Meta and Yandex are de-anonymizing Android users’ web browsing identifiers

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨sculd@beehaw.org⁩ to ⁨technology@beehaw.org⁩

https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/06/meta-and-yandex-are-de-anonymizing-android-users-web-browsing-identifiers/

Fascinating read. Please STOP using META products and services…

The covert tracking—implemented in the Meta Pixel and Yandex Metrica trackers—allows Meta and Yandex to bypass core security and privacy protections provided by both the Android operating system and browsers that run on it. Android sandboxing, for instance, isolates processes to prevent them from interacting with the OS and any other app installed on the device, cutting off access to sensitive data or privileged system resources. Defenses such as state partitioning and storage partitioning, which are built into all major browsers, store site cookies and other data associated with a website in containers that are unique to every top-level website domain to ensure they’re off-limits for every other site.

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Comments

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PotatoLibre@feddit.it ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
This assume we have a Facebook app on the phone in oder to work, right?

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- MaggiWuerze@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Facebook, Instagram or Yandex. Question is if any Meta App (eg WhatsApp) does the same
  
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  - Mynameisallen@lemmy.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    It definitely was enough for me to get rid of WhatsApp. But I was kind of looking for an excuse
    
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  - PotatoLibre@feddit.it ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I don’t use much of Fb (or Ig, BlueSky), but I always use them on browser even on the phone. I’ve any app installed for social medias except Lemmy.
    
    In my case they shouldn’t be able to track me, or?
    
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- cotlovan@lemm.ee ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Samsung phones come with Facebook services pre-installed, with no way to remove it.
  
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  - PotatoLibre@feddit.it ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I guess you can deactivate them.
    
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  - ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    One of the things that pushed me into the loving arms of GrapheneOS actually.
    
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Powderhorn@beehaw.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
If you still think Meta is providing a service, there are likely mental crisis lines locally. I don’t understand why anyone uses any of their platforms.

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- AmbitiousProcess@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  
  I don't understand why anyone uses any of their platforms.
  
  The answer to this question about almost any shitty platform is almost always the network effect.
  
  Leaving Meta's platforms means leaving where most of your friends and family spend their time digitally, which makes it harder to connect with the people you know. No one can collectively agree on an alternative platform to all simultaneously move to, so in most cases, leaving Meta practically means cutting yourself off from your entire social graph.
  
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