<![CDATA[You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now.]]>You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now.

They started showing a popup about who sent the link and offering a (maybe new) DM feature, potentially revealing your personal account name to anyone who opens the link.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/e093e5e5-ebe9-4b19-89d4-73582ee9729e/you-really-should-remove-the-tracking-codes-from-youtube-links-now.RSS for NodeMon, 15 Jun 2026 22:30:04 GMTSat, 16 May 2026 09:53:57 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 13:36:09 GMT]]>@aesthr That might actually motivate some people to remove them from their URLs

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/tpaau17db/statuses/116584518102331644https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/tpaau17db/statuses/116584518102331644Sat, 16 May 2026 13:36:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 13:26:52 GMT]]>@aesthr If you're on Desktop and use Firefox, it's simple. There's a "Copy Clean Link" command to copy a link without the tracking parameters.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop#w_copy-clean-link

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/SheamusPatt/statuses/116584481615107529https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.ca/users/SheamusPatt/statuses/116584481615107529Sat, 16 May 2026 13:26:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 13:23:58 GMT]]>@aesthr my browser is DuckDuckGo which blocks cookie pop-ups and tracking attempts. When I watch youtube through them I have no adverts breaking the video.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/connynasch/statuses/116584470157397741https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/connynasch/statuses/116584470157397741Sat, 16 May 2026 13:23:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 13:19:57 GMT]]>@aesthr we could also send invidious links instead of direct YouTube links. That should really chap their ass.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/fiend_unpleasant/statuses/116584454382856839https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/fiend_unpleasant/statuses/116584454382856839Sat, 16 May 2026 13:19:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 12:51:32 GMT]]>@aesthr@wandering.shop a youtube url cleaner web extention is a must have now

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mk.absturztau.be/notes/ambwt95sfcxw00clhttps://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mk.absturztau.be/notes/ambwt95sfcxw00clSat, 16 May 2026 12:51:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 12:47:01 GMT]]>@aesthr@wandering.shop

I am close to muting / blocking people who persistently refer me to EwwwTube rather than PeerTube.
Also to various bridges, constantly quoting the commercial crud...

I use non Commercial Search Engines and still try to get a vanilla link if I wish to post one.

OK maybe i'm missing out not watching the YT, but I can live with that.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mk.absturztau.be/notes/ambwnfx0fcxw00c4https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mk.absturztau.be/notes/ambwnfx0fcxw00c4Sat, 16 May 2026 12:47:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 12:37:45 GMT]]>@aesthr@wandering.shop You can do that with Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop#w_copy-clean-link

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fe.disroot.org/objects/50881ae2-40ca-4cbf-9cb3-ec89fe046094https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://fe.disroot.org/objects/50881ae2-40ca-4cbf-9cb3-ec89fe046094Sat, 16 May 2026 12:37:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 12:20:28 GMT]]>@SlangC5326 @barryallen2023 @joknopp @aesthr

1. Don't use facebook
2. Don't log in on YouTube if sharing.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.ie/users/raymaccarthy/statuses/116584220469130276https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.ie/users/raymaccarthy/statuses/116584220469130276Sat, 16 May 2026 12:20:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 12:17:28 GMT]]>@ryan @eggg @aesthr hmm, actually yeah, that's what I'm seeing now too. for some reason I thought I'd recently seen such a link without a query string where the id didn't match the video id. I could be mistaken, sorry.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/sanityinc/statuses/116584208687340396https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/sanityinc/statuses/116584208687340396Sat, 16 May 2026 12:17:28 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 11:57:37 GMT]]>@aesthr Even worse because the person you sent the link to could send the same link, with the same tracking code, to other people you don't care about

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://bertha.social/ap/users/116054147328405917/statuses/116584130663024920https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://bertha.social/ap/users/116054147328405917/statuses/116584130663024920Sat, 16 May 2026 11:57:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 11:37:15 GMT]]>@joknopp @aesthr Better yet: YouTube ReVanced is a mod package that has dozens of options to make the app more usable. Being able to remove Shorts from all feeds and search results (and the Shorts button entirely) has been fantastic.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.brycedixon.dev/users/bryce/statuses/116584050545663407https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.brycedixon.dev/users/bryce/statuses/116584050545663407Sat, 16 May 2026 11:37:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 11:20:41 GMT]]>@eggg oh right, a/b.. would make sense ;w;

@sanityinc @aesthr

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://wetdry.world/users/risc/statuses/116583985439828581https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://wetdry.world/users/risc/statuses/116583985439828581Sat, 16 May 2026 11:20:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 11:19:22 GMT]]>@risc @sanityinc @aesthr sounds as though its already in a/b testing then 😕

