[MlMt] Blocking only trackers

mlmt at rhp.tw mlmt at rhp.tw
Thu Sep 17 21:53:29 EDT 2020


So it is working correctly. MailMate is blocking non-secure resources 
and that made some emails look strange. I should have paid more 
attention.

On Thu Sep 17, 2020 at 03:40 AM, Benny Kjær Nielsen wrote:

> On 16 Sep 2020, at 19:42, mlmt at rhp.tw wrote:
>
>> Is it possible to configure the new message view to download external 
>> resources but block images in the "Strictly Blocked" category?
>
> That's how it is supposed to work if you have image blocking disabled 
> for the currently viewed message. It's a bug if it doesn't work for 
> you. (Write me via “Help ▸ Send Feedback”.)
>
>> Also, it seems the new message view ignores the Image Blocking 
>> preference.
>
> That should still work, but strictly blocked resources are not 
> affected by these preferences (which is why I've named them strict). 
> I'm already getting a lot of (negative) feedback on that, because the 
> test releases are currently very strict (no unencrypted transmissions 
> to fetch resources). This will all be configurable (it'll be possible 
> to configure it to something similar to how it worked before).
>
> Also note that if you have previously allowed MailMate to fetch 
> specific image resources then MailMate might find these in a cache 
> even if they are later blocked from being fetched. This is fine 
> because it does not involve talking to a server.
>
> Most of my work on image blocking has been focused on how it works 
> internally, that is, making sure I can keep better track of what the 
> message view is doing. This should then also make it easier for me to 
> allow the user to be more explicit about what should be allowed. This 
> part is still work-in-progress.
>
> The subject line of your email is “blocking only trackers”. Right 
> now, MailMate has some very in-your-face warnings when 1x1 pixels have 
> been fetched (I have seen emails with up to 5 such tracking pixels). 
> These warnings will likely be disabled by default, because they kind 
> of implicitly tells the user that other non-1x1 pixel resources are 
> safe from tracking which is of course not true. Any kind of external 
> resource can be used for tracking. The 1x1 pixels are just most likely 
> used for tracking purposes and therefore some users might want to know 
> about them. Again, work-in-progress :)
>
> Image blocking is a complex subject and users should also be careful 
> about just reducing it to be about “tracking”. I now think about 
> it with 3 aspects in mind:
>
> * Privacy: The sender (or the service used by the sender) might know 
> if, when, or where you read your emails (or click on a link).
> * Security: The image you see might not be the same one as the sender 
> intended you to see. Not even if what you received was signed and/or 
> encrypted. (This requires encrypted server communications.)
> * Transparency: Displaying an email might require a lot of server 
> communications. This should be registered explicitly and be available 
> to the user for review.
>
> And all of this should be handled in a way that stays out of your way 
> most of the time (which is not currently the case).
>
> -- 
> Benny

> _______________________________________________
> mailmate mailing list
> mailmate at lists.freron.com
> https://lists.freron.com/listinfo/mailmate
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.freron.com/pipermail/mailmate/attachments/20200918/23b9006c/attachment.htm>


More information about the mailmate mailing list