[GH-ISSUE #180] [Feature request] Option to remove tracking etc #739

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opened 2026-03-14 10:25:25 +03:00 by kerem · 23 comments
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Originally created by @daggr8 on GitHub (Jul 21, 2021).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/anonaddy/anonaddy/issues/180

Want to start with saying that I love AnonAddy. iI's fantastic!

Duckduckgo just announced "Email Protection" for blocking trackers in mail.
https://www.spreadprivacy.com/introducing-email-protection-beta/

Is this something that's on the roadmap? If even possible.

Originally created by @daggr8 on GitHub (Jul 21, 2021). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/anonaddy/anonaddy/issues/180 Want to start with saying that I love AnonAddy. iI's fantastic! Duckduckgo just announced "Email Protection" for blocking trackers in mail. https://www.spreadprivacy.com/introducing-email-protection-beta/ Is this something that's on the roadmap? If even possible.
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@willbrowningme commented on GitHub (Jul 22, 2021):

Thanks for the suggestion, yes this should be possible.

I guess the hard part would be compiling a list of known tracking codes/domains used to track opens in emails.

Is anyone aware of any list already out there?

<!-- gh-comment-id:884715341 --> @willbrowningme commented on GitHub (Jul 22, 2021): Thanks for the suggestion, yes this should be possible. I guess the hard part would be compiling a list of known tracking codes/domains used to track opens in emails. Is anyone aware of any list already out there?
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@daggr8 commented on GitHub (Jul 22, 2021):

I use these lists for my blocking on DNS level in my network.
Maybe the Tracking & Telemetry Lists are usable?

<!-- gh-comment-id:884801637 --> @daggr8 commented on GitHub (Jul 22, 2021): I use these lists for my blocking on DNS level in my network. Maybe the Tracking & Telemetry Lists are usable?
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@willbrowningme commented on GitHub (Jul 23, 2021):

I think you forgot to include the link in your previous comment. Email pixel tracking domains would be the most appropriate to target, if I can start compiling a list of them.

<!-- gh-comment-id:885499276 --> @willbrowningme commented on GitHub (Jul 23, 2021): I think you forgot to include the link in your previous comment. Email pixel tracking domains would be the most appropriate to target, if I can start compiling a list of them.
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@daggr8 commented on GitHub (Jul 23, 2021):

Of course i did. Sorry about that.
https://firebog.net/

More focused on email tracking there's these. Maybe there's more and better lists out there.

https://github.com/leavemealone-app/email-trackers
https://cerb.ai/guides/mail/privacy/block-email-tracking/
https://github.com/cfa999/email_trackers_block

<!-- gh-comment-id:885629389 --> @daggr8 commented on GitHub (Jul 23, 2021): Of course i did. Sorry about that. https://firebog.net/ More focused on email tracking there's these. Maybe there's more and better lists out there. https://github.com/leavemealone-app/email-trackers https://cerb.ai/guides/mail/privacy/block-email-tracking/ https://github.com/cfa999/email_trackers_block
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@Coderdude112 commented on GitHub (Jul 31, 2021):

So the whole point with email pixel tracking is that they embed a image that is 1x1 pixels and then when your email client attempts to load this they can gather information on you (Opened time, aprox location, device, ect) correct?

So instead of using a block list to find and remove email trackers why not remove all images that are below a certain size? (Ex: All images with a height or width or 25 px are stripped out) And then use a list to determine what tracker it was similar to duckduckgo, that way even trackers that arn't on the block list will still be blocked.

This feature might even be improved with the ability to just remove all images regardless of their size.

<!-- gh-comment-id:890378931 --> @Coderdude112 commented on GitHub (Jul 31, 2021): So the whole point with email pixel tracking is that they embed a image that is 1x1 pixels and then when your email client attempts to load this they can gather information on you (Opened time, aprox location, device, ect) correct? So instead of using a block list to find and remove email trackers why not remove all images that are below a certain size? (Ex: All images with a height or width or 25 px are stripped out) And then use a list to determine what tracker it was similar to duckduckgo, that way even trackers that arn't on the block list will still be blocked. This feature might even be improved with the ability to just remove all images regardless of their size.
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@willbrowningme commented on GitHub (Aug 3, 2021):

@Coderdude112 interesting suggestion which could work well, will look into it, thanks!

