Skip to content
TopicTracker
From HackerNewsView original
TranslationTranslation

Show HN: Pixelblock – block email open tracking images in Gmail

Pixelblock is a Chrome extension that blocks email open tracking images in Gmail, designed to enhance email privacy. The extension has been updated to work with Manifest V3.

Background

- Email open tracking (or "pixel tracking") embeds a tiny, invisible 1x1 image inside an email. When the recipient's client loads that image, it sends a signal back to the sender's server, revealing the email was opened, plus time, device, and approximate location (via IP). Widely used by marketers and newsletters. - Gmail loads external images automatically by default, enabling this tracking. Pixelblock prevents those images from loading, blocking the signal. - The developer updated it to Manifest V3 (MV3) — Google's latest Chrome extension framework. MV3 imposes stricter rules (limiting remote code, background scripts) that made privacy/blocking extensions harder to maintain. This update keeps the extension compatible and not deprecated. - Posted on Hacker News under "Show HN," meaning the maker is presenting their own project for community feedback.

Related stories