How it works
The web search engines map/monitor/track user's activities and create profiles based on their searches. The aim of this firefox extesion is to actually avoid this from happening.
[For every body]
SCookies simply shares your cookies with other users that enabled it too.
It sends your cookies to a centralized server and gets another user's cookie
in return.
By doing so, your profile will then be built on many other user' search
queries, thus the profiles are not realiable.
[For techies]
SCookies is a firefox extension. It sends the cookies via XML documents to
a centralized server. The server is written in PHP and uses a MySQL database.
The list of cookies to send is checked against a list of regular expressions. If you want, you can send me new regexp trough the preference window. That's it :)
Download
- SCookies 0.3 - You need firefox 1, 2 or 3... and it should work. [This is for you!]
- Server SCookies 0.2 - This package is only for sysadmin/developer. It contains the code for the SCookies server.
How can I help?
- Use it!
- Debug it :)
- Send me new regex... I'm not a guru of regexp. Since scookies 0.3, you can send your regexp trough the Preference Window. The new regexps are into this simple XML file: http://www.ippolita.net/scookies/dump.php
- Expand it... ?
- Do you want to write documentation?
Documentation
... I must write this part. Sorry.
What Else?
Scookies is not THE solution.... It's a part of an attitude.
My attitude also pushes me toward use:
- TrackMeNot is a lightweight browser extension that helps protect web searchers from surveillance and data-profiling by search engines.
- Privoxy is a non-caching web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for enhancing privacy, modifying web page data, managing HTTP cookies, controlling access, and removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet junk.
- Scroogle is basically a Google search proxy.
- Tor is a software project that helps you defend against traffic analysis, a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security.
- Google's lights and shadows - Only in italian. If you are able to (and you want to) translate it... write me.
License
Copyright (c) 2008, Andrea Marchesini baku@autistici.org
All rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
* Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
* Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
* Neither the name of the <organization> nor the
names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY <copyright holder> ''AS IS'' AND ANY
EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL <copyright holder> BE LIABLE FOR ANY
DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.