Popular Ad Blocker For Twitch Leaks IDs And IPs

TTV LOL - An Ad Block For Twitch With Unwelcome Features

TTV LOL used to be one of the very top methods to block Twitch ads. But someone in the user community discovered a privacy issue so severe, that it rocked the user base.

It turns out that TTV LOL had been leaking user IDs and IP addresses to Russian proxy servers.

First reported in May of 2021, this issue was downplayed by the main development team. They claimed, in a nutshell, that such a privacy leak wasn't a big deal and technically didn't violate their privacy policy.

This isn't exactly the kind of response you want if you're putting your personal information in the hands of others. So the community worked on their solution. Over the next few weeks, a patch was created and tested. And it worked!

But that solution sat idle for months without being implemented. When someone pointed out that the fix still wasn't live, more questions arose. It turned out that the updated version of the code had never been pushed out to the Firefox or Chrome app stores.

The issue was closed. Since there have been app store updates since October 2021, presumably the right fork was finally uploaded at some point. But it certainly wasn't a timely fix. The app developer denied that this was a privacy issue repeatedly arguing with the people trying to fix it, and had to be dragged kicking and screaming into implementing the bug fix.

What Is The Current State Of TTV LOL?

Whether it is because of this incident, or other feature and development issues, the popularity of the TTV LOL ad-block for Twitch dropped. It used to top several lists as the best way to block Twitch ads, but now it lingers in third place or lower on many lists. The trust factor is quite important in the open-source community, and treating privacy issues seriously (while understanding the potential exploits available if left untreated) factors heavily when recommending an app or add-on.

Which Ad Blocker For Twitch Has Taken TTV LOL's Place?

The simply named Twitch for Adblock extension has quickly gained prominence among those who were dissatisfied with TTV LOL's response to the privacy bug report. At the time of writing, it sits as one of the best-reviewed ad blockers for Twitch with broad adoption, scoring an impressive 4.1 stars out of 5 in the Chrome extension store.

Frequent updates and paying attention to users and developer community feedback, as well as a completely open-source policy, have put them in pole position. So far, their reputation has been pretty good, and Twitch's anti-Adblock tactics have been easily defeated by this app regularly.

Perhaps someday TTV LOL will regain the full trust of the open-source community. But they'll also need to make sure their product is better than Twitch for Adblock, or people won't have much incentive to switch back.

Beware 'Best Of' Lists With Paid Options To Block Twitch Ads

Some of the 'best of' lists are intentionally putting commercial software at the top… so that the lister can get a commission, of course.

Don't believe their shilling. At the time of writing, all of the best ad blockers for Twitch are free. Commercial ad blockers may have their place, but for blocking ads on single websites nothing is going to beat highly focused and specialized apps with supportive open source communities.

Intentionally misrepresenting these generic commercial ads blocking apps as more effective than the tried and tested open-source specialty apps is underhanded and greedy. You can safely ignore such 'best of' lists since you know they're going to be dishonest.

For Those Still Concerned With Their Privacy

If you still have privacy concerns with browser extensions, there are more comprehensive measures that can be taken. These go well beyond just blocking ads on Twitch and enter into the realm of full browser virtualization.

Mainly, people adopt these measures to deal with tracking. And the big tracking method of the 2020s is device and browser fingerprinting. That's the practice of trying to use scripting methods to identify unique combinations of hardware and software settings, which can later be used to identify you.

Oddly, one of the side effects of this kind of virtualization in the Cloud is blocking Twitch ads in certain situations!

How? Well, let's take a look at one of the industry leaders in private and anonymous browsing, Hoody. Every time you open a browser tab, you get a different IP. The OS, browser information, and any other fingerprints are randomized so that none of your personal information is transferred. The tabs don't even have correlations to one another on your own browser unless you want them to, you can open Gmail on one tab and YouTube on another tab, and even Google won't know it's you who is browsing on these two sites. These measures stop browser fingerprinting in its tracks.

But how can Hoody be used as a Twitch adblocker? Funnily enough, if you specify that your exit node is from a country that doesn't serve normal Twitch ads (like Poland, Panama, etc.)... you just won't get them. As mentioned, it's a funny side effect of full browser virtualization: The ability to pretend you're from another country.

This also means that you could have a Twitch account based in a country other than your own, and using Hoody, you can buy discount subscriptions to your favorite streamers! Because sub costs are now scaled to the local economy, picking an exit node in a cheaper country can result in deeply discounted subs. But remember: The streamer only gets around half of what you pay. So adjust your personal support to them accordingly, if you so desire.

In Conclusion

TTV LOL was slow off the mark when correcting a privacy concern from their community, and paid the price. Twitch Adblock was the main beneficiary, becoming the most popular option in the app store. It's a good lesson: Open-source developers should always err on the side of caution when it comes to privacy and data collection policies. Otherwise, they may find themselves pariahs in their own community.

If you want to dig deeper into the topic of ad blockers, then we recommend reading What is an Ad Blocker and How Do They Work?