(this is my first post im new) ive noticed something no one seems to have a problem with. do you have this problem to? am i just doing something wrong?

i use a privacy friendly browser plus a privacy friendly os and use fingerprint spoofer/blocker. i watch videos on invidious. i noticed that the “popular” tab shows videos related to videos i watched before. even if i clear my cookies, or change my idenity in (offiscial) tor browser i still get recommended related videos meaning no matter what i do google knows what i watch. whats worse, if i go on invidious on a totally different device with a normal broswer normal os, i get the same videos. meaning websites know what videos i watch across multiple sessions but also multiple devices. im sick of this. it feels like i’ve tried everything, sacrificed so much connivence but no results.

(this isn’t a question spefecifically about youtube google or invindious just how to get webisites to stop knowing everything i do across multiple identities and every device i use)

Things I tried

*Proton vpn+librewolf(max security according to settings)+nosircpt+Ublock(with the filters it comes with)+ officisal recommended invidious instances+Quad9 via settings

*Tails+Tor browser(max security settings apprentaly)+default bridge+no javascirpt+fingerprint spoofing estendsion+bluetooth disabled by tails+all the previous mentioned (exculding vpn i heard its risky)+invidious again (Tails doesn’t work well for me the police are not after me and it takes so long to start and presisent stoarage is annoying)

*Qubes+Whonix vm+Tor browser(max again)+no javascript (I love and hate qubes from my first impression it meets my security needs and you can run any os in a vm on it but i wish it just worked. theres a steep learning curve and my hardware isn’t the best for it)

No results on any of these just slower internet and some websites are broken. Its just like using a normal browser that tracks you but slow as a privacy one. im getting tired of this. i use all this super deep level paranoid overkill stufff and nothing happens. like im burning my house to get rid of a spider but the spider is still there

possible causes

-google wireless access point (does qubes/whonix/tor NOT protect against this at all??) (also my family HATES any changes or mild inconveniences)

-i logged in to google without a vpn **ONCE **does this automatically doom you forever **even ** if you change os and browser and device?

-hardware is framework laptop

for clairtiy

I am not -a criminal -a journalist -a gooner -willing to go off grid in the woods I am -creeped out -tired -about to give up

My privacy goals

-be able to actually cut ties with my shadow profile and have websites not know everything ive done in my life -control what data brokers and compaines knsw -not have any website at all know every device i use -be able to use any network safely

I feel like giving up on privacy because nothing seems to work. the only results I get is slower more broken internet

  • lemmingsareawesome@sh.itjust.worksOP
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    2 hours ago

    yes thats how it should work i wish it did.

    my question isnt about invidious specfically (sorry for the confusion) i just know that privacy os+privacy browser+anti-fingerprint+private frontend does nothing for me. i dont want any website knowing every interaction i make with it even if i change my ip, clear cookies, or change fingerprint.

    also i had a feeling that google was tracking me through invidiuos becuase i watched a lot of videos from a niche channel then right after they were in the popular tab even if they had less than 100 views. i tested this by watching a channel of a topic i wasnt even remotely interested in and the exact channel i watched there after i cleared my cookies changed my tor circut and restarted.

    kind of weird that most invidious users like the exact videos i watch at the exact time i watch them

    thanks for the comment

    • Mauve@programming.dev
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      38 minutes ago

      To be clear are we talking about the popular tab on invidious or youtube?

      If it’s invidious then the pool of users on your instance could be small enough that one person watching a bunch of videos could skew the popular tab results. The invidious documentation mentions that the feed is “generated from the videos that are popular amongst the users registered on your instance” so personal watch history probably has nothing to do with it and every user sees the same page.

      If it’s youtube then the invidious instance you’re using could be just forwarding your traffic to youtube which would defeat the entire purpose of invidious but nothing would stop someone from setting up an instance that does that.

      The easiest way to confirm would be to compare the popular tab with someone else’s device that’s never logged into your accounts or been on your networks…

      Because again, if your IP and browser fingerprint stuff have been successfully changed websites have little to no means of tracking you reliably unless you tell them who you are. The sites that check your fingerprint have access to all the data sites like invidious or youtube have so if the fingerprint sites show different results on your different setups your tracking data cannot be aggregated. For this to not be true your setups would need to be completely compromised in some targeted way and or guesses would need to be made based on targeted behaviours/data, and if either of those were the case the holes in security would likely be used for more important things than syncing video recommendations.

      • lemmingsareawesome@sh.itjust.worksOP
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        32 minutes ago

        Popular tab on invidious. But i also see videos related to things i watch on invidious on youtube.

        i dont want any website to track me it be invidous or youtube but i still want to use them.

        ive already compared it . Its the exact same as if im not even trying to be private :(

        im not scared of syncing video recommendations. the video recommendations is just the crak that i see in my privacy (the thing that proves im not private) idk why its like this

        if google (or other websites and services) can know everything ive done They can do bad things. i want to stop that