UrlCheck

Site Development Tool Suggestions
1

Website

Short description

An app that acts as a middleman between user and URLs. When user taps on URL link, it presents a menu with various options that allow manipulating links.

Why I think this tool should be added

  • When selected as default browser app, it can intercept every time user taps on link, preventing unintentional opening of links. It essentially acts as a confirmation button with various options before visiting a link.

  • Can remove tracking parameters from URLs and redirect to privacy friendly frontends, offering protection against Surveillance Capitalism. This also eliminates need to download 3rd party extensions that do the same thing (e.g. ClearURLs and Libredirect) and trusting devs behind them, preserving browser security while offering convenient way to use privacy friendly frontends. Effectively, it mitigates major security risks of those browser extensions (and in general) (e.g. complete read/write access to websites, access to browsing history) while offering their functionality.

  • Can redirect http to https, warns if link contains non Latin characters (preventing forms of phishing and the likes of IDN homograph attack - Wikipedia ), allows users to scan links via Virus Total, can bypass URL shorterners via unshorten.me (avoiding security risks of URL shorterners: Why Shortened URLs Pose a Security Risk - Acer Corner ). This means that URL Check can assist in protection against Passive (and possibly Targeted) Attacks.

  • Very customizable, users can make or import new rules or modify existing ones (e.g. making http to https automatic).

Section on Privacy Guides

General Apps (Android), or a new category named URL Interceptors if needed (might be useful if more apps like this are recommended)

2 Likes
2

I’ve been using URLCheck for over a year on GrapheneOS. I love it!

1 Like
3

really enjoy the unshorten feature

4

Same! I prefer it to the native android browser picker, it works so well.

5

I really don’t think an app that sends every URL you click on to both VirusTotal and unshorten.me is a good idea. Also extensions that modify your URLs are a whole other attack surface.

Every browser now has HTTPS-only mode, so upgrading URLs to HTTPS is a useless feature. Trying to avoid the security risk of shortened URLs by adding at least two other parties that change your URL again makes no sense, just don’t use URL shorteners or only use first-party ones.