feat(privacy): strip tracking parameters from links on paste, send and render (#103)

Shared links routinely carry ad/analytics identifiers (utm_*, fbclid, gclid,
YouTube si=, Amazon ref=/tag=, X s=/t=, TikTok _r/_t, …) that tie every
recipient's click back to the person who shared the link. New
src/app/utils/urlTracking.ts is a pure, local stripper: a global list +
utm_/pk_/matomo_ prefixes, plus host-scoped rules so e.g. `si` is only
removed on youtube/spotify. matrix.to and non-http(s) schemes are never
rewritten; unparseable input is returned unchanged; Amazon's `th`/`psc`
variant selectors are deliberately kept. 13 unit tests.

Wired at three points, all behind a new Settings → Privacy toggle
(`stripTrackingParams`, default on):
- paste: plain-text pastes are cleaned and re-inserted through Slate's own
  insertData so multi-line pastes still split into paragraphs;
- send: RoomInput submit + schedule paths and MessageEditor saves clean both
  `body` and `formatted_body` (the HTML variant unescapes `&` around each
  URL and re-escapes it so the markup is untouched);
- render: linkify `formatHref`/`format` and explicit `<a href>` in
  formatted_body are cleaned, so links sent from other clients are safe to
  click too. LINKIFY_OPTS is spread into memoised per-timeline objects, so
  the toggle is a module flag kept current by ClientNonUIFeatures.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01PPmy3tPq869XDW4njjVaKA
This commit is contained in:
2026-09-17 01:46:21 -04:00
co-authored by Claude Opus 5
parent 470b5217ae
commit 5b0d355417
8 changed files with 428 additions and 6 deletions
+30 -4
View File
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ import { DraftIndicator } from './DraftIndicator';
import { scheduledMessagesAtom } from '../../state/scheduledMessages';
import { createErrorToast, toastQueueAtom } from '../../state/toast';
import { getThreadDraftKey } from '../../state/room/thread';
import { stripTrackingParamsInHtml, stripTrackingParamsInText } from '../../utils/urlTracking';
const GifPicker = React.lazy(() =>
import('../../components/GifPicker').then((m) => ({ default: m.GifPicker })),
@@ -258,6 +259,8 @@ export const RoomInput = forwardRef<HTMLDivElement, RoomInputProps>(
// [Gitea #68] The GIF picker is opt-in (searches go to Giphy); hide the
// toolbar button entirely when it's off so it never opens an empty popover.
const [gifPickerEnabled] = useSetting(settingsAtom, 'gifPickerEnabled');
// [Gitea #103] Privacy: drop tracking params from links on paste and on send.
const [stripTracking] = useSetting(settingsAtom, 'stripTrackingParams');
const showGif = (composerToolbarButtons?.showGif ?? true) && gifPickerEnabled;
const showLocation = composerToolbarButtons?.showLocation ?? true;
const showPoll = composerToolbarButtons?.showPoll ?? true;
@@ -389,7 +392,25 @@ export const RoomInput = forwardRef<HTMLDivElement, RoomInputProps>(
[setSelectedFiles, room],
);
const pickFile = useFilePicker(handleFiles, true);
const handlePaste = useFilePasteHandler(handleFiles);
const handleFilePaste = useFilePasteHandler(handleFiles);
const handlePaste = useCallback<React.ClipboardEventHandler>(
(evt) => {
handleFilePaste(evt);
if (evt.defaultPrevented || !stripTracking) return;
const text = evt.clipboardData?.getData('text/plain');
if (!text) return;
const cleaned = stripTrackingParamsInText(text);
if (cleaned === text) return;
// Re-run Slate's own plain-text insertion with the cleaned string so
// multi-line pastes still split into paragraphs exactly as before.
