Post #1570879
2026-01-28 19:09 UTC
Replies (2)
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@ryanprior@mastodon.social 2026-01-28 19:15
@HunterZ @osm_tech this is actually quite common. Mobile advertising SDKs for games, background apps, etc include residential scraping proxy functionality that they can sell to the highest bidder, and then when scrapers want to avoid restrictions they can pay a fraction of a penny to send their requests via your phone. Millions of people use apps with this built in and have no idea. Most websites don't want to ban the residential scrapers because it can hurt growth.
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@jay0@alico.nexus 2026-01-28 21:17
@HunterZ@mastodon.sdf.org @osm_tech@en.osm.town lots of mobile/desktop apps, browser extensions, and even IoT devices are paid by "residential proxy" companies to prey on their users by selling said users's connections to AI scrapers https://www.spamhaus.org/resource-hub/compromised/lets-talk-about-the-danger-of-residential-proxy-networks/