Question on Wipr ad blocker and Security

[BotchQue]

Recently I've seen a small red "!" on the Wipr icon in my Safari bar, and when I click on it I get this message:

I use both Wipr and Vinegar to block ads in Safari, iirc Wipr was specialized to block video ads on EweTube.

EweTube has been especially agressive on screwing up my viewing with this extension in place recently; when I get two ads at the beginning of even a short video, plus two more ads (usually non-skippable) every four minutes, well, I'm not going to accept that. I've been playing with a separate app called Swizztube that accesses EweTube vids a different way, but EweTube will cause the video to not play at all, or start over as soon as the first blocked ad appears, or the video plays in a different language. I understand that I'm not paying anything for EweTube access, but I also know that they collect my viewing habits and provide my viewing/consumer preferences to companies to sell to me; I knew that going in, accepted it, and the EweTube oligarchs became billionaires with that business model; that's fine with me. But, that wasn't enough! MORE MONEY FOR MEEEE!!! Now they're trying to shove ads down my throat at every possible instance, and I'll leave EweTube before putting up with that, hence my ad blockers/Swizztube. Yes, I know I can pay Bezosebub $130/year to eliminate those ads, but since he'll still be collecting my info AND doesn't create his own content (he's merely a server service) that's a hard pass from me [/rant].

Sorry about the whining. My question here, is about the above warning. Allowing that extension to have access to my passwords and my CC number info, sets off alarm bells to me, even for "One Day". I'm not intranetz savvy enough to know if this is SOP, or a legitimate security Red Flag, and would like anyone here who's smarter than me (ie, all of you) to weigh in if you have the time. TIA.


A somewhat related question: Many of my favored channels on EweTube don't have any ads, some have just one skippable ad up front, and some that I've abandoned have two (mostly) non-skippable ads up-front and every four minutes or so. Is that a choice of the channels' creator? That they "might" get more money if they allow more ads? That makes sense, but as stated above, I'm probably not going to follow them anymore. Just curious.

 

[User #07242024]

This is normal behavior for safari extensions. They need to access in order to block. Always allow on this website or all websites as you wish.

 

[gilby101]

Just to add to comment from @User #07242024

Any moderately advanced blocker needs to inspect (and often modify) your web requests and the responses from web severs. Of course, allowing that inspection allows the ad blocker to record anything you do in the browser - so a good warning from Apple. You have to decide if you trust Wipr to not record passwords, etc.

Never use ad blocking with a product you don't trust. Your choice.

 

[BotchQue]

Thanks guys.
An additional question: I’ve never given EweTube my CC info nor any password info (other than a EweTube password, if I even have one). So if I “Allow for one day”, then access my usual EweTube channels all day, but not access any bank/financial sites in my browser for that day, would I be safe?

 

[gilby101]

So if I “Allow for one day”, then access my usual EweTube channels all day, but not access any bank/financial sites in my browser for that day, would I be safe?

That would give you some protection from Wipr being untrustworthy. But if you don't trust Wipr, you should not use it at all.

 

[russell_314]

Thanks guys.
An additional question: I’ve never given EweTube my CC info nor any password info (other than a EweTube password, if I even have one). So if I “Allow for one day”, then access my usual EweTube channels all day, but not access any bank/financial sites in my browser for that day, would I be safe?

How about use a separate browser for your banking and financial websites? It seems like this is getting to be really sketchy, especially if you have any significant financial loss that could happen if someone got into your accounts. These apps could be 100% trustworthy, but their servers could get hacked. I use Safari for my banking and another browser for YouTube and the various other websites.

If for some reason you absolutely were against the idea of a separate browser maybe consider YouTube premium? Is it worth the risk to save $15 a month? Only you know the answer to that question.

 

[KaliYoni]

I use both Wipr and Vinegar to block ads in Safari, iirc Wipr was specialized to block video ads on EweTube.

Your post and @russell_314 's reply about multiple browsers reminded me of this post I wrote:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/safari-extension-that-blocks-youtube-recommendations-etc.2387274/post-32111532

 

[BotchQue]

Your post and @russell_314 's reply about multiple browsers reminded me of this post I wrote:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/safari-extension-that-blocks-youtube-recommendations-etc.2387274/post-32111532

Oh man, THANK YOU!!
Swizztube gives paths to use Google, Duckduckgo, Reddit and a few other things thru the Swizztube interface, but that must be what the internet warfare from EweTube is aimed at, as using DDG thru Swizztube still gave me some blocking, starting the video over, etc.
So, I turned off Swizztube and downloaded DDG direct from the App Store, and after an hour of futzing or so, understand how it works and how to let it block YT ads, and it's working beautifully! Haven't yet been able to import my websites from Safari, but I'll get it figured out in the next couple days.
Again, THANK YOU!!

 

[KaliYoni]

it's working beautifully! Haven't yet been able to import my websites from Safari, but I'll get it figured out in the next couple days.

Glad to hear!

Two related quick tips:

1. DDG also has a useful email forwarding service. It allows you to set up an unlimited number of disposable email addresses.
2. If you have a need to download videos from YouTube, I am a long time, very satisfied user of Downie . The developer issues updates regularly and is very responsive to customer service and support requests. Plus a bonus: Downie is a purchase, not a subscription.

 

[ForkHandles]

Always seems like a bit of a rip off to use an Ad Blocker. Companies like MacRumors use advertising as their main source of income to provide you with quality free content. Then comes along an AdBlocker to mean users free load the lot.

in fact I always try and click on an Ad whenever I visit as a thank you.

 

[Populus]

Thanks guys.
An additional question: I’ve never given EweTube my CC info nor any password info (other than a EweTube password, if I even have one). So if I “Allow for one day”, then access my usual EweTube channels all day, but not access any bank/financial sites in my browser for that day, would I be safe?

The thing here is that you’re only focusing only on one of the three possible options Safari is giving you with the extension.

Please look at the other options from that extension dialog. There’s one that says “Always allow [this extension’s acess] on this website”. If you’re not putting any confidential or critical info such as your CC on EweTube, then you don’t have to worry about it, because the extension (at least the extra part) won’t be able to have access to other websites. You can also go into settings and select “other websites: always deny” instead of always ask, in order to not be asked again and use Wipr Extra only on EweTube. The other modules of Wipr 2 can be enabled for all websites because it uses Safari ad-blocking API so it cannot access any sensitive data.

I’m a user of Wipr and Wipr 2 for more than 10 years, and since I discovered it, it’s been my only ad-blocker, although it hasn’t always been effective for YouTube, that’s why I started using Vinegar. However, lately Wipr 2 Extra has been working reliably and well. If you have any questions shoot away, or visit Kaylee’s site to send her an email and ask her directly. She’s quite nice tbh.