if (typeof DataTransfer === 'undefined') return;
evt.preventDefault();
const dt = new DataTransfer();
dt.setData('text/plain', cleaned);
ReactEditor.insertData(editor, dt);
},
[handleFilePaste, stripTracking, editor],
);
const dropZoneVisible = useFileDropZone(fileDropContainerRef, handleFiles);
const { gifApiKey } = useClientConfig();
const gifBtnRef = useRef<HTMLButtonElement>(null);
@@ -623,6 +644,10 @@ export const RoomInput = forwardRef<HTMLDivElement, RoomInputProps>(
plainText = trimCommand(commandName, plainText);
customHtml = trimCommand(commandName, customHtml);
}
if (stripTracking) {
plainText = stripTrackingParamsInText(plainText);
customHtml = stripTrackingParamsInHtml(customHtml);
}
if (commandName === Command.Me) {
msgType = MsgType.Emote;
} else if (commandName === Command.Notice) {
@@ -718,6 +743,7 @@ export const RoomInput = forwardRef<HTMLDivElement, RoomInputProps>(
isMarkdown,
commands,
setToast,
stripTracking,
]);
/**
@@ -740,8 +766,8 @@ export const RoomInput = forwardRef<HTMLDivElement, RoomInputProps>(
);
if (plainText === '') return null;
const body = plainText;
const formattedBody = customHtml;
const body = stripTracking ? stripTrackingParamsInText(plainText) : plainText;
const formattedBody = stripTracking ? stripTrackingParamsInHtml(customHtml) : customHtml;
const mentionData = getMentions(mx, roomId, editor);
const content: IContent = {
@@ -769,7 +795,7 @@ export const RoomInput = forwardRef<HTMLDivElement, RoomInputProps>(
}
}
return content;
}, [editor, isMarkdown, mx, roomId, replyDraft]);
}, [editor, isMarkdown, mx, roomId, replyDraft, stripTracking]);
const handleScheduleClick = useCallback(() => {
// Defense in depth: scheduling sends an unencrypted m.room.message, so never
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ import {
trimReplyFromFormattedBody,
} from '../../../utils/room';
import { mobileOrTablet } from '../../../utils/user-agent';
import { stripTrackingParamsInHtml, stripTrackingParamsInText } from '../../../utils/urlTracking';
import { useComposingCheck } from '../../../hooks/useComposingCheck';
type MessageEditorProps = {
@@ -87,6 +88,8 @@ export const MessageEditor = as<'div', MessageEditorProps>(
const [enterForNewline] = useSetting(settingsAtom, 'enterForNewline');
const [globalToolbar] = useSetting(settingsAtom, 'editorToolbar');
const [isMarkdown] = useSetting(settingsAtom, 'isMarkdown');
// [Gitea #103] Same paste/send stripping as RoomInput, for edits.
const [stripTracking] = useSetting(settingsAtom, 'stripTrackingParams');
const [toolbar, setToolbar] = useState(globalToolbar);
const isComposing = useComposingCheck();
@@ -117,8 +120,8 @@ export const MessageEditor = as<'div', MessageEditorProps>(
const [saveState, save] = useAsyncCallback(
useCallback(async () => {
const plainText = toPlainText(editor.children, isMarkdown).trim();
const customHtml = trimCustomHtml(
const rawPlainText = toPlainText(editor.children, isMarkdown).trim();
const rawCustomHtml = trimCustomHtml(
toMatrixCustomHTML(editor.children, {
allowTextFormatting: true,
allowBlockMarkdown: isMarkdown,
@@ -126,6 +129,8 @@ export const MessageEditor = as<'div', MessageEditorProps>(
allowMath: true,
}),
);
const plainText = stripTracking ? stripTrackingParamsInText(rawPlainText) : rawPlainText;
const customHtml = stripTracking ? stripTrackingParamsInHtml(rawCustomHtml) : rawCustomHtml;
// Media caption edit: preserve the media, change only body/formatted_body.
