• Trackers

    From David E. Ross@nobody@nowhere.invalid to alt.comp.software.firefox on Mon Feb 23 23:47:19 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

    Windows 7
    Firefox 115.31.0 esr

    I received a notice that my browsing the Web site of the Los Angeles
    Times might have resulted in one or more hidden trackers infecting
    Firefox. The trackers are TripleLift Tracker, GumGum, and AudienceRate Tracker.

    How can I tell if my Firefox is infected? If it is, how can I clean it?
    --
    David E. Ross
    <http://www.rossde.com/>
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From R Daneel Olivaw@Danni@hyperspace.vogon.gov.invalid to alt.comp.software.firefox on Tue Feb 24 09:05:27 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

    David E. Ross wrote:
    Windows 7
    Firefox 115.31.0 esr

    I received a notice that my browsing the Web site of the Los Angeles
    Times might have resulted in one or more hidden trackers infecting
    Firefox. The trackers are TripleLift Tracker, GumGum, and AudienceRate Tracker.

    How can I tell if my Firefox is infected? If it is, how can I clean it?


    Where did that "notice" originate? Which process complained?
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From R.Wieser@address@is.invalid to alt.comp.software.firefox on Tue Feb 24 09:29:42 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

    David,

    How can I tell if my Firefox is infected?

    You're not *infected*, its your webbrowser running some javascript it has retrieved from the website you are visiting.(1)

    If it is, how can I clean it?

    Navigate to another webpage (or close the webbrowser).


    (1) The script gathers information about what you are doing on the webpage (where your mouse is, what stuff is (partially) visible and more of that),
    and sends it back to the server - so that ad-slingers can bid for some "targetted" advertising space.

    Something that here in Europe would violate the GDPR and could cost them dearly.

    Regards,
    Rudy Wieser


    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Dave Royal@dave@dave123royal.com to alt.comp.software.firefox on Tue Feb 24 07:57:05 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

    "David E. Ross" <nobody@nowhere.invalid> Wrote in message:

    Windows 7
    Firefox 115.31.0 esr

    I received a notice that my browsing the Web site of the Los Angeles
    Times might have resulted in one or more hidden trackers infecting
    Firefox. The trackers are TripleLift Tracker, GumGum, and AudienceRate Tracker.

    How can I tell if my Firefox is infected? If it is, how can I clean it?

    <https://www.claimdepot.com/settlements/la-times-cipa-settlement>

    That piece says 'installed'. Your notice (from whom?) apparantly
    said 'infected'.

    I suspect 'used on their website' is more accurate.
    --
    Remove numerics from my email address.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From David LaRue@huey.dll@tampabay.rr.com to alt.comp.software.firefox on Tue Feb 24 14:46:09 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

    "David E. Ross" <nobody@nowhere.invalid> wrote in news:10njl29$3mbbb$1@dont- email.me:

    Windows 7
    Firefox 115.31.0 esr

    I received a notice that my browsing the Web site of the Los Angeles
    Times might have resulted in one or more hidden trackers infecting
    Firefox. The trackers are TripleLift Tracker, GumGum, and AudienceRate Tracker.

    How can I tell if my Firefox is infected? If it is, how can I clean it?

    I've not had any issues with FireFox. All scripting options and client side services are disabled. The only extension is AdBlock Free. Cookies are disabled.

    YouTube is a joy to use. No ads at all. Only one site was annoying, SalemNewsMedia, as AdBlock needed to allow some custom sound stuff to run for the site to be usable.

    Very happy with FF and will be sorry to see it go when this aging machine finally dies.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From David E. Ross@nobody@nowhere.invalid to alt.comp.software.firefox on Tue Feb 24 08:53:01 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

    On 2/23/2026 11:57 PM, Dave Royal wrote:
    "David E. Ross" <nobody@nowhere.invalid> Wrote in message:

    Windows 7
    Firefox 115.31.0 esr

    I received a notice that my browsing the Web site of the Los Angeles
    Times might have resulted in one or more hidden trackers infecting
    Firefox. The trackers are TripleLift Tracker, GumGum, and AudienceRate
    Tracker.

    How can I tell if my Firefox is infected? If it is, how can I clean it?

    <https://www.claimdepot.com/settlements/la-times-cipa-settlement>

    That piece says 'installed'. Your notice (from whom?) apparantly
    said 'infected'.

    I suspect 'used on their website' is more accurate.


