Comment by applfanboysbgon
13 hours ago
> Meta must face a lawsuit alleging that it secretly tracked Android users' browsing activity on mobile websites that embedded Meta's analytics pixel, and linked that activity to users' identities, a federal judge ruled Monday.
> The decision, issued by U.S. District Court Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco, grew out of a class-action complaint initially brought last June by California resident Devin Rose (and later joined by other Android users).
> Rose alleged that between September 2024 and June 2025, Meta exploited Android's localhost -- a feature that allows software developers to test applications -- to connect users’ mobile web browsing to their Facebook and Instagram profiles.
May 12, 2026
Not at all to defend Meta but "a feature that allows software developers to test applications" is a dubious definition of localhost. I also can't come up with a better one.
Here is the explicit definition of localhost.
The term "localhost" refers to the default entry in all modern operating system host files. By default modern operating systems provide a hosts file that provides domain name resolution without reliance upon the Domain Name System (DNS) protocol. By default these host files typically ship with one entry, a domain named "localhost" that points to IPv4 loopback interface 127.0.0.1.
It's not a definition, but it is an accurate statement.
It's a true statement but I'm not sure it gives a good impression of what localhost actually is.
1 reply →
“A loopback network interface” or “A interface that refers to the same host”.
“A network interface which allows processes on the same internet host to communicate without the need for a network connection”
There's a lot of layperson-unfriendly words in there! Iterating on that:
"A feature that allows multiple programs on the same device to communicate without the need for an internet connection"
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It is like having a pool room at home instead of playing at the bar. Facebook want to snoop around your pool room.
docket: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70448987/in-re-meta-and...
im failing to see the connection
>standard pixel tracking, linked to meta (js , web)
>Meta exploited Android's localhost (os level)
- Instagram/Facebook app listening on localhost port X.
- A website running JS on the browser tries to connect to localhost port X. If it succeeds it's now talking to Zuck's app.
- The JS can report whatever it wants to the app, and the app knows the identity of the browsing user, because ~100% of the time it's the user also logged into the app(s).