// An empty caption is valid (it removes the caption → body falls back to
@@ -239,6 +244,7 @@ export const MessageEditor = as<'div', MessageEditorProps>(
// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
return mx.sendMessage(roomId, content as any);
}, [
stripTracking,
mx,
editor,
roomId,
@@ -1439,10 +1439,18 @@ function Privacy() {
settingsAtom,
'warnOnUnverifiedDevices',
);
const [stripTracking, setStripTracking] = useSetting(settingsAtom, 'stripTrackingParams');
return (
<Box direction="Column" gap="100">
<Text size="L400">Privacy</Text>
<SequenceCard className={SequenceCardStyle} variant="SurfaceVariant" direction="Column">
<SettingTile
title="Strip Tracking Parameters from Links"
description="Remove utm_, fbclid, YouTube si= and other ad/analytics identifiers from links you paste or send, and from links shown in chat. Runs entirely on this device."
after={<Switch variant="Primary" value={stripTracking} onChange={setStripTracking} />}
/>
</SequenceCard>
<SequenceCard className={SequenceCardStyle} variant="SurfaceVariant" direction="Column">
<SettingTile
title="Hide Typing & Read Receipts"
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import { notificationPermission, setFavicon, showOsNotification } from '../../ut
import { NOTIFICATION_SOUND_MAP } from '../../utils/notificationSounds';
import { useSetting } from '../../state/hooks/settings';
import { settingsAtom } from '../../state/settings';
import { setStripTrackingOnRender } from '../../plugins/react-custom-html-parser';
import { allInvitesAtom } from '../../state/room-list/inviteList';
import { useMatrixClient } from '../../hooks/useMatrixClient';
import { useHydrateMsgDrafts } from '../../hooks/useHydrateMsgDrafts';
@@ -90,6 +91,11 @@ function SystemEmojiFeature() {
function PageZoomFeature() {
const [pageZoom] = useSetting(settingsAtom, 'pageZoom');
// [Gitea #103] Mirror the privacy toggle into the html parser's module flag.
const [stripTracking] = useSetting(settingsAtom, 'stripTrackingParams');
useEffect(() => {
setStripTrackingOnRender(stripTracking);
}, [stripTracking]);
if (pageZoom === 100) {
document.documentElement.style.removeProperty('font-size');
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import { IntermediateRepresentation, Opts as LinkifyOpts, OptFn } from 'linkifyj
import Linkify from 'linkify-react';
import { ErrorBoundary } from 'react-error-boundary';
import { ChildNode } from 'domhandler';
import { stripTrackingParams } from '../utils/urlTracking';
import * as css from '../styles/CustomHtml.css';
import {
getMxIdLocalPart,
@@ -106,11 +107,30 @@ const renderMath = (
const EMOJI_REG_G = new RegExp(`${URL_NEG_LB}(${EMOJI_PATTERN})`, 'g');
// [Gitea #103] Render-time tracking-param stripping. LINKIFY_OPTS is spread
// into memoised per-timeline option objects, so the toggle lives in a module
// flag that the format callbacks read lazily on every render; the setting's
// subscriber (ClientNonUIFeatures) keeps it current.
let stripTrackingOnRender = true;
export const setStripTrackingOnRender = (enabled: boolean): void => {
stripTrackingOnRender = enabled;
};
const cleanHref = (href: string): string =>
stripTrackingOnRender ? stripTrackingParams(href) : href;
export const LINKIFY_OPTS: LinkifyOpts = {
attributes: {
target: '_blank',
rel: 'noreferrer noopener',
},
formatHref: {
url: cleanHref,
},
// Only the visible text of bare URLs is a URL, so cleaning it keeps the
// label honest about where the link goes.
format: {
url: cleanHref,
},
validate: {
url: (value) => /^(https?|ftp|mailto|magnet):/.test(value),
},
@@ -393,6 +413,12 @@ export const getReactCustomHtmlParser = (
replace: (domNode) => {
if (domNode instanceof Element && 'name' in domNode) {
const { name, attribs, children, parent } = domNode;
// [Gitea #103] Clean explicit <a href> targets from formatted_body
// before any branch below (mention detection, default render) sees them.
if (name === 'a' && stripTrackingOnRender && typeof attribs.href === 'string') {
const cleaned = stripTrackingParams(attribs.href);
if (cleaned !== attribs.href) attribs.href = cleaned;
}
const props = attributesToProps(attribs);
if (name === 'h1') {
+6
View File
@@ -263,6 +263,10 @@ export interface Settings {
warnOnUnverifiedDevices: boolean;
// [Gitea #103] Remove utm_/fbclid/… tracking params from links you paste or
// send, and from links rendered in the timeline. Local only.
