I’ve seen conflicted info about this around the internet.

[image] Link Previews: How a Simple Feature Can Have Privacy and Security Risks Link previews in chat apps can cause serious privacy problems if not done properly. We found several cases of apps with vulnerabilities such as: leaking IP addresses, exposing links sent in end-to-end encrypt…

Well, if you can see the full URL, you may be able to decipher whether it not it redirects you or see any tracking elements within to learn if it will track you or “ID” you opening it, if you open it. And that could be helpful to know.

It depends on the app. If it is an app like Signal where the link previews are generated by the sender, then the privacy impact is minimal. Signal will connect to the URL you’re sending to generate the preview, but since you’re the one sending the URL it’s pretty likely you’ve already connected to …

[image] jonah: examples Most XMPP clients do receive side link preview generation, and should hopefully be off by default.

man I love Mysk. thank you, this explains it very well

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Is there a privacy benefit to disabling link previews?

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anonfox September 5, 2025, 3:14pm 5

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Is there a privacy benefit to disabling link previews?

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