When your browser makes an HTTP request, it may optionally include a referrer URL. This allows servers to treat requests differently based on what webpage they're being linked from (like supporting embedded images on your website but not supporting bandwidth leeching), provides info about where your webpage is getting attention, etc.
If you look at the source code for this page, you will find a pair of meta tags in the header:
<meta name="referrer" content="never">
<meta name="referrer" content="no-referrer">
As far as I know the first one doesn't do anything, but the second tells your browser that any links on this webpage should not include that referrer information. Checking the request header confirms that the referrer was not included.
I hadn't heard of that, how does it work?
When your browser makes an HTTP request, it may optionally include a referrer URL. This allows servers to treat requests differently based on what webpage they're being linked from (like supporting embedded images on your website but not supporting bandwidth leeching), provides info about where your webpage is getting attention, etc.
If you look at the source code for this page, you will find a pair of meta tags in the header:
<meta name="referrer" content="never">
<meta name="referrer" content="no-referrer">
As far as I know the first one doesn't do anything, but the second tells your browser that any links on this webpage should not include that referrer information. Checking the request header confirms that the referrer was not included.