him?
Or are there more around him mirroring this hate?
No idea, he lives on the other side of the state and I only see him 3 times a year for his birthday, father’s day and Christmas. My brother used to live with him but he spends most of his time with mum now.
I’m certain my dad is getting this rhetoric from social media because he’s a lonely and isolated man in his late 60s with no friends outside of his male dominated blue collar job.
But it’s not my job to reform him, I don’t have the skill set or energy.
MANY apps currently have these unneeded tracker parameters, here’s Youtube
Good PSA. Personally I’m not that worried because
- I don’t use Instagram
- Firefox has an option to copy links without site tracking, which hopefully would work on Instagram links
- I try to only write stuff online that wouldn’t be massively embarrassing if anyone does happen to figure out who I am
The fingerprinting goes waaaaay beyond Instagram. Maybe not frequently username specific, but it’s still kinda weird to always be throwing out your device type, browser, and prior we page among other things
another PSA if you have an Xbox account (even for PC) and have added anyone to friends they get to see your full name, state city. It is very cool to play games while also doxing yourself. thanks Microsoft
You can go into settings and change it so that it doesn’t show to anyone. But at some point they made an update and it reset those options to the default setting even if you had previously set it to hidden.
At that point I just went in and changed my name on my account settings.
Hi yes, my name is Tim Microsoft, I live at 123 Microsoft St, Microsoft, CA 12345-6789
I actually have MS Seattle HQ address as my Xbox address lol
if I ever start a multibillion dollar company, I am totally going to name the road [Company] St, with the address being 123.
Just so everyone thinks the HQ address is fake.
it was on me to use my real name. at the same time for any online purchase I use my real name so I didn’t give it second thought.
I just thought it was very wrong of them to expose that to friends list. I pick a nickname for a reason, so people see my nickname.
I thought the default was only favorite friends could see that.
Ever since I realized TikTok creates a unique share URL that tells the person you’re the one sharing it, I became paranoid with any social media share links that are created dynamically. I won’t share them unless I try them out first.
Its more effort but I do this if I think its worth sharing a link, test the link in a private browser first. I just also don’t want to be doxxing friends and family to the platform in question either.
Let’s just share content and not track people and accounts
It’s the reason I don’t use share buttons. The YouTube link is clean (afaik, idk if they encode data into the ID) when copying the URL. Same with other services.
My 78 year old aunt from Mexico did it and I don’t give a fact! Lol
Here I am, mister froggy, and my hat is slay, and I bought a subscription to a VPN controlled by an Israeli company
Joke’s on you; Almost all of the personalized links whatever app/sites generate for me to share are invalid until I delete massive chunks of them!
As a result, I anonymize all of them just so I can share stories about random bullshit.