stripTrackingParams: boolean;
pauseAnimations: boolean;
composerToolbarButtons: ComposerToolbarSettings;
@@ -372,6 +376,8 @@ const defaultSettings: Settings = {
warnOnUnverifiedDevices: false,
stripTrackingParams: true,
pauseAnimations: false,
composerToolbarButtons: DEFAULT_COMPOSER_TOOLBAR,
+111
View File
@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
import { describe, it } from 'node:test';
import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
import {
stripTrackingParams,
stripTrackingParamsInHtml,
stripTrackingParamsInText,
} from './urlTracking';
describe('stripTrackingParams', () => {
it('removes utm_* and known global params, keeps the rest', () => {
const out = stripTrackingParams(
'https://example.com/a?utm_source=x&utm_medium=y&fbclid=abc&page=2&gclid=1',
);
assert.equal(out, 'https://example.com/a?page=2');
});
it('drops the dangling ? when every param was tracking', () => {
assert.equal(
stripTrackingParams('https://example.com/a?utm_source=x'),
'https://example.com/a',
);
});
it('returns the identical string when nothing changed', () => {
const url = 'https://example.com/a?page=2#frag';
assert.equal(stripTrackingParams(url), url);
});
it('preserves the fragment', () => {
assert.equal(
stripTrackingParams('https://example.com/a?utm_source=x#section-3'),
'https://example.com/a#section-3',
);
});
it('applies host rules only on that host', () => {
assert.equal(
stripTrackingParams('https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?si=abc123&t=42'),
'https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ?t=42',
);
assert.equal(
stripTrackingParams('https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ&feature=share&si=x'),
'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ',
);
// `si` is not tracking elsewhere.
const other = 'https://example.com/?si=keep';
assert.equal(stripTrackingParams(other), other);
});
it('strips amazon affiliate/telemetry params and the /ref= path segment but keeps variant selectors', () => {
assert.equal(
stripTrackingParams(
'https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000000000/ref=sr_1_3?crid=ABC&keywords=x&qid=1&sr=8-3&tag=aff-20&th=1&psc=1&pd_rd_r=zz',
),
'https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000000000?keywords=x&th=1&psc=1',
);
});
it('never rewrites matrix.to permalinks or non-http schemes', () => {
const permalink = 'https://matrix.to/#/!room:example.org/$event?via=example.org&utm_source=x';
assert.equal(stripTrackingParams(permalink), permalink);
assert.equal(
stripTrackingParams('mxc://example.org/abc?utm_source=x'),
'mxc://example.org/abc?utm_source=x',
);
assert.equal(stripTrackingParams('mailto:a@b.c?utm_source=x'), 'mailto:a@b.c?utm_source=x');
});
it('returns unparseable input unchanged', () => {
assert.equal(stripTrackingParams('https://'), 'https://');
assert.equal(stripTrackingParams('not a url'), 'not a url');
});
it('is idempotent', () => {
const once = stripTrackingParams('https://x.com/user/status/1?s=20&t=abc');
assert.equal(once, 'https://x.com/user/status/1');
assert.equal(stripTrackingParams(once), once);
});
});
describe('stripTrackingParamsInText', () => {
it('cleans every URL in a block of text and keeps trailing punctuation', () => {
const text =
'see https://a.example/p?utm_source=x. and (https://b.example/?id=1&fbclid=2) plus https://c.example/?keep=1';
assert.equal(
stripTrackingParamsInText(text),
'see https://a.example/p. and (https://b.example/?id=1) plus https://c.example/?keep=1',
);
});
it('returns the identical string when no URL changed', () => {
const text = 'nothing https://c.example/?keep=1 here';
assert.equal(stripTrackingParamsInText(text), text);
});
});
describe('stripTrackingParamsInHtml', () => {
it('unescapes &amp; for parsing and re-escapes in the output', () => {
const html =
'<a href="https://a.example/p?id=1&amp;utm_source=x&amp;page=2">https://a.example/p?id=1&amp;utm_source=x&amp;page=2</a>';
assert.equal(
stripTrackingParamsInHtml(html),
'<a href="https://a.example/p?id=1&amp;page=2">https://a.example/p?id=1&amp;page=2</a>',
);
});
it('leaves markup untouched when nothing is stripped', () => {
const html = '<p>hi <a href="https://a.example/?x=1">link</a></p>';
assert.equal(stripTrackingParamsInHtml(html), html);
});
});
+233
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@@ -0,0 +1,233 @@
/**
* [Gitea #103] Tracking-parameter stripping.
