Today I found out that google docs infects html exports with spyware, no scripts, but links in your document are replaced with invisible google tracking redirects. I was using their software because a friend wanted me to work with him on a google doc, he is a pretty big fan of their software, but we were both somehow absolutely shocked that they would go that far.
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Google Docs exports automatically infected with tracking links:
txt - unaffected
html + AFFECTED
odt - unaffected
pdf - unaffected
epub + AFFECTED
rtf - unaffected
docx - unaffected
sample web html <a> tag:
<a class="c4" href=" https://www.google.com/url?q=https://wikimediafoundation.org/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1696089933805520&usg=AOvVaw2ypOvslXzoEGwdryv4bFyJ"> https://wikimediafoundation.org/</a>
sample epub xhtml <a> tag:
<a class="c5" href=" https://www.google.com/url?q=https://wikimediafoundation.org/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1696087392161966&usg=AOvVaw1v4xpIFWD9GYkMFifXd1uo"> https://wikimediafoundation.org/</a>
For those unfamiliar with html: the href section, everything between href=" and "> is the real link, and the section between > and </a> is the display text
This html feature is useful so that a link can display as smething like "Read more", "Profile", "Wiki" etc, but in this case it is misused.
Google tracks people that are not using any of their products by adding hidden tracking links to exports without designer knowledge or end user consent.
#collaboraoffice is excellent free alternative to Googles collaborative office technology, its based on Libre Office technology, #collabora is the largest contributor to #libreoffice and does a lot of other good for #freesoftware . You can install it super easy if you have a #nextcloud instance, or if you use a nice cloud host, or for no charge if you want to learn some systems administration and use your own hardware.
@unchartedworlds and @cryptpad recommend CryptPad for collaborative document editing
https://cryptpad.org/
https://cryptpad.org/