<!-- gh-comment-id:891888016 --> @willbrowningme commented on GitHub (Aug 3, 2021): @Coderdude112 interesting suggestion which could work well, will look into it, thanks!
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@2fsbb9op commented on GitHub (Sep 27, 2021):

I use https://email.faircode.eu/ which attempts to recognize and disable tracking images vs blocking like the Duckduckgo beta?

I'm fairly certain this is done via https://disconnect.me/trackerprotection#categories-of-trackers available at https://github.com/disconnectme/disconnect-tracking-protection if you contact Marcel Bokhorst using https://contact.faircode.eu/?product=fairemailsupport he will probably respond within a day and be happy to provide some general insight on how it works for https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.faircode.email

A different solution to the issue but, perhaps one that could be implemented quickly?

<!-- gh-comment-id:928393483 --> @2fsbb9op commented on GitHub (Sep 27, 2021): I use https://email.faircode.eu/ which attempts to recognize and disable tracking images **vs** blocking like the Duckduckgo beta? I'm fairly certain this is done via https://disconnect.me/trackerprotection#categories-of-trackers available at https://github.com/disconnectme/disconnect-tracking-protection if you contact Marcel Bokhorst using https://contact.faircode.eu/?product=fairemailsupport he will probably respond within a day and be happy to provide some general insight on how it works for https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.faircode.email A different solution to the issue but, perhaps one that could be implemented quickly?
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@ashutoshsaboo commented on GitHub (Jul 6, 2022):

+1 on this, this would be really an awesome feature to have natively especially for spam sites that like to profile their customers! Saw the last update here long back in 2021, has there been any update on this? @willbrowningme is this planned for anytime sooner?

<!-- gh-comment-id:1176008043 --> @ashutoshsaboo commented on GitHub (Jul 6, 2022): +1 on this, this would be really an awesome feature to have natively especially for spam sites that like to profile their customers! Saw the last update here long back in 2021, has there been any update on this? @willbrowningme is this planned for anytime sooner?
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@willbrowningme commented on GitHub (Nov 1, 2022):

No update at the moment I'm afraid, I've got some other things I'm working on first then I can hopefully get around to adding this.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1298300119 --> @willbrowningme commented on GitHub (Nov 1, 2022): No update at the moment I'm afraid, I've got some other things I'm working on first then I can hopefully get around to adding this.
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@joaonunovalente commented on GitHub (Jul 19, 2023):

I guess it been a while @willbrowningme, but are thinking about coming back to this issue?

It would be a great feature.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1642253213 --> @joaonunovalente commented on GitHub (Jul 19, 2023): I guess it been a while @willbrowningme, but are thinking about coming back to this issue? It would be a great feature.
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@cscha commented on GitHub (Aug 5, 2023):

+1

<!-- gh-comment-id:1666490380 --> @cscha commented on GitHub (Aug 5, 2023): +1
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@cscha commented on GitHub (Sep 2, 2023):

Any update? @willbrowningme

<!-- gh-comment-id:1703816992 --> @cscha commented on GitHub (Sep 2, 2023): Any update? @willbrowningme
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@miranyx commented on GitHub (Oct 31, 2023):

+1

<!-- gh-comment-id:1786967738 --> @miranyx commented on GitHub (Oct 31, 2023): +1
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@miranyx commented on GitHub (Oct 31, 2023):

I just found this page by GMass on how they got around E-Mail tracking pixel blockers, tldr:

