ClearURLs Addon: Automatically Remove Tracking Elements from URLs

Introduction

ClearURLs Addon is a powerful browser extension designed to automatically remove tracking elements from URLs, significantly enhancing your online privacy. Built on the modern WebExtensions technology, it is optimized for Firefox and various Chrome-based browsers. This add-on works silently in the background, cleaning up links in real-time and preventing websites from monitoring your activity through embedded tracking codes. Its rules are regularly updated to ensure comprehensive protection against new tracking methods.

Installation

Installing ClearURLs Addon is a straightforward process, allowing you to quickly secure your browsing experience.

• For Firefox: You can get the add-on directly from the official Mozilla Add-ons store: Install ClearURLs for Firefox
• For Edge: The add-on is also available on the Microsoft Edge Add-ons store: Install ClearURLs for Edge

For developers or those who prefer to install directly, CI/CD artifacts for Firefox and Chrome-Dev are available for download from the project's GitLab repository.

Examples

Many websites embed tracking elements within URLs to monitor your online activity. For instance, a URL might look like this: https://example.com?utm_source=newsletter1&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sale. All these tracking parameters are unnecessary for the website to function correctly.

ClearURLs Addon efficiently removes these elements. Consider a long Amazon URL, which often contains extensive tracking code:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/exampleProduct/ref=sxin_0_pb?__mk_de_DE=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&keywords=tea&pd_rd_i=exampleProduct&pd_rd_r=8d39e4cd-1e4f-43db-b6e7-72e969a84aa5&pd_rd_w=1pcKM&pd_rd_wg=hYrNl&pf_rd_p=50bbfd25-5ef7-41a2-68d6-74d854b30e30&pf_rd_r=0GMWD0YYKA7XFGX55ADP&qid=1517757263&rnid=2914120011

Once ClearURLs Addon processes this address, it transforms into a clean and concise link:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/exampleProduct

This demonstrates how the add-on effectively removes superfluous tracking data, leaving only the essential part of the URL.

Why Use ClearURLs Addon?

ClearURLs Addon offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to protect your privacy and enhance your browsing experience:

• Automatic Tracking Removal: Removes tracking elements from URLs in the background, without any manual intervention.
• Ad Domain Blocking: Optionally blocks some common ad domains, further reducing unwanted content.
• URL Cleanup Tool: Includes a built-in tool to clean up multiple URLs simultaneously.
• Redirection Support: Supports redirection to the destination without involving tracking services as intermediaries.
• Clean Link Copying: Adds an entry to the context menu, allowing you to quickly copy cleaned links.
• Hyperlink Auditing Block: Blocks hyperlink auditing, also known as ping tracking, preventing sites from knowing when you click a link.
• ETag Tracking Prevention: Prevents ETag tracking, a method used to identify and track users across websites.
• History API Tracking Prevention: Prevents tracking injection over the history API, ensuring your browsing history remains private.
• Search Result Protection: Prevents Google and Yandex from rewriting search results to include tracking elements.

Links

For more information and to contribute to the project, please visit the official resources:

• GitHub Repository: ClearURLs/Addon
• Firefox Add-on: Get ClearURLs for Firefox
• Edge Add-on: Get ClearURLs for Edge
• Test Page: Test ClearURLs functionality