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Sophira

If you've been using the "Get cookies.txt" Chrome extension, it's tracking you now.

[Update from 2023-03-04: The situation is now even worse; the extension is now also sending all your cookies to the developer, too.]

The "Get cookies.txt" extension updated to version 1.5.0 yesterday and the new update is sending details of every page you visit (not just video sites, but every page) back to its developer at the domain "ck.getcookiestxt.com". Specifically, for every page you visit, it sends:

  • The page address,

  • A unique ID for your browser installation,

  • Your browser's user-agent string (which shows what OS you're using and the browser version number),

  • Your language setting,

  • The platform you're on,

  • The current date/time and your current timezone.

I'd highly recommend moving away from this extension ASAP.

Now for the good news: If you're using yt-dlp, you don't need to use this extension! It has a --cookies-from-browser switch which allows you to say, for example, --cookies-from-browser firefox and it'll get the cookies directly from your browser. There are also advanced usages that allow you to specify decryption keyrings, profile paths, and (for Firefox) container names - see the yt-dlp --help output for details.

Please be careful out there!