  • they don't set a predefined height/width so it has to be downloaded to get the size.
  • Does not use query parameters
  • Different length for the tracking pixel url
  • Their server is hosted on aws with an aws domain.
<!-- gh-comment-id:1787017991 --> @miranyx commented on GitHub (Oct 31, 2023): I just found this page by GMass on how they got around [E-Mail tracking pixel blockers](https://www.gmass.co/blog/tracking-pixel-blockers/), tldr: - they don't set a predefined height/width so it has to be downloaded to get the size. - Does not use query parameters - Different length for the tracking pixel url - Their server is hosted on aws with an aws domain.
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@willbrowningme commented on GitHub (Oct 31, 2023):

Yes I still plan to add this but just have a lot of other things to work on at the moment so cannot give an estimated date.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1787034350 --> @willbrowningme commented on GitHub (Oct 31, 2023): Yes I still plan to add this but just have a lot of other things to work on at the moment so cannot give an estimated date.
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@luisnabais commented on GitHub (Jan 9, 2024):

Hello! Just want to say that I also want this feature, is very important to me.

<!-- gh-comment-id:1883510170 --> @luisnabais commented on GitHub (Jan 9, 2024): Hello! Just want to say that I also want this feature, is very important to me.
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@emhl commented on GitHub (Jan 20, 2024):

protonmail uses https://github.com/DrKain/tidy-url to remove tracking links. The filtering rules in this project could be a good starting off point.

Additionally here are a few other lists of email trackers i could find:
https://gist.github.com/dhh/360f4dc7ddbce786f8e82b97cdad9d20
https://github.com/leggett/simplify-trackers
https://github.com/martbock/MailTrackerBlocker/blob/main/Source/MTBBlockedMessage.m

many of the rules probably overlap

<!-- gh-comment-id:1902140542 --> @emhl commented on GitHub (Jan 20, 2024): protonmail uses https://github.com/DrKain/tidy-url to remove tracking links. The filtering rules in this project could be a good starting off point. Additionally here are a few other lists of email trackers i could find: https://gist.github.com/dhh/360f4dc7ddbce786f8e82b97cdad9d20 https://github.com/leggett/simplify-trackers https://github.com/martbock/MailTrackerBlocker/blob/main/Source/MTBBlockedMessage.m many of the rules probably overlap
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@cscha commented on GitHub (Oct 2, 2024):

And update?

<!-- gh-comment-id:2389740360 --> @cscha commented on GitHub (Oct 2, 2024): And update?
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@Xynonners commented on GitHub (Oct 27, 2025):

So the whole point with email pixel tracking is that they embed a image that is 1x1 pixels and then when your email client attempts to load this they can gather information on you (Opened time, aprox location, device, ect) correct?

So instead of using a block list to find and remove email trackers why not remove all images that are below a certain size? (Ex: All images with a height or width or 25 px are stripped out) And then use a list to determine what tracker it was similar to duckduckgo, that way even trackers that arn't on the block list will still be blocked.

This feature might even be improved with the ability to just remove all images regardless of their size.

this is an ingenious way of doing it.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3449490673 --> @Xynonners commented on GitHub (Oct 27, 2025): > So the whole point with email pixel tracking is that they embed a image that is 1x1 pixels and then when your email client attempts to load this they can gather information on you (Opened time, aprox location, device, ect) correct? > > So instead of using a block list to find and remove email trackers why not remove all images that are below a certain size? (Ex: All images with a height or width or 25 px are stripped out) And then use a list to determine what tracker it was similar to duckduckgo, that way even trackers that arn't on the block list will still be blocked. > > This feature might even be improved with the ability to just remove all images regardless of their size. this is an ingenious way of doing it.
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@miranyx commented on GitHub (Nov 7, 2025):

So the whole point with email pixel tracking is that they embed a image that is 1x1 pixels and then when your email client attempts to load this they can gather information on you (Opened time, aprox location, device, ect) correct?

So instead of using a block list to find and remove email trackers why not remove all images that are below a certain size? (Ex: All images with a height or width or 25 px are stripped out) And then use a list to determine what tracker it was similar to duckduckgo, that way even trackers that arn't on the block list will still be blocked.

This feature might even be improved with the ability to just remove all images regardless of their size.

