YSK: You might be unknowingly doxxing yourself by sharing links containing trackers
YSK: You might be unknowingly doxxing yourself by sharing links containing trackers
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.
You're viewing a single thread.
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.