This is so close to extortion that the two are touching one another.
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Only one way to find out
Hi @amarok,
Two things:
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I looked into Pi-Hole some time ago and found that it can block ads from showing up, but when you visit a website that has those “Share” buttons for FB, Twit, ad nauseum social media peeps, will report your GPU, APU, CPU, Fonts, device, location and IP to all of them, even if you don’t have accounts with any of them. Pi-hole will block all of that? True or False?
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I use VPNs a lot, but hate bumping into those Captchas that wants one to play Google (peep) puzzle games of find the bus, or bike, or train… and some sites use a list to block VPN IP addresses. If I access my Google account (I confess) there are times I have to got through 9 puzzles - even though I know a car when I see one.
Does this happen to you with the Pi?
Have you found Pi-Hole blocks things like LSOs, “tags”, “tracking bugs”, “pixel trackers” or “pixel gifs” and ilk?
I’ve read a great deal on Pi-Hole, but usually come away more confused than educated.
I sent my TV off to be recycled into dumb-phones because it wasn’t “smart”. But judging the new TVs then my toaster, shoehorn, door knobs, light-switches must all be “smart” as well. Especially my T-kettle - it whistles at me when it’s hot. I’m wagering there are people now in awe of their faucets for knowing which one is Hot and the other Cold.
IMO, only some people can be smart, but not anything that is not human. “Smart” is as controlling as is “Googling it”.
Thanks
~s~
.1. True. Unless you’re currently connected to a VPN, in which case, in the Pi-Hole dashboard you won’t see connections to individual websites or the scripts running on those pages. It’s all being masked behind your VPN. This is also why any Hosts rules that you set on your computer have no effect during VPN usage (as I understand it, anyway), and why URL blacklists in your router settings have no effect during VPN usage.
When connected to a VPN, you would need to rely on NoScript, uBlock Origin, etc., to prevent those evil connections while browsing.
There may be a way to configure Pi-Hole settings to achieve it, but I’m not sure.
.2. Yes. I do see captchas frequently, and I hate it. That’s with or without Pi-Hole, of course.
The awesome thing about Pi-Hole is that it works against hidden connections from devices that don’t even have the ability to install a tracker/ad blocker, for instance, Roku, AppleTV, Ring doorbells (shudder!), security cameras, etc.
P.S. For captchas, I usually choose the audio option. I reload until I get an obvious, audible phrase - so as not to give any meaningful aid to Google - and only enter one or two words that I hear. It’s usually enough to pass the first time, maybe second.
Are LSOs still a thing, now that Adobe Flash is defunct (or is it still around)?
As for the other stuff, if it’s a connection to somewhere, Pi-Hole can block it…unless you’re connected to a VPN.
With the major disclaimer that I don’t use Pi-Hole …
Pi-Hole is a DNS server, and that’s basically it.
Within the capabilities of a DNS server it can “poison” any domain that is looked up. However it is a relatively blunt tool, so that any given domain is either poisoned (effectively rendered inoperative) or it is not, the domain in its entirety.
Poisoning is only as good as the list of domains to poison. However you should be able to add additional domains to the list i.e. if you notice a domain not being poisoned but you think it ought to be poisoned.
In principle Pi-Hole offers an option to poison the domain to a local web server (maybe itself?) and in principle that might be used for more selective behaviour.
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It might still be possible. Just some ideas:
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Keep using the original DNS server from outside the VPN (the Pi-Hole) and configure the Pi-Hole so that any unblocked DNS lookups are either securely sent somewhere or are relayed back through the original client. (For example, if you have a multi-user subscription to the VPN service, you might set up the Pi-Hole server so that it itself uses the VPN.) OR
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Run a second copy of Pi-Hole locally on the client device and use the local copy when using the VPN.
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I actually find that it gives a lot of granular control, over full domains, or variations of domains. I can choose the hosts files that suit my needs, and blacklist or whitelist at will, also. I only wish I had installed it years ago.
