[GH-ISSUE #76] Page loads produce a GET request to nicksweeting.com, with referrer header #53

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opened 2026-03-01 14:40:11 +03:00 by kerem · 3 comments

kerem commented

2026-03-01 14:40:11 +03:00

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Originally created by @InconsolableCellist on GitHub (Apr 5, 2018).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/issues/76

Open the developer tools in your browser and open the generated index.html page.

Note that it makes a request to nicksweeting.com for /images/archive.png.

The expected behavior would be that this image is stored locally (or not at all), and making an external request could be perceived as using the relatively unimportant graphic as a tracking/analytics image. It provides a central source with the capability to learn how many unique IPs/browsers are using this code, who the referrer is, and the browser fingerprint. The image is cached after being grabbed once.

Though the cellular automata JS on nicksweeting.com is cool, I don't think it's a good idea to make the request to the author's website, and it seems like it's at least possible it's for undisclosed analytics purposes.

Originally created by @InconsolableCellist on GitHub (Apr 5, 2018). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/issues/76 Open the developer tools in your browser and open the generated index.html page. Note that it makes a request to nicksweeting.com for /images/archive.png. The expected behavior would be that this image is stored locally (or not at all), and making an external request could be perceived as using the relatively unimportant graphic as a tracking/analytics image. It provides a central source with the capability to learn how many unique IPs/browsers are using this code, who the referrer is, and the browser fingerprint. The image is cached after being grabbed once. Though the cellular automata JS on nicksweeting.com is cool, I don't think it's a good idea to make the request to the author's website, and it seems like it's at least possible it's for undisclosed analytics purposes.

kerem

2026-03-01 14:40:11 +03:00

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kerem commented

2026-03-01 14:40:12 +03:00

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@pirate commented on GitHub (Apr 6, 2018):

Ah whoops, that was an artifact of me being lazy and not including it in the source. I meant to remove that link in favor of a local file early on but must've forgotten about it. Will fix.

@pirate commented on GitHub (Apr 6, 2018): Ah whoops, that was an artifact of me being lazy and not including it in the source. I meant to remove that link in favor of a local file early on but must've forgotten about it. Will fix.

kerem commented

2026-03-01 14:40:12 +03:00

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@InconsolableCellist commented on GitHub (Apr 7, 2018):

Sweet, thanks!

@InconsolableCellist commented on GitHub (Apr 7, 2018): Sweet, thanks!

kerem commented

2026-03-01 14:40:12 +03:00

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@pirate commented on GitHub (Apr 17, 2018):