What could the Privacy Redirect add-on redirect Reddit links to?

#PrivacyRedirect #privacy #Reddit

@strypey nothing AFAIK, but the problem is much bigger than #Reddit & bigger than a simple URL substitution can handle. Think of all the articles on #CloudFlare sites. Hard-coding a site-by-site remedy would be an endless chase. We need a tool that will visit #privacy-hostile sites via some sandboxed anonymous Tor circuit, harvest the text, and store it on an onion host.

@aktivismoEstasMiaLuo
yeah, but you can browse #reddit using #torbrowser without #javascript.
https://old.reddit.com
@strypey

@Br0m3x @strypey Indeed. I wonder if Privacy Redirect could be smart enough to detect whether #Tor is installed, & launch Tor Browser to visit old reddit. OTOH, it'd still be direct Reddit access so Reddit would still profit from the ads. Ideally the mechanism would strip out the ads & promoted content.

@aktivismoEstasMiaLuo
> Ideally the mechanism would strip out the ads & promoted content.

Isn't all that stuff served using JS? I actually have no problem with static ads from anyone willing to sponsor websites. Static ads are aimed at the presumed readership of a website and require no tracking or datafarming of users.

@Br0m3x

@strypey
The same here. Static ads are OK.
@aktivismoEstasMiaLuo

@Br0m3x @strypey you're ignoring the money flow. The least intrusive of ads (static, non-targeted) are still harmful if the revenue they generate supports a #privacy abuser. Recall that we are talking specifically in the context of getting the content of privacy abusing websites to the privacy-respecting free world.

@strypey @Br0m3x w.r.t all sites (even privacy-respecting ones), I still have an objection to ads in general. Ads inherently create an arms race. I.e. a vendor reluctant to spend money on ads is forced to when their competitor does so. Ads are manipulative & they distort reality to undermine cost-benefit perceptions, so goods/services with poor value gain undeserved marketshare.

@aktivismoEstasMiaLuo in general, I agree with you. This piece makes a good case against marketing:
https://davelane.nz/tech-marketing-listen-ignore-research

But what about the use of static ads by cooperatives, not-for-profits, or other entities whose goals are to raise awareness of public interest matters, and to support the operator whose platform hosts their static ads?

@Br0m3x

@strypey @Br0m3x the tobacco industry spends a fortune on ads. Because the ads are so effective at creating smokers, the US gov. spends a fortune on propaganda to discourage smoking (as the gov couldn't legally block a tobacco corps free speech).

@aktivismoEstasMiaLuo @strypey @Br0m3x

Aren't tobacco ads banned in the US? I think they're banned in most of the world by now, and US free speech does seem to have a number of exceptions too.

@kravietz @Br0m3x @strypey The history is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_nicotine_marketing#United_States and the regulation goes further than i realized. I still see tobacco ads in magazines last time i checked.

@aktivismoEstasMiaLuo @Br0m3x @strypey

Wow, that's really silly especially granted all the "morality" restrictions still present in US. In most European countries you won't find *any* tobacco-related products anywhere in the public and even in shops it's being sold from separate counters with covered display. Also the branding is largely masqueraded so a "Marlboro" box is a generic white box with "Marlboro" written on it but no cowboys etc.

@kravietz @strypey @Br0m3x I think the tobacco industry in the US has a long leash when it comes to marketing to adults. If you pick up a Playboy mag it's probably loaded with tobacco ads.

@aktivismoEstasMiaLuo @strypey @Br0m3x

Makes perfect sense. I don't know *any* adults who would read Playboy but every single male teen of my age was reading it as soon as we reached puberty 😂