I figured there were some options to accomplish that. Thanks. I’m not too concerned about the devices on which I always have an active VPN connection; I keep close tabs on scripts and trackers in browsers with my various extensions. And if I forget to connect the VPN, Pi-Hole takes up the slack, as the traffic from my computer is no longer masked. Of course, I don’t even have to worry about the OS, as it’s Linux.
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To clarify my remark, I meant that, given a single domain, example.com, it is either blocked in all circumstances for all clients on your network. (It may be that you can temporarily override but I’m making a general point here and for sure if the DNS lookup is done “unattended” then you can’t temporarily override.)
So to pick up on @Sharon’s question … that damned “Share” button for FB … it might be implemented by a fixed domain reference but … it’s OK on Facebook’s web site itself but it’s not OK on any third party web site. That kind of granularity can only really be implemented in the browser itself or, at a pinch, in a web proxy server.
And maybe there are two people in the house and they have different poisoning needs. (This is probably solvable, with Pi-Hole or other equivalent solutions, but it’s not something that I am currently doing. I’ve just gone for lowest common denominator.)
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Good points.
One thing I like about Pi-Hole’s options is that you can wildcard a domain and P-H turns it into regex (which I wish I had some knowledge of).
So for instance, I can add:
.cn
.ru
and…to bring this thread back around to the OP…:
facebook
fbcdn
…and so on.
LSO’s - It’s hard to tell since there is not a lot said about LSO’s at Adobe site. But one thing that is a possible maybe is the comment:
A local shared object (LSO), commonly called a Flash cookie (due to its similarity with an HTTP cookie), is a piece of data that websites that use Adobe Flash may store on a user’s computer. ➤Local shared objects have been used by all versions of Flash Player (developed by Macromedia, which was later acquired by Adobe Systems) since version 6.
Via Wiki - Read More
Unlike a typical browser cookie, a flash cookie must be cleared through Adobe Flash Player settings.
Via Cookie Pro - Read More
So, if the LSO requires Flash Player, and that is disabled by most browsers by now and the victims who used it on their web sites had to change out, I don’t see LSO’s being used by Adobe, any more or much longer. I wonder what little Peeps and Pervs they replaced LSO spies with! Like Google announcing they were starting to behave by not using “3rd party cookies” anymore, then later a small tidbit about FLOC. Any blockers made yet for Google’s FLOCing SMIRCer? 
~s~
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Only somewhat satisfying to read this. Lol! I would like to have seen more mention of their many privacy abuses.
It’s amusing that the survey was conducted by Survey Monkey, which has a connection to Zuckerberg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survey_monkey (Which is also why I always refuse to participate in their surveys, and why I complain to the businesses that ask me to.)
Note that Survey Monkey, now renamed Momentive Inc., is apparently getting bought by Zendesk, which manages the customer help functions for many, many websites.
So…many…bad…companies… Must… reach… ban… button…
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Yes, a controversial year but … money talks. Revenues up. Shareholders happy. Zuck stays in his job.
I would like to suggest also that Facebook is being unfairly blamed for the ills of society. What is said on Facebook is a reflection of the wider society. If someone shouts something abusive at you, you don’t blame the air that carried the sound waves.
I would suggest a revisit to watch H.G. Wells’ “Things to Come”.
The end riot is caused by a flash-mob after a jumbotron video presentation on world government’s social media network. (Note the comms device was in clear acrylic but did it have user-replaceable components?)
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It’s true, society itself is the source of its own ills, but Facebook obviously capitalizes on that to maximum profit, regardless of the consequences to society.
At any rate, it’s immense fun to blame them! 
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What’s wrong? LifeLog got y’all down? Systems of scarcity is the means of profit for our Governments of the world. Things will not change till there is a replacement and when peoples needs are being met.
Meta’s Facebook subsidiary has been collecting hashed personal data from students seeking US government financial aid, even from those without a Facebook account and those not logged into the student aid website, according to a research study published this week.
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I have noticed this as well running on a pi zero 2 w. I have it running on a MNT Reform which is using the same ix.8 chip. So it really does not use much in the way of resources.
I’m really looking forward to getting the L5.
It may be despicable, but is it despised?
About a year ago, the great oldies rock star Van Morrison came out with this:
(Apologies if I said this before.)
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