Post #2041248

2026-03-03 03:33 UTC

@QuercusMacrocarpa @ublockorigin uMatrix is unfortunately abandoned — development ended in 2021, same developer as uBlock Origin, he just stopped. there's also an unpatched vulnerability in it so I'd avoid it at this point. uBlock Origin in medium mode covers most of what uMatrix used to do for this specific threat — it blocks third party scripts and XHR requests by default which is exactly what catches the telemetry pipelines I documented. one important caveat though: if you're on Chrome, uBlock Origin was gutted by Google in late 2024 as part of their Manifest V3 changes. the full version no longer works on Chrome. for real protection you need Firefox or Brave with uBlock Origin installed. which, honestly, is probably worth a separate post.

Replies (2)

@Kerplunk@mastodon.scot 2026-03-03 09:40

@k3ym0 @QuercusMacrocarpa @ublockorigin one important caveat though: if you're on Chrome, uBlock Origin was gutted by Google in late 2024 as part of their Manifest V3 changes. the full version no longer works on Chrome. for real protection you need Firefox or Brave OR UngoogledChromium uBlock from https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases Add localcdn or privacy Badger. Do not use googles store, it is a pernicious tracker... and

Open ##2041249
@QuercusMacrocarpa@mastodon.social 2026-03-03 14:18

@k3ym0 @ublockorigin This is really helpful information - thank you! From Firefox + uMatrix on Windows, currently in process of becoming a Windows refugee on MacOS; had started with Safari, but leaning toward shifting to Firefox (more privacy protections?)… and apparently with uBlock Origin based on what you mention. Might also be worth a separate post to explore the “why” of the devious telemetry obfuscation - e.g. no ads for ChatGPT Plus, so why hide Datadog etc…?

Open ##2041260