    "Infected" is my term. The notice I received was from the lawsuit
    settlement attorney. Its actual words were:
    the [LA Times] installed and used three trackers [named] on Website
    visitors' internet browsers
    If they did indeed install trackers on my browser, I consider this to be
    an infection.
    --
    David E. Ross
    <http://www.rossde.com/>
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From Dave Royal@dave@dave123royal.com to alt.comp.software.firefox on Tue Feb 24 17:09:20 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

    "David E. Ross" <nobody@nowhere.invalid> Wrote in message:

    On 2/23/2026 11:57 PM, Dave Royal wrote:
    "David E. Ross" <nobody@nowhere.invalid> Wrote in message:

    Windows 7
    Firefox 115.31.0 esr

    I received a notice that my browsing the Web site of the Los Angeles
    Times might have resulted in one or more hidden trackers infecting
    Firefox. The trackers are TripleLift Tracker, GumGum, and AudienceRate
    Tracker.

    How can I tell if my Firefox is infected? If it is, how can I clean it? >>>
    <https://www.claimdepot.com/settlements/la-times-cipa-settlement>

    That piece says 'installed'. Your notice (from whom?) apparantly
    said 'infected'.

    I suspect 'used on their website' is more accurate.


    "Infected" is my term. The notice I received was from the lawsuit
    settlement attorney. Its actual words were:
    the [LA Times] installed and used three trackers [named] on Website
    visitors' internet browsers
    If they did indeed install trackers on my browser, I consider this to be
    an infection.

    My *guess* is that the website installed cookies, and all that
    'cookies' seems to encompass these days, such as persistent
    website storage and service workers. These are things you can
    delete using Firefox's tools. Cache too.

    Google the named trackers and find out if there's more to it than that.
    --
    Remove numerics from my email address.
    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From sticks@wolverine01@charter.net to alt.comp.software.firefox on Tue Feb 24 11:12:55 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

    On 2/24/2026 1:47 AM, David E. Ross wrote:
    Windows 7
    Firefox 115.31.0 esr

    I received a notice that my browsing the Web site of the Los Angeles
    Times might have resulted in one or more hidden trackers infecting
    Firefox. The trackers are TripleLift Tracker, GumGum, and AudienceRate Tracker.

    How can I tell if my Firefox is infected? If it is, how can I clean it?

    google response:

    How to See If They Are Active
    Because these scripts load dynamically, you won't find them in your "Add/Remove Programs" list. To detect them:

    Check Browser Cookies: Look for cookies named "TLUID" (TripleLift
    User ID) in your browser's privacy settings.
    Use Privacy Extensions: Tools like Ghostery or Privacy Badger
    provide a real-time dashboard showing exactly which trackers (including
    GumGum
    and TripleLift
    ) are active on the page you are currently viewing.
    Developer Tools: On any website, press F12, go to the Network tab,
    and refresh the page. Search for "triplelift
    ," "gumgum
    ," or "audiencerate
    " to see if your browser is sending requests to their servers.

    How to Remove or Block Them
    Since they are not local files, you "remove" them by clearing your
    browsing data and preventing them from loading again:

    Clear Browsing Data: Go to your browser's settings and clear your
    Cookies and Site Data. This deletes any existing identifiers they have
    stored on your device.
    Install a Trusted Blocker: Use uBlock Origin or Privacy Badger to automatically block these scripts from running in the future.
    Use a Privacy-First Browser: Browsers like Brave or Firefox (set to "Strict" tracking protection) block these third-party trackers by default.
    TripleLift
    Opt-Out: You can specifically request the deletion of your data
    through the TripleLift Cookie Deletion Request.
    --
    Science DoesnrCOt Support Darwin. Scientists Do

    --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2
  • From David E. Ross@nobody@nowhere.invalid to alt.comp.software.firefox on Tue Feb 24 09:01:05 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.comp.software.firefox

    On 2/24/2026 12:05 AM, R Daneel Olivaw wrote:
    David E. Ross wrote:
    Windows 7
    Firefox 115.31.0 esr

    I received a notice that my browsing the Web site of the Los Angeles
    Times might have resulted in one or more hidden trackers infecting
    Firefox. The trackers are TripleLift Tracker, GumGum, and AudienceRate
    Tracker.

    How can I tell if my Firefox is infected? If it is, how can I clean it?


    Where did that "notice" originate? Which process complained?


    The notice was a postcard from Kroll Settlement Administation LLC. The
    case was Mirmalek v. Los Angeles Times Communication, LLC. My research indicates this is indeed a real lawsuit. However, all the information I
    can find is about the legal issues and not the software issues.
    --
    David E. Ross
    <http://www.rossde.com/>
    --- Synchronet 3.21d-Linux NewsLink 1.2