this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2025
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So I would like someone to maybe try to confirm this, but I've been rightclicking and then opening in private browser if there is something I want to check out but don't want to dominate my feed.
However, I've been finding that I still am sometimes getting these things presented to me as if I care. I am beginning to suspect that YT is either a) tracking mouse coordinates and clicks, and using these or b) some kind of ip/ browser based finger printing that gets around private/ incognito browsing.
I'm on firefox, and running pop_os, so if any one else could weigh in anecdotally, I'm very interested.
Private mode deletes cookiees and browsing history on your device, it has no impact on the amount of information sent out to browsers and your ISP.
Okay but so how is activity I'm doing in private mode relating back to non-private mode? Are they tracking mouse activity? Is this browser finger printing? How would I be able to figure that out?
I'm not entirely sure how they do it, but I do know alot of information is relayed to websites that can be used to fingerprint and track you. Even if you aren't logged in they know where you are and what device you are using. Alot of this depends on how hardened the browser you are using is, because its entirely up to the browser to block this information.
You can try to confuse the data a bit with a VPN, but I'm not sure if a VPN alone counts for much these days.
If you really want no fingerprint you can try either of these two technologies:
TOR is a way to browse the internet that makes it very hard to fingerprint you. The network's bandwidth is limited and there are people in oppressive regimes who legitimately need this though, so I think it would be a waste to use it for regular browsing.
WHONIX is used by Edward Snowden himself. Its an OS within a virtual machine that is entirely reset everytime its run. It has alot of built-in privacy tools, but its not very convenient to use.
I personally use Brave with as many shield options on as possible, alongside a VPN when I think its necessary. On mobile I sometimes use Kiwi, which is unfortunately no longer available. Its the only browser I've found that actually masks whether your device is a phone or PC.
So I'm as hardened as I think I can get on Firefox.
My real suspicion is that its tracking cursor positions. I've been trying to figure out an experimental design I could use to confirm this.
It could be possible, but what makes you suspect they're tracking cursor positions?
Because its the only interaction I can think of that they might have access to. And I know some websites do this. I'm opening them in private windows because I specifically don't want them to get into my feed, and the only interaction I'm having is to move my cursor over them and then to right click.
It turns out they can and likely do track that sort of thing. Still, I highly doubt that's the only information they have access to.
I guess they link it to your public IP address