On 17/06/13 10:02, adel.afzal wrote: > Thanks for the tip Andrew. I will use the url that you posted. > > Does the standard facebook page track people in that way, even if > they access facebook with an OS like Trisquel? I use a free OS > (Trisquel) ...so I assumed that I don't have Java on my computer. > Does their tracking work even without Java?
The tracking uses "JavaScript" (JS), which is different from Java. JS is often described as the the scripting language of the web. Abrowser has JavaScript enabled by default, so it is easy to run non-free JS even on this OS. Unfortunately, preventing JavaScript tracking isn't so simple. Many websites are designed to rely on JavaScript (because nearly everyone has it enabled) so disabling it will cause a lot of websites to not work. There is a Firefox/Abrowser/IceCat/Iceweasel addon called LibreJS which only runs JavaScript marked as free software. I prefer to disable JS entirely, and others here run an addon called NoScript which allows you to selectively run JavaScript from certain websites. I have a feeling that Ruben won't include LibreJS or disable JavaScript by default because Trisquel is designed to be easy for anyone to use, and too many websites won't work on Trisquel with it disabled. Richard Stallman has an article on GNU.org called "The JavaScript Trap" which goes into some detail on the issue of non-free JavaScript: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/javascript-trap.html I also posted some other ways non-free JS can be harmful at https://trisquel.info/en/forum/harmful-effects-non-free-javascript TL;DR: Yes, Facebook can use non-free JavaScript for some tracking techniques on Trisquel, and it's not such an easy problem to solve. Andrew.
