My questions are:

  • Does the DuckDuckGo Firefox extension “Privacy Essentials” add a local css file to every visited site?
  • Can others reproduce this?
  • Is this harmfull or not?

Background:

I have a simple static one page site with just one html and css file. It’s completely tracker free. Debugging it a bit with developer mode (F12) on I discovered a second css file. This file isnt on my webserver but added local. To pinpoint what caused this I removed every add-on / extension in my browser one by one, reloading and checking my website every time. Took me a while because didnt expect this one causing it.

To reproduce:

  • Install the extension from the link.
  • Open a random site
  • Check in developer mode the tab Style editor.
  • Scroll and look for a file named %3Ais(%5Bid*%3D’google_ads_iframe’%5D%.css or something like that.
  • Remove the extension and refresh.
  • Check if the file disappears.

Content of the css file: :is([id*=‘google_ads_iframe’], [id*=‘taboola-’], .taboolaHeight, .taboola-placeholder, #credential_picker_container, #credentials-picker-container, #credential_picker_iframe, [id*=‘google-one-tap-iframe’], #google-one-tap-popup-container, .google-one-tap-modal-div, #amp_floatingAdDiv, #ez-content-blocker-container) { display:none!important; min-height:0!important; height:0!important; }

Edit 25-03-2024: Changed title to not give the wrong impression. See comments below.

  • Joël de BruijnOP
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    278 months ago

    No I did try and since you’re interested in my learning curve versus my personal effort: Since two weeks I learned css for the first time, hobby related and just about to start knowing about flexbox css grid float div and styling them.

    • Gamma
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      198 months ago

      Sorry for being so harsh, that’s totally fair!

    • swayevenly
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      8 months ago

      Good luck. W3Schools is a great place to learn beginner stuff and for quick refreshers.

      • T (they/she)
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        48 months ago

        I hate W3Schools and Geeksforgeeks, I have them blocked on my search lol

        MDN all the way

        • Lemongrab
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          58 months ago

          What is wrong with them? I have found the useful and there examples help me to learn more about context. I am not saying anything about MDN, it may just be superior, but I’ve rarely referenced it.

        • @catloaf@lemm.ee
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          48 months ago

          W3Schools used to be terrible, but it’s gotten better. MDN is still great, but it’s very much a pure technical reference, not great learning material.