Heuristic Tracking-Pixel Blocking?
Feature Summary
Geary currently takes an all-or-nothing approach to remote images in emails. Geary could supplement the image-blocking feature with one that uses heuristics and blocklists to eliminate most tracking pixels while allowing non-tracking remote images to load.
How would you like it to work
A new BSD 3-Clause Licensed Apple Mail extension, MailTrackerBlocker, has implemented the above features, and, assuming the different license is not an overwhelming impediment to doing so, Geary could borrow or adapt some of their work.
While HEY Email and MailTrackerBlocker both include UI elements to tell the user every time a tracker has been blocked, this sort of feature could be implemented more incrementally by only initially implementing a preferences toggle and the blocking itself, with a notification option to potentially be added later.
Additionally, because much of MailTrackerBlocker's innovation is the UI and Apple Mail integration, Geary doesn't necessarily have to borrow from them beyond possibly including the same blocklists they do.
Relevant links, screenshots, etc.
- The MailTrackerBlocker GitHub (also linked above)
- John Gruber's short review of MailTrackerBlocker
- HEY (Basecamp)'s Spy Pixel Blocker feature
- HEY (Basecamp)'s rolling list of known trackers (used by MailTrackerBlocker)
- Simplify Gmail's article on email trackers
- Simplify Gmail's rolling list of known trackers (used by MailTrackerBlocker)