That is an intresting way to approach this problem, but I think it could lead to some data of the message being lost. For example a company could have multiple icons eg an envelop, phone whatever symbols to symbols some data eg "call us" with a phone icon next to it.

I hope it made sense what I was trying to say.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3503013682 --> @miranyx commented on GitHub (Nov 7, 2025): > So the whole point with email pixel tracking is that they embed a image that is 1x1 pixels and then when your email client attempts to load this they can gather information on you (Opened time, aprox location, device, ect) correct? > > So instead of using a block list to find and remove email trackers why not remove all images that are below a certain size? (Ex: All images with a height or width or 25 px are stripped out) And then use a list to determine what tracker it was similar to duckduckgo, that way even trackers that arn't on the block list will still be blocked. > > This feature might even be improved with the ability to just remove all images regardless of their size. That is an intresting way to approach this problem, but I think it could lead to some data of the message being lost. For example a company could have multiple icons eg an envelop, phone whatever symbols to symbols some data eg "call us" with a phone icon next to it. I hope it made sense what I was trying to say.
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@2fsbb9op commented on GitHub (Nov 7, 2025):

instead of using a block list to find and remove email trackers why not remove all images

I think it could lead to some data of the message being lost

I'd be okay with an opt-in setting to remove all images with a disclosure that you might lose some data in messages.

<!-- gh-comment-id:3503261211 --> @2fsbb9op commented on GitHub (Nov 7, 2025): >instead of using a block list to find and remove email trackers why not remove all images > I think it could lead to some data of the message being lost I'd be okay with an opt-in setting to remove **all** images with a disclosure that you might lose some data in messages.
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@Xynonners commented on GitHub (Nov 15, 2025):

So the whole point with email pixel tracking is that they embed a image that is 1x1 pixels and then when your email client attempts to load this they can gather information on you (Opened time, aprox location, device, ect) correct?
So instead of using a block list to find and remove email trackers why not remove all images that are below a certain size? (Ex: All images with a height or width or 25 px are stripped out) And then use a list to determine what tracker it was similar to duckduckgo, that way even trackers that arn't on the block list will still be blocked.
This feature might even be improved with the ability to just remove all images regardless of their size.

That is an intresting way to approach this problem, but I think it could lead to some data of the message being lost. For example a company could have multiple icons eg an envelop, phone whatever symbols to symbols some data eg "call us" with a phone icon next to it.

I hope it made sense what I was trying to say.

You can replace it with a placeholder image, and also probably it'd be a good idea to allow it to be toggled per alias..

<!-- gh-comment-id:3536532152 --> @Xynonners commented on GitHub (Nov 15, 2025): > > So the whole point with email pixel tracking is that they embed a image that is 1x1 pixels and then when your email client attempts to load this they can gather information on you (Opened time, aprox location, device, ect) correct? > > So instead of using a block list to find and remove email trackers why not remove all images that are below a certain size? (Ex: All images with a height or width or 25 px are stripped out) And then use a list to determine what tracker it was similar to duckduckgo, that way even trackers that arn't on the block list will still be blocked. > > This feature might even be improved with the ability to just remove all images regardless of their size. > > That is an intresting way to approach this problem, but I think it could lead to some data of the message being lost. For example a company could have multiple icons eg an envelop, phone whatever symbols to symbols some data eg "call us" with a phone icon next to it. > > I hope it made sense what I was trying to say. You can replace it with a placeholder image, and also probably it'd be a good idea to allow it to be toggled per alias..
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@emhl commented on GitHub (Nov 15, 2025):

Toggling wether images are displayed, is something every decent email client already allows.

What the duckduckgo forwarding service does, that can't be done by an email client is replacing the tracking links you can click on by following the redirect chain to get a non-personalized one

<!-- gh-comment-id:3536586670 --> @emhl commented on GitHub (Nov 15, 2025): Toggling wether images are displayed, is something every decent email client already allows. What the duckduckgo forwarding service does, that can't be done by an email client is replacing the tracking links you can click on by following the redirect chain to get a non-personalized one
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