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https://github.com/ClearURLs/Addon

ClearURLs is an add-on based on the new WebExtensions technology and will automatically remove tracking elements from URLs to help protect your privacy.
https://github.com/ClearURLs/Addon

addon addons-mozilla-org anti-tracking chrome firefox privacy security tracking-protection webextensions

Last synced: 10 days ago
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ClearURLs is an add-on based on the new WebExtensions technology and will automatically remove tracking elements from URLs to help protect your privacy.

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[for Firefox](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/clearurls/) [for Edge](https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/mdkdmaickkfdekbjdoojfalpbkgaddei) [for Chrome](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clearurls/lckanjgmijmafbedllaakclkaicjfmnk)



#  ClearURLs [![Gitter](https://badges.gitter.im/ClearURLs/ClearURLs.svg)](https://gitter.im/ClearURLs/ClearURLs)



**ClearURLs** is an add-on based on the new WebExtensions technology and is optimized for *Firefox* and *Chrome* based browsers.



This extension will automatically remove tracking elements from URLs to help protect your privacy when browsing the Internet, 

which is regularly updated by us and can be found [here](https://gitlab.com/anti-tracking/ClearURLs/rules/-/raw/master/data.min.json).



## Application

Many websites use tracking elements in the URL (e.g. `https://example.com?utm_source=newsletter1&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sale`) to mark your online activity. 

All that tracking code is not necessary for a website to be displayed or work correctly and can therefore be removed—that is exactly what ClearURLs does.



Another common example are Amazon URLs. If you search for a product on Amazon you will see a very long URL, such as: 

```

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

```



Indeed most of the above URL is tracking code. Once ClearURLs has cleaned the address, it will look like this:

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



## Features



* Removes tracking from URLs automatically in the background

* Blocks some common ad domains (optional)

* Has a built-in tool to clean up multiple URLs at once

* Supports redirection to the destination, without tracking services as middleman

* Adds an entry to the context menu so that links can be copied quickly and cleanly

* Blocks hyperlink auditing, also known as *ping tracking* (see also [this article](https://html.spec.whatwg.org/multipage/links.html#hyperlink-auditing))

* Prevents ETag tracking

* Prevents tracking injection over history API (see also: [The replaceState() method](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/History_API#The_replaceState()_method))

* Prevents Google from rewriting the search results (to include tracking elements)

* Prevents Yandex from rewriting the search results (to include tracking elements)



## Permissons

Reasoning for needed permissions can be found under [here](https://gitlab.com/ClearURLs/ClearUrls/issues/159).



## Screenshot

![Interface (version 1.14.0)](https://docs.clearurls.xyz/1.22.0/assets/img/interface.png)



## CI/CD Artifacts Download (for Firefox- and Chrome-Dev only)

Here you can download the packed files for the Firefox- and Chrome-Dev:



 - [ClearURLs.zip](https://gitlab.com/ClearURLs/ClearUrls/-/jobs/artifacts/master/raw/ClearURLs.zip?job=bundle%20addon)



## Test

If you want to test whether ClearURLs works correctly on your system, you can go to this test page: [https://test.clearurls.xyz/](https://test.clearurls.xyz/)



## Contribute

If you have any suggestions or complaints, please [create an issue.](https://gitlab.com/ClearURLs/ClearUrls/issues/new)



**Note: If you have any suggestions or complaints regarding the rules, please [create an issue in this repo](https://gitlab.com/anti-tracking/ClearURLs/rules/-/issues/new) or email us rules.support (at) clearurls.xyz (this mail will automatically create a new issue in this repo).**



### Translate ClearURLs

You want to help translating ClearURLs into many languages? – Nice



You can choose between two options to contribute. You can create a merge request, or you can use the POEditor to translate ClearURLs.



*Hint: The description field in the translation files are only an information for what the translation is used. 

It is not necessary to translate the description field; in the most cases it is empty.*



#### Merge request

If you want to create a merge request, you must open the path [`_locales/en/messages.json`](https://gitlab.com/ClearURLs/ClearUrls/-/blob/master/_locales/en/messages.json) in the ClearURLs repo 

and translate the english terms into terms of your language. Once you have translated all the terms, you make a pull request of your translation. 

Please push your translation into the folder `_locales/{language code}/messages.json`.



#### POEditor

[https://poeditor.com/join/project/vKTpQWWvk2](https://poeditor.com/join/project/vKTpQWWvk2)



## Projects that use parts of ClearURLs



* [Uroute](https://github.com/walterl/uroute) used ClearURLs to filter/clean URL before launching browser

* [Scrub](https://gitlab.com/CrunchBangDev/cbd-cogs/-/tree/master/Scrub) used ClearURLs to filter/clean URLs as cog for the Red Discord bot

* [Unalix](https://github.com/AmanoTeam/Unalix) small, dependency-free, fast Python package for removing tracking fields from URLs

* [Unalix-nim](https://github.com/AmanoTeam/Unalix-nim) small, dependency-free, fast Nim package and CLI tool for removing tracking fields from URLs

* [UnalixAndroid](https://github.com/AmanoTeam/UnalixAndroid) simple Android app that removes link masking/tracking and optionally resolves shortened links



## Recommended by...

*  [ghacks-user.js](https://github.com/ghacksuserjs/ghacks-user.js/wiki/4.1-Extensions)

*  [Awesome Humane Tech List](https://github.com/humanetech-community/awesome-humane-tech#tracking)

*  [PrivacyTools](https://www.privacytools.io/browsers/#addons)

*  [New York Times Wirecutter](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/our-favorite-ad-blockers-and-browser-extensions-to-protect-privacy/#cleaner-links-clearurls)

*  ClearURLs is part of Mozilla's recommended extensions program



## Permissions

Reasoning for needed permissions you can find under [this wiki page](https://docs.clearurls.xyz/latest/permissions/).



## Copyright

We use some third-party scripts in our add-on. The authors and licenses are listed below.

-   [WebExtension browser API Polyfill](https://github.com/mozilla/webextension-polyfill) |

    Copyright by Mozilla |

    [MPL-2.0](https://github.com/mozilla/webextension-polyfill/blob/master/LICENSE)

-   [Bootstrap v4.3.1](https://github.com/twbs/bootstrap/tree/v4.3.1) |

    Copyright 2011-2016 Twitter, Inc. |

    [MIT](https://github.com/twbs/bootstrap/blob/master/LICENSE)

-   [jQuery v3.6.0](https://github.com/jquery/jquery/tree/3.6.0) |

    Copyright JS Foundation and other contributors |

    [MIT](https://jquery.org/license/)

-   [DataTables v1.10.20](https://github.com/DataTables/DataTables/tree/master) |  Copyright (c) 2008-2015 SpryMedia Limited | [MIT](https://datatables.net/license/)

-   [Pickr v1.7.0](https://github.com/Simonwep/pickr/tree/1.7.0) | Copyright (c) 2018 - 2020 Simon Reinisch |

    [MIT](https://github.com/Simonwep/pickr/blob/master/LICENSE)

-   [Font Awesome v5.12.0](https://github.com/FortAwesome/Font-Awesome/tree/5.12.0) | Copyright (c) @fontawesome |

    [Font Awesome Free License](https://github.com/FortAwesome/Font-Awesome/blob/master/LICENSE.txt)