Tracking Protection lists

[Lavitakus]

Since upgrading to IE9, I'm reluctant to just go downloading these lists for IE9. Obviously, they are written by those who decide what is a good cookie and what is not but they are still corporations with a vested interest in snooping about where the user visits and all of that happy hoopla.

Just figured I would ask the old tried and true folks about it. Are there any good lists that are like the msvp hosts file?

 

[lewisje]

The MVPs Hosts file is full of false positives and is large enough to negatively affect performance; I recommend Peter Lowe's Ad Servers instead: http://pgl.yoyo.org/as/serverlist.php?hostformat=hosts&showintro=0&mimetype=plaintext&useip=0.0.0.0

You may also consider a HOSTS file that I update periodically (about once a week, after Patrick Michael Kolla releases his updates) from the PGL list, the ZeuS tracker, the Malware Domains list, and the Spybot immunizations, all optimized with HostsMan: https://jansal.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/adblock/hosts

Also, the only TPL you really need to stay away from is TRUSTe, because it contains nothing but whitelists (which override blocking rules on all other lists); I also don't recommend the more aggressive PrivacyChoice list because just like the cookie-settings XML file, it has too many false positives.


Here are some sites with the special links you need to click to subscribe to the TPLs...

Microsoft's original site: http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/Browser/TrackingProtectionLists/
Microsoft's current site: http://ieaddons.com/us/trackingprotectionlists/default.aspx

Fanboy's current site, from which the regional add-on subscriptions may be gained: http://fanboy.co.nz/ie.html

Dayngo's site, which links to the TPLs created by the EasyList team from its Adblock Plus subscriptions: http://dayngo.com/static/filter.html

My own site, intended to hold TPLs created using the same script the EasyList team uses, but from Adblock Plus lists (including many of Fanboy's regional lists) that do not yet have their own proper TPLs made by their creators (as soon as a proper TPL is created I will use a 403 redirect to the new location): http://jansal.net/TPL.shtml

If Fanboy is correct about EasyList, it may be best to just subscribe to Fanboy's suite of TPLs (Main, Tracking, and a regional list, whether directly from him or indirectly from me, if you don't primarily browse the Anglophone Web), and maybe the Abine and PrivacyChoice lists, along with the versions of the Malware Domains, Malware Patrol, and Rickroll Blacklist TPLs (maybe even the TPL based on the Adblock Plus list from Peter Lowe's Ad Servers).

 

[Lavitakus]

I kind of like the MSVP hosts file though even if it is considered to contain false positives. I guess, just like the TPL, a false positive depends on what the user wants. I don't use google or anything else that uses the same methods they deem acceptable so am glad to not have them hanging out everywhere on my computer.

Startpage.com search engine has been the best protection from most of these sneaky companies but with this TPL thing, i think I might have to just scribble up my own. Those lists that you offered, although I'm thankful for your input, still let some bad guys in the mix. I think most folks just don't know what the technology they use is actually doing because they're so fascinated by "all of the cool free trinkets and apps".

These LSO flash cookies are doing some serious damage to peoples privacy and they do so because people just don't think before they go "googling" and "yahooing" and "facebooking" and all of that.