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annoyatron September 27, 2012 20:45

Facebook album photos through PHP API are being blocked because of Graph redirect

Hello, we have an application (framous.com) that uses photos from Facebook and other services to let users create a custom collage. One thing we noticed when running with Ghostery is that Facebook album photos (albums are loaded through PHP against the Facebook API) are blocked because they have to be redirected from the API URL to the proper image farm to get the correct image. Unfortunately Facebook does not double-store the actual image link on the albums so the only way to get it is to use the redirect link. Is there a suggested method for making these photos show up even if the user has Ghostery enabled with all options on?

The only theory we have so far is to detect if Ghostery (or similar plugins) are installed and warn the user that they need to allow Facebook Graph, but that seems kind of rude... The user has obviously given permission and want to see their album photos from Facebook so that they can use them in their collage. What can be done to improve this?
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  • annoyatron September 27, 2012 20:48
    It should be noted that the images are loaded as background images in a div element. Would pre-loading them as regular images help or will they still be blocked? I know this could potentially open up holes in the blocking methods of Ghostery so it's a sensitive subject, and I would love to preserve my users' privacy while still giving them the full experience of the application.
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    good solution! good solution! (undo)
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  • I’m sad
    annoyatron September 27, 2012 21:15
    We also attempted to use the following code:
    http://zzz.rezo.net/HowTo-Expand-Shor...

    Unfortunately it makes our API time out when talking to the Facebook API trying to resolve the redirects. So that's a no-go as well.

    Original post on StackOverflow:
    http://stackoverflow.com/questions/35...
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    good solution! good solution! (undo)
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  • CHAMP
    Alexei September 27, 2012 22:22
    Hi annoyatron,

    Could you give us an example API call (w/o sensitive info, of course)?

    This seems like a situation where the tracker (assuming it's not a false positive) provides useful functionality, and the user's actions suggest being OK with providing access/allowing the tracker.

    The problem is that it's hard to say for sure whether the user really is OK with tracking in this case. Ghostery's job is to reveal (and to allow blocking of) third-party tracking.

    The only theory we have so far is to detect if Ghostery (or similar plugins) are installed and warn the user that they need to allow Facebook Graph, but that seems kind of rude... The user has obviously given permission and want to see their album photos from Facebook so that they can use them in their collage.

    I like this idea of showing a notice/warning to Ghostery/Adblock/... users since it (A) informs and (B) doesn't choose for them.
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    good solution! good solution! (undo)
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