hideget

Hideget is a term that appears in privacy and security discussions to describe practices intended to reduce the exposure of information carried in the URL of web requests. It is not a formal standard and has no single canonical definition; instead, it refers to a family of techniques aimed at limiting what sensitive data can be exposed through GET query strings, browser history, server logs, and analytics.

Common techniques associated with hideget include moving data that would otherwise appear in the URL into the body of a request, typically by using POST instead of GET for data submission; designing endpoints to rely on identifiers or tokens rather than raw sensitive values in query strings; and implementing redaction or masking of query parameters in server and proxy logs. Additional practices include stripping or obfuscating the referer header when making cross-origin requests, tokenizing sensitive values, and configuring analytics and log systems to avoid storing full URLs or to mask query strings.

The term is often used in the context of data minimization, privacy-by-design principles, and regulatory compliance, where reducing the visibility of sensitive information can help limit data exposure. It is also discussed in relation to API design, web application architecture, and privacy-preserving logging practices.

Limitations and challenges include compatibility with caching behavior, idempotency of operations, and the need to maintain usability and functionality. Not all interactions can be accommodated by POST or by redacting URLs without changing semantics or performance. As a result, hideget is more of a descriptive umbrella term than a precise, standardized protocol, with implementations varying by framework, platform, and organizational policies. See also HTTP methods, data minimization, log redaction, and privacy-preserving analytics.