Ghost Release: 5.80.5

TL;DR

Ghost v5.80.5 is a minor release that reverts a recent change to the "Powered by Ghost" newsletter badge. The previous implementation added referral tracking that unintentionally exposed data in publisher analytics, creating potential privacy concerns. This release removes that tracking functionality to resolve the issue.

Highlight of the Release

• Reverted the recently added referral tracking in the 'Powered by Ghost' newsletter badge
• Fixed an issue where referral query parameters were unintentionally appearing in publisher analytics
• Improved privacy handling for newsletter recipients

Migration Guide

No migration steps are required for this release. The update automatically reverts the "Powered by Ghost" newsletter badge to its previous behavior without the referral tracking functionality.

Since this is a reversion to previous behavior, no action is needed from administrators or developers.

Upgrade Recommendations

Recommended for All Users

This release is recommended for all Ghost users who utilize the newsletter functionality, especially those concerned about analytics data accuracy and privacy.

The update is a minor bug fix that reverts unintended behavior, with no breaking changes or required configuration adjustments. You can safely upgrade to v5.80.5 without concerns about compatibility issues.

Bug Fixes

Fixed Analytics Data Exposure

This release fixes an issue where referral tracking parameters added to the "Powered by Ghost" newsletter badge were unintentionally appearing in publisher analytics. The implementation was causing unexpected data exposure, which could potentially affect analytics accuracy and raise privacy concerns.

The fix completely removes the referral tracking functionality that was added in a previous update (commit 9869d9adb61883e8d59b229334866991ed6a17f5).

New Features

No new features were added in this release. This update focuses on reverting a previously implemented feature that caused unintended consequences.

Security Updates

While not classified as a security vulnerability, this release addresses a privacy concern by removing the unintended exposure of referral tracking parameters in publisher analytics. This helps maintain proper data boundaries and prevents potentially sensitive information from appearing where it shouldn't.

Performance Improvements

No specific performance improvements were included in this release. The focus was on fixing the analytics data exposure issue.

Impact Summary

This release has a low to moderate impact, primarily affecting users who rely on analytics data from their Ghost newsletters. By removing the unintended referral tracking parameters from the "Powered by Ghost" badge, the update ensures cleaner analytics data and better privacy practices.

The change is technically a feature reversion rather than a new addition, returning the system to its previous stable behavior. No workflows or user experiences are disrupted by this update, making it a safe and straightforward upgrade for all Ghost installations.

Full Release Notes