AnonymousOverflow allows you to view StackOverflow threads without the cluttered interface and exposing your IP address, browsing habits and other browser fingerprint data to StackOverflow.
This project is super lightweight by design. The UI is simple and the frontend is served as an SSR HTML requiring no JavaScript.
Visit the AnonymousOverflow Hub for a list of instances.
- StackOverflow collects a lot of information
While it's understandable that StackOverflow collects a lot of technical data for product development, debugging and to serve the best experience to its users, not everyone wants their
internet protocol (IP) address, [...] browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system, and platform [...] data
to be collected and stored.
- StackOverflow shares your information with third-parties
StackOverflow does not sell your information, but it does share it with third-parties, including conglomerates.
We also partner with other third parties, such as Google Ads and Microsoft Bing, to serve advertising content and manage advertising campaigns. When we use Google Ads or Microsoft Bing Customer Match for advertising campaigns, your personal data will be protected using hashed codes. Google users can control the ads that they see on Google services, including Customer Match ads, in their Google Ads Settings.
Their main website also contains trackers from Alphabet.
- Reduced clutter
StackOverflow has a cluttered UI that might distract you from the content you're trying to find. AnonymousOverflow simplifies the interface to make it easier to read and navigate.
The open-source Libredirect extension for Firefox and Chromium-based desktop browsers has support for redirections to AnonymousOverflow. To enable this, simply open the extension settings, click on Stack Overflow, then toggle "Enable". That's it, now Stack Overflow links will go to AnonymousOverflow.
The open-source Proxy_Redirect user.js script for web browsers with userscript support. You can install it with a web extension like Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey or Violentmonkey. Once installed, Stack Overflow links will go to AnonymousOverflow.
AnonymousOverflow uses the existing question endpoint that StackOverflow uses. Simply replace the domain name in the URL with the domain name of the AnonymousOverflow instance you're using and you'll be able to view the question anonymously.
Example:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43743250/using-libsodium-xchacha20-poly1305-for-large-files
becomes
${instanceURL}/questions/43743250/using-libsodium-xchacha20-poly1305-for-large-files
You can easily convert StackOverflow URLs to AnonymousOverflow ones by adding the following code as a bookmark in your web browser:
javascript: (function () {
window.location = window.location
.toString()
.replace(/stackoverflow\.com/, 'code.whatever.social')
})()Replace code.whatever.social with the domain name of the instance you're using if needed.
You can run this bookmarklet on any StackOverflow page to view it anonymously.
Thanks to Manav from ente.io for the handy tool.
Read the wiki page.
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