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/eggg/statuses/116583980251250248https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/eggg/statuses/116583980251250248Sat, 16 May 2026 11:19:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 11:17:35 GMT]]>@janriemer @aesthr oh that's gross

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/eggg/statuses/116583973196519395https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/eggg/statuses/116583973196519395Sat, 16 May 2026 11:17:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 11:13:11 GMT]]>@aesthr Fukkkkk me

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.cloud/users/elronxenu/statuses/116583955895712291https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.cloud/users/elronxenu/statuses/116583955895712291Sat, 16 May 2026 11:13:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 11:07:05 GMT]]>@eggg

> Like, eventually we may have to tell people "search for these terms" if we want to share things untracked

This won't be possible either, because apparently YT is frequently changing titles of videos (or rather give creators the option to do so).

Just insane!

@aesthr

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://floss.social/users/janriemer/statuses/116583931923071936https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://floss.social/users/janriemer/statuses/116583931923071936Sat, 16 May 2026 11:07:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 11:03:11 GMT]]>@aesthr I noticed maybe a week ago that Facebook does the same. Quite uncomfortable.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.nikopoikulainen.fi/users/niko/statuses/116583916571805021https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.nikopoikulainen.fi/users/niko/statuses/116583916571805021Sat, 16 May 2026 11:03:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 11:02:54 GMT]]>@sanityinc @eggg @aesthr fwiw, every youtu dot be link i see in the wild currently uses the opaque identifier for the global video id (sometimes with the tracking identifier after the question mark that you can strip in the same way). of course they could eventually start switching this to a slightly different opaque unique per-user identifier that looks similar to the video id and it would probably take people a while to notice, but they don’t seem to be doing it yet

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.miyaku.media/users/ryan/statuses/01KRR7854MDQBDRHPTAQFKM6Q1https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.miyaku.media/users/ryan/statuses/01KRR7854MDQBDRHPTAQFKM6Q1Sat, 16 May 2026 11:02:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 10:59:20 GMT]]>@batterpunts @aesthr It does.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.nikopoikulainen.fi/users/niko/statuses/116583901437594664https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://social.nikopoikulainen.fi/users/niko/statuses/116583901437594664Sat, 16 May 2026 10:59:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 10:57:01 GMT]]>@aesthr I assume it's similar on iOS but I don't own one

(And the fact that you can deactivate it does not change the fact, that this is a shitty (and probably dangerous) feature and that making it opt-out (instead of opt-in) is a terrible decision!

And finding the right setting for the opt-out isn't trivial either, which obviously sucks)

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/Larymir/statuses/116583892366258232https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/Larymir/statuses/116583892366258232Sat, 16 May 2026 10:57:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 10:55:04 GMT]]>@aesthr Thanks for the heads-up! I've already been doing it as a matter of common courtesy, but this makes it even more pressing.

(Also, when sharing from the YT Music app, removing the "music." subdomain part from the URL makes the link more convenient to people who don't use the service and maybe have adblocking set up on regular YT.)

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/glennseto/statuses/116583884671414810https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/glennseto/statuses/116583884671414810Sat, 16 May 2026 10:55:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 10:53:50 GMT]]>@aesthr there is a setting to keep YouTube from sharing your account with the person you're sending the link. This does not remove the tracking parameter, but should keep you from accidentally leaking your account, in case you forget to remove the tracking
In the YouTube app on Android: If you click on the share button you should see a popup with something like "sending as [your channel]", clicking on your channel should lead you to an explanation with a link to the setting to deactivate it

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/Larymir/statuses/116583879829417356https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://chaos.social/users/Larymir/statuses/116583879829417356Sat, 16 May 2026 10:53:50 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 10:49:04 GMT]]>@barryallen2023 @joknopp @aesthr FB share embeds their "who sent it" ID into the codes with no easy "?..."

I paste my share link into a non-logged-in mobile browser, get rid of the "[Name] sent you this blah blah" pop over, and THEN you can copy the plain URL.

I don't share FB content much. It adds 2 steps but I don't really want them to know I shared with X and Y IRL friends.

I see more platforms adopting this more invasive method in the surveillance-heavy future.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/SlangC5326/statuses/116583861074875650https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/SlangC5326/statuses/116583861074875650Sat, 16 May 2026 10:49:04 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to You REALLY should remove the tracking codes from Youtube links now. on Sat, 16 May 2026 10:44:11 GMT]]>@aesthr Interesting how incredibly slow they are rolling this out. They've been doing this for months but I see these screenshots in peoples feeds every week showing it as new behaviour.

Either that or most people on here actually never get sent tracked links in the first place!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/pa3weg/statuses/116583841912186878https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/pa3weg/statuses/116583841912186878Sat, 16 May 2026 10:44:11 GMT