Meta devised an ingenious system (“localhost tracking”) that bypassed Android’s sandbox protections to identify you while browsing on your mobile phone — even if you used a VPN, the browser’s incognito mode, and refused or deleted cookies in every session.
This is the process through which Meta (Facebook/Instagram) managed to link what you do in your browser (for example, visiting a news site or an online store) with your real identity (your Facebook or Instagram account), even if you never logged into your account through the browser or anything like that.
Meta accomplishes this through two invisible channels that exchange information:
(i) The Facebook or Instagram app running in the background on your phone, even when you’re not using it.
(ii) Meta’s tracking scripts (the now-pulled illegal brainchild uncovered last week), which operate inside your mobile web browser.
Meta is cancer for any platform.
I feel my mobile becomes dirty once I download any of that shit.
Same Unfortunately, I use Marketplace for some things and Meta made it damn near impossible to use the browser for posting marketplace listings and responding to DM’s
Craiglist and eBay still exists
Yes, but Facebook has more people so the items I’m selling typically get picked up pretty fast.
This is the problem with the network effect, everybody using marketplace is saying the same thing. I’m not trying to shame you in particular for this or anything but I think it’s important to consider that at some point if we don’t just make the move off anyway, nobody ever will
That’s a ridiculous assertion. More items that EBay? Where’d you get that idea?
People are generally closer physically in Facebook marketplace compared to the global eBay market.
I can’t remember which one of my phones, probably a Samsung that had Facebook installed and couldn’t get rid of it. People were like, you can just not open it or something. There’s a good reason I don’t want it on my device.
I had one of theirs like that. You could disable it instead of uninstall, and this wouldn’t happen, but you couldn’t uninstall it.
The real fun started with Android 12. Google introduced the ability for some preloaded apps to avoid being disabled and prevent ADB shell disable.
yup. some samsungs also have a hidden “meta services” app thats not uninstallable too.
Since January Google has been using browser fingerprinting and IP triangulation to track across incognito windows.
Meta wants in the game as well. Nothing done on a phone with Meta apps is done in isolation.
Can anyone confirm if Waterfox or Ironfox mobile at least don’t tattle to Meta?
What is IP triangulation?
Let’s say you use a VPN, and all your internet traffic comes from an IP in London. 178.238.10.1.
It doesn’t matter if you have a VPN, if you log in to anything with any account tied to your real name (yourname@gmail.com), your email and anything done on that London IP are all linked. Google builds a profile on you based on the activity on that IP. AND your browser profile. Private/incognito window or not, if there’s a Google tracker on the site, they connect it all. Google doesn’t care about private windows. If you go to reddit in a private window on the same IP as your gmail, Google sees that and tracks every page you look at.
So let’s say that you log into your email from work. Google now has a treasure trove of new info about you and people you know. Same for FB, who uses the fact that you and someone else were logged on from the same IP range to suggest new friends.
Let’s pretend that you live in China and still have access to a VPN and want to learn about the Tienanmen Square Massacre. But the government can ask Google about you. What do you need?
- an IP never ever used with an account associated with an account with your real name.
- a no-log VPN that won’t tattle on you if asked what sites did you access on a specific date.
- a browser fingerprint never ever associated with an account tied to your real name.
I block Meta via NextDNS, living that Zuck free life is good.
Yeah, but I saw it this time. And thus, got to learn.
Or you could just not use their toxic bullshit. I haven’t logged into Facebook in like 6 years.
Yeah, but they’ll still create a shadow profile on you and track your data anyway. Have a friend with an account? Your name and phone number is known to them. Even without a true identity attached, they will track you from your own devices, and then correlate that with everything else they can at every opportunity.
Also, Facebook is preinstalled as a system app (cannot be uninstalled without adb) on various manufacturer’s and carrier’s android builds.
IIRC Facebook was not installed by default on my Samsung A32, and there is no trace of it now so I don’t think I removed it. shrug Otherwise, use privacy features in your browser/on your device
I am so happy that I deleted my account on Fecesbook back in 2019. Plus, I am blocking Meta through RethinkDNS. Can’t be more happy!
Can they do this on iPhone
Also they can only do this if you got fb installed right? Cause I uninstalled insta a while ago
Any meta service no just FB
I’m asking if they can still do this if u uninstalled the app on iPhone, the post talks abt android
Who says any of my
stalkingOSInt accounts is my real identity?Edit: /s ofc. Who would use those crappy apps on phone anyway.
So iOS was safe?
So would using Firefox and group containers protect against this?
Nah, the script connects to a server run by the Instagram or Facebook app and feeds it info, bypassing isolation mechanisms entirely. I think ublock or other script-blocking add-ons might work though.
