Feature Request: More Ad & Tracker Filter Lists

golom

Hi everyone,

I would like to suggest expanding AirVPN’s current filtering options, especially when it comes to ads, trackers, analytics, social-media tracking, and mobile apps.

AirVPN’s DNS-level filtering is already a great feature. However, I think it could become even more powerful with a broader selection of well-maintained filter lists.

Some lists that might be worth considering are:

EasyList – general ad blocking
EasyPrivacy – trackers and analytics
AdGuard Tracking Protection – tracking protection
AdGuard Social Media filter – social-media tracking and widgets
Peter Lowe’s Ad and tracking server list – advertising and tracking domains
Fanboy’s Annoyance List – cookie notices, pop-ups, etc.
Fanboy’s Social – social-media elements
uBlock filters / uBlock filters – Privacy – additional privacy and tracking rules

I don't think the goal should be to simply add as many lists as possible. Many lists overlap, and combining too many of them can cause false positives.

Instead, it might be useful to offer a few predefined filtering profiles, for example:

Basic – ads and known malicious domains
Privacy – ads + trackers + analytics
Strict – Privacy + social-media tracking + annoyances
Custom – users choose their own filter lists

This could also make the feature easier to use for people who don't want to deal with individual filter lists.

Why this would be especially useful on mobile

One of the biggest advantages of AirVPN doing this at the DNS/network level is that the protection isn't limited to a browser.

On Android and iOS, a lot of tracking and advertising comes from apps themselves, including third-party advertising and analytics SDKs.

A setup such as:

AirVPN → DNS filtering → Internet

could therefore block many known advertising and tracking domains across the entire device, rather than only inside the browser.

Of course, DNS filtering can't block every type of tracking, especially when tracking is hosted on the same domain as legitimate first-party content. But it could still provide a significant additional layer of protection.

Thanks.

Tech Jedi Alex

Your list of filter lists is a copy from uBlock Origin's predefined filter lists, and all of them and most of their variants are integrated into OISD Full, so please use that if you need all the lists you mentioned. Same with OISD NSFW for NSFW content, those two lists are really, really good.

11 hours ago, golom said:

I don't think the goal should be to simply add as many lists as possible.

You hit the nail on the head. That's why the most popular implementations and suggestions are not those smaller lists, but the projects summarizing/deduplicating them: OISD, Hagezi, Energized (not sure if stlll alive, that one) and others. OISD and Hagezi have been the cornerstone lists in my local network for years now with one false positive a year, maybe.

11 hours ago, golom said:

Instead, it might be useful to offer a few predefined filtering profiles, for example

Every profile choice needs a separate (curated) list for that filtering purpose. Currently, AirVPN offers a curated ads/tracking, two security, a dating, a gambling and a porn list. Users can then choose to combine them with any other lists to have their own individual, custom filter – for all devices or just one, if they so choose. An arbitrary definition of profiles takes that freedom away: Some see ads, tracking and privacy as the baseline, some only the most intrusive ads or most known ad domains. If you differ between ads and tracking, chances are you will be tracked without ads being shown. Users should just combine the offered lists to have their own custom definition of strict.