Firefox... Now With Ping!

[mark87]

Firefox now allows a non-standard ping attribute (http://whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/#ping) in anchors and area tags.

Once a link with a ping attribute is followed, the browser will send notification pings to the specified URLs after following the link.

Opens up some security/privacy issues which are being discussed by a user at Mozillazine (http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/darin/archives/009594.html).

[jkd]

Opens up some security/privacy issues.

Hardly.


document.addEventListener("click", function(event) {
if (event.target.nodeName.toUpperCase() == "A") {
var request = new XMLHttpRequest();
request.open("GET", event.target.getAttribute("ping"), true);
request.send("Ping!");
}
}, true);


Or something like that, accomplishes practically the same thing.

People who complain about the ping on the basis of privacy just want something to troll about. The only valid argument against it is that disabling Javascript does not disable the ping attribute, but it can similarly be disabled.