Thunderbird: Free Your InboxMay 9, 2023

By default, #Thunderbird automatically blocks images in your emails from being displayed -- because many of those images may contain tracking code.

(Sometimes these images are tiny "tracking pixels" you may not even see).

Take your protection one step further by installing #uBlock Origin to block all kinds of unwanted content in your RSS feeds -- it's now an official Thunderbird Add-on: https://addons.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/addon/ublock-origin/

#Privacy #Email

(EDITED FOR CLARITY)

uBlock Origin

Finally, an efficient blocker. Easy on CPU and memory. uBlock Origin (uBO) is a CPU and memory-efficient wide-spectrum content blocker that blocks ads, trackers, coin miners, popups, annoying anti-blockers, etc. in your feeds.

Show threadJohn DalMay 9, 2023
@thunderbird why would any image viewing software treat bytes in an image stream as code and then execute it? Really, I'm asking how do "tracking pixels" work?
Show threadLilith Ashley Nyx Arson May 10, 2023
@JohnDal @thunderbird https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_pixel
Spy pixel - Wikipedia

Show threadLilith Ashley Nyx Arson 
@JohnDal @thunderbird tldr its usually just <img src="example.com/tracking.gif?mail_id=bunch_of_data_goes_here">
May 10, 2023 at 7:41amWeb
Show threadLilith Ashley Nyx Arson May 10, 2023
@JohnDal @thunderbird web server gets the data and reports it back to the mailer to show you read the email, usually done to see how many people read promotional emails