include Ghostery to minimize tracking
Originally created by Tails on #5313 (Redmine)
Ghostery can be set in a quiet mode that does not constantly alert the user to tracking software, but will simply block connections to third-party trackers.
Third-party trackers, of the type that Ghostery fights, make it much easier to follow a Tor user across the Internet. They are installed on almost every website now, everywhere. The security implications are obvious.
What is the underlying threat model that would make us include Ghostery?
The threat model I’m thinking of is when one wants to separate two contextual identities or more generally online practices that should not be linked together.
I think the current best ways to achieve such a protection against tracking are:
- Either reboot Tails.
- Or close Iceweasel (which cleans up internal Iceweasel traces), get a new Tor identity via Vidalia and start Iceweasel again.
I am not sure why/how Ghostery would do better than these two existing solutions. It seems it is based on a blacklist model (that is fundamentally flawed) and I fear it could provide a false sense of security: unless you apply one of the aforementioned solutions, even with Ghostery on, I am pretty sure there are tons of ways to fingerprint your web browser session and track your browsing activity.
I’d be happy to stand corrected :)
The potential for a false sense of security is a good point. Consider this suggestion retracted.