(this isnt a question about how to make invidious more secure/private i just want google to stop knowing everything i do and every device i have) I like watching youtube videos. I hate google. I try invidious. It’s pretty cool.
I watch the videos I like on it. But I get suspicous. The channels I wacth even after I change my Ip, clear my cookies, change my tor circuts, even change my entire os to something real private like tails or qubes with whonix , ARE STILL RECOMMENDED TO ME. So I do a test. I watch channels I don’t like. There it is. I feel like google is laughing in my face
Whats worse, I went on a different device and the same videos are there :(.
ive tried vpns, tor, tails, whonix in qubes, quad9, and nothing works. what do i do now?
(im not concerned about youtube synching reccomendations im concerned about google knowing what i like, and what devices i have no matter what tools i use)
Would you mind sharing screenshots (or at the very least name specific examples)?
What you’re describing is technologically and financially infeasible for Google to do at scale (or even to one specific person). If Google were able to track you that well, they wouldn’t modify the recommendations for you, they would quietly add it to an ad profile on you. The only reason the YouTube algorithm exists is to keep people on the platform for longer, when you use invidious, you are losing YouTube money, so they have no financial incentive to modify their algorithm for you.
If you’re using a small few person instance, then what you watch can actually influence the recommendations (at least until the token rotates), but that isn’t Google tracking you specifically. If you use a more popular instance (like nerdvpn or nadeko) what you watch will do little to influence the front page algorithm.
As I mentioned in my previous comment, I’d suggest you look into how the various privsec technologies you’re using actually work, and also look at how companies are actually able to track you. If you just assume a company can do something because they’re big, powerful, and scary, suddenly the company seems much bigger, more powerful, and scary than they really are. It’s also important to remember that just because something can be used to correlate activity with the user doing, that doesn’t mean it’s something that can be done at scale.
Judging from your previous posts and comments, it sounds like you’re quite new to privacy. This kind of mentality (in one form or another) is very common amongst people who are new to caring about their privacy. Surveillance has been happening for your entire life, so it’s not going to hurt to take a bit to think about things with a clearer head. Of course, if you’re in a situation where lack of privacy might cause physical harm, find help ASAP, but generally you can take things at a slower pace to help on the long run. That’s not to say stop caring at all, but you don’t need to suddenly drop everything and move to a bunker in the woods. Too much change at once can lead to privacy fatigue, which only makes it less likely that you’ll escape any of the surveillance of the modern world.
thanks for the advice man :)
idk how to clean metadata reliably yet but heres what i see: Vox, Markiplier, someordanairygamers, penguinz0, firship, thehatedone, mentaloutlaw
do these show up for you?
Yeah, that’s generally what most invidious pages look like. Some lean much more into political news, but otherwise it’s generally those guys.
idk i get recommended them only after i actually watch them. ive never got recommended markiplier until i started watching hids videos
On inv.nadeko.net what you listed is almost exactly what the front page looks like.
If you’re getting the recommendations on the front page, it’s likely the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon. When you watch a video, the side bar recommendations are based on the video you’re currently watching though. There are instances like invidious.nerdvpn.de that disable the homepage if you’d prefer.
idk bro i was watching a generic roblox brainrot video (trying to test if google thinks its me) and got recommneded chess vids from a speific channel i faked an interest in months ago. if i cover the recommendations it wont be private or convient since i use them to check if google tracking works and i like having new vids to watch without having to look for them but i dont want companies to connect everything i do together (