*
* Shared links routinely carry ad/analytics identifiers (`utm_*`, `fbclid`,
* YouTube `si=`, Amazon `ref=`) that tie every recipient's click back to the
* person who shared the link. Everything here is pure and local: a URL goes in,
* the same URL minus known tracking params comes out. Unknown params are never
* touched, and anything that fails to parse is returned unchanged.
*/
// Exact query-parameter names stripped on every host.
const GLOBAL_PARAMS = new Set([
// Google Ads / Analytics
'gclid',
'gclsrc',
'dclid',
'gbraid',
'wbraid',
'srsltid',
'_ga',
'_gl',
// Meta / Instagram
'fbclid',
'igshid',
'igsh',
// Microsoft / Bing
'msclkid',
// X / Twitter
'twclid',
// TikTok
'ttclid',
// Yandex
'yclid',
// Mailchimp
'mc_cid',
'mc_eid',
// HubSpot
'_hsenc',
'_hsmi',
'hsCtaTracking',
// Marketo / Adobe
'mkt_tok',
's_kwcid',
'ef_id',
// Vero / Wicked Reports / Omeda
'vero_id',
'vero_conv',
'wickedid',
'oly_anon_id',
'oly_enc_id',
// Generic referrer tags
'ref_src',
'ref_url',
'spm',
]);
// Query-parameter name prefixes stripped on every host.
const GLOBAL_PREFIXES = ['utm_', 'pk_', 'piwik_', 'matomo_'];
// Host-specific params that only act as tracking on that site. Matched by
// hostname suffix (so `www.youtube.com` and `m.youtube.com` both hit `youtube.com`).
const AMAZON_HOSTS = [
'amazon.com',
'amazon.co.uk',
'amazon.de',
'amazon.ca',
'amazon.fr',
'amazon.co.jp',
];
const HOST_PARAMS: Array<{ hosts: string[]; params: string[]; prefixes?: string[] }> = [
{
hosts: ['youtube.com', 'youtu.be'],
params: ['si', 'feature', 'pp'],
},
{
hosts: AMAZON_HOSTS,
// Affiliate + search-result telemetry only. `th`/`psc` pick the product
// variant that loads and are deliberately NOT stripped.
params: [
'ref',
'ref_',
'tag',
'linkCode',
'linkId',
'crid',
'sprefix',
'qid',
'sr',
'dib',
'dib_tag',
'content-id',
],
prefixes: ['pd_rd_', 'pf_rd_'],
},
{
hosts: ['x.com', 'twitter.com'],
params: ['s', 't', 'ref_src'],
},
{
hosts: ['spotify.com'],
params: ['si', 'nd'],
},
{
hosts: ['reddit.com'],
params: ['share_id', 'rdt', 'context'],
},
{
hosts: ['tiktok.com'],
params: ['_r', '_t', 'is_from_webapp', 'sender_device', 'web_id'],
},
{
hosts: ['instagram.com'],
params: ['igsh', 'img_index'],
},
{
hosts: ['threads.net'],
params: ['igshid'],
},
{
hosts: ['bilibili.com'],
params: ['spm_id_from', 'vd_source'],
},
{
hosts: ['ebay.com', 'ebay.co.uk', 'ebay.de'],
params: ['_trkparms', '_trksid', 'mkcid', 'mkevt', 'mkrid', 'campid', 'toolid', 'customid'],
},
];
// Hosts whose URLs are never rewritten: Matrix permalinks encode room/event
// ids after a fragment and have no tracking, but a false positive would break
// navigation, so leave the whole family alone.
