Internet Archive: Difference between revisions
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===Login-only items for legally dubious content (2016-present)=== | ===Login-only items for legally dubious content (2016-present)=== | ||
On January 13, 2016, Hank Bromley (hank_b) of the Internet Archive created a collection of uploads considered legally dubious and only viewable with an account.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Download & Streaming : Log In Required : Internet Archive |url=https://archive.org/details/loggedin?tab=about |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive. | On January 13, 2016, Hank Bromley (hank_b) of the Internet Archive created a collection of uploads considered legally dubious and only viewable with an account.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Download & Streaming : Log In Required : Internet Archive |url=https://archive.org/details/loggedin?tab=about |url-status=live |archive-url=https://megalodon.jp/2024-0311-0532-32/https://archive.org:443/details/loggedin?tab=about |archive-date=2024-03-11 |access-date=2025-08-16 |website=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> | ||
These uploads cannot be viewed or downloaded by logged-out users but can be accessed by anyone with an account.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Internet Archive Forums: Log In Required, after logging in. |url=https://archive.org/post/1092552/log-in-required-after-logging-in |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260222222400/https://archive.org/post/1092552/log-in-required-after-logging-in |archive-date=22 Feb 2026|access-date=2025-08-16 |website=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> | These uploads cannot be viewed or downloaded by logged-out users but can be accessed by anyone with an account.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Internet Archive Forums: Log In Required, after logging in. |url=https://archive.org/post/1092552/log-in-required-after-logging-in |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260222222400/https://archive.org/post/1092552/log-in-required-after-logging-in |archive-date=22 Feb 2026|access-date=2025-08-16 |website=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> | ||
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On May 19, 2017, The Archive's Development Manager made a blog post detailing that anyone who had created their account before 2012 had to change their password as the site had been breached with user's public information and lightly encrypted passwords being leaked.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barrett |first=Katie |date=2017-05-19 |title=Re: User account breach {{!}} Internet Archive Blogs |url=https://blog.archive.org/2017/05/19/re-user-account-breach/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250520030556/https://blog.archive.org/2017/05/19/re-user-account-breach/ |archive-date=2025-05-20 |access-date=2025-08-16 |website=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> | On May 19, 2017, The Archive's Development Manager made a blog post detailing that anyone who had created their account before 2012 had to change their password as the site had been breached with user's public information and lightly encrypted passwords being leaked.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barrett |first=Katie |date=2017-05-19 |title=Re: User account breach {{!}} Internet Archive Blogs |url=https://blog.archive.org/2017/05/19/re-user-account-breach/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250520030556/https://blog.archive.org/2017/05/19/re-user-account-breach/ |archive-date=2025-05-20 |access-date=2025-08-16 |website=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> | ||
On October 9, 2024, users on the Internet Archive got pop-ups that the website had been hacked with notifications appearing from the perpetrators at around 9PM CST,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-09 |title=Dark Web Informer on X |url=https:// | On October 9, 2024, users on the Internet Archive got pop-ups that the website had been hacked with notifications appearing from the perpetrators at around 9PM CST,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-09 |title=Dark Web Informer on X |url=https://nitter.us.catsarch.com/DarkWebInformer/status/1844123206413943274 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260321121941/https://nitter.us.catsarch.com/DarkWebInformer/status/1844123206413943274 |archive-date=21 Mar 2026 |access-date=2025-08-16 |website=[[Twitter]]}}</ref> and an hour later Troy Hunt of HaveIBeenPwned confirmed the breach.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hunt |first=Troy |date=2024-10-09 |title=Troy Hunt on X |url=https://nitter.us.catsarch.com/troyhunt/status/1844136762727448644 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260321122129/https://nitter.us.catsarch.com/troyhunt/status/1844136762727448644 |archive-date=21 Mar 2026 |access-date=2025-08-16 |website=[[Twitter]]}}</ref> | ||
Around 31 million users were affected with their user IDs, Emails, encrypted passwords and usernames being leaked.<ref>{{Cite news |last=LeClair |first=Dave |date=2024-10-11 |title=31 million users impacted by Internet Archive data breach — what we know |url=https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/online-security/31-million-users-impacted-by-internet-archive-data-breach-what-we-know |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109231711/https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/online-security/31-million-users-impacted-by-internet-archive-data-breach-what-we-know |archive-date=2024-11-09 |access-date=2025-08-16 |work=Tom's Guide}}</ref> | Around 31 million users were affected with their user IDs, Emails, encrypted passwords and usernames being leaked.<ref>{{Cite news |last=LeClair |first=Dave |date=2024-10-11 |title=31 million users impacted by Internet Archive data breach — what we know |url=https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/online-security/31-million-users-impacted-by-internet-archive-data-breach-what-we-know |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109231711/https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/online-security/31-million-users-impacted-by-internet-archive-data-breach-what-we-know |archive-date=2024-11-09 |access-date=2025-08-16 |work=Tom's Guide}}</ref> | ||
=== Website no longer usable without JavaScript (2023) === | |||
Up until 2022, Archive.org was one of the few remaining major websites that could be browsed and searched without [[JavaScript]]. JavaScript was only used where necessary, for example to enable bottomless scrolling. This is known as progressive enhancement.<ref name=jakearchibald>{{cite web |url=https://jakearchibald.com/2013/progressive-enhancement-still-important/ |title=Progressive enhancement is still important - JakeArchibald.com |date=2013-07-03 |access-date=2026-04-18 }}</ref> | |||
Since 2023 however, large parts of the Archive.org website (including the home page, collection pages, and the search engine) can no longer be browsed at all without JavaScript, because the legacy HTML-based user interface was replaced with a Google Lit web app. As of April 2026, only individual item pages remain viewable without JavaScript.<ref>Before change: [https://ghostarchive.org/archive/3vxC8 2023-06-28]. After change: [https://ghostarchive.org/archive/sdLIp 2023-09-28]</ref><!-- Editor note: I also know this from personal experience, but given that archive.org/details was excluded from the Wayback Machine and Archive Today converts everything to static HTML, there is not much of a historical record available for these changes. User account pages (archive.org/details/@...) were made JS-only in March 2024, but I'll have to find a source for this. --> | |||
This made it impossible to browse the site on legacy systems that do not support modern web browsers, as well as minimalist web browser alternatives to the Google-Mozilla duopoly, and slowed down loading on modern web browsers because lots of code has to be executed before any content can appear on screen, putting the content at the end of the rendering path.<ref>{{cite web |title=Critical rendering path – Mozilla Developer Network |url=https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Performance/Guides/Critical_rendering_path |access-date=2026-04-18 }}</ref> | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||