const SKIP_HOSTS = ['matrix.to'];
const hostMatches = (hostname: string, suffixes: string[]): boolean =>
suffixes.some((s) => hostname === s || hostname.endsWith(`.${s}`));
const isTrackingParam = (name: string, hostname: string): boolean => {
if (GLOBAL_PARAMS.has(name)) return true;
const lower = name.toLowerCase();
if (GLOBAL_PREFIXES.some((p) => lower.startsWith(p))) return true;
return HOST_PARAMS.some(
(rule) =>
hostMatches(hostname, rule.hosts) &&
(rule.params.includes(name) || (rule.prefixes ?? []).some((p) => name.startsWith(p))),
);
};
/**
* Remove known tracking query parameters from an `http(s)` URL. Returns the
* input unchanged when it is not an http(s) URL, cannot be parsed, or has
* nothing to strip so callers can compare by identity to know whether
* anything happened. Never touches the fragment or the path (except Amazon's
* `/ref=…` path segment, which is a pure referrer tag).
*/
export const stripTrackingParams = (url: string): string => {
if (!/^https?:\/\//i.test(url)) return url;
let parsed: URL;
try {
parsed = new URL(url);
} catch {
return url;
}
const hostname = parsed.hostname.toLowerCase();
if (hostMatches(hostname, SKIP_HOSTS)) return url;
let changed = false;
const params = parsed.searchParams;
Array.from(params.keys()).forEach((name) => {
if (isTrackingParam(name, hostname)) {
params.delete(name);
changed = true;
}
});
if (hostMatches(hostname, AMAZON_HOSTS)) {
const cleanedPath = parsed.pathname.replace(/\/ref=[^/]*/i, '');
if (cleanedPath !== parsed.pathname) {
parsed.pathname = cleanedPath;
changed = true;
}
}
if (!changed) return url;
// URLSearchParams re-serialises the remaining query; when it is now empty,
// drop the dangling `?` entirely.
if (params.toString() === '') parsed.search = '';
return parsed.toString();
};
// Matches an http(s) URL inside free text, stopping before whitespace, quotes,
// angle brackets or a closing paren/bracket. Trailing sentence punctuation is
// trimmed separately so "see https://a.b/?utm_source=x." keeps its full stop.
const URL_IN_TEXT = /https?:\/\/[^\s<>"'()[\]]+/gi;
const TRAILING_PUNCT = /[.,;:!?]+$/;
/**
* Strip tracking params from every http(s) URL found in a block of text (the
* plaintext `body`, or a pasted clipboard string). Returns the input unchanged
* if nothing was stripped.
*/
export const stripTrackingParamsInText = (text: string): string => {
let changed = false;
const out = text.replace(URL_IN_TEXT, (match) => {
const punct = match.match(TRAILING_PUNCT)?.[0] ?? '';
const url = punct ? match.slice(0, -punct.length) : match;
const cleaned = stripTrackingParams(url);
if (cleaned === url) return match;
changed = true;
return cleaned + punct;
});
return changed ? out : text;
};
/**
* Same as `stripTrackingParamsInText` for an HTML string (`formatted_body`),
* where `&` inside attribute values and text is escaped as `&amp;`. Each URL is
* unescaped before stripping and re-escaped after, so the surrounding markup is
* left byte-for-byte intact.
*/
export const stripTrackingParamsInHtml = (html: string): string => {
let changed = false;
const out = html.replace(URL_IN_TEXT, (match) => {
const punct = match.match(TRAILING_PUNCT)?.[0] ?? '';
const raw = punct ? match.slice(0, -punct.length) : match;
const url = raw.replace(/&amp;/g, '&');
const cleaned = stripTrackingParams(url);
if (cleaned === url) return match;
changed = true;
return cleaned.replace(/&/g, '&amp;') + punct;
});
return changed ? out : html;
};