I don't mind if they take analytics--as long as it's on a completely Mozilla controlled server with a tight privacy policy.
Firefox tracks users with Google Analytics in the add-on settings
61–70 of 179 posts
Re: Firefox tracks users with Google Analytics in the add-on settings
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honestly this has never been secret. It's even in the configure flags to enable/disable it. So you van easily disable it as you wish. There's a page on the wiki aboit various forms of data collections [1]. It os pretty descriptive of the information they send. [1] https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Data_Collection
> There's a page on the wiki aboit various forms of data collections [1]. The page you linked to starts with "Firefox sends various data back to Mozilla". Nowhere does it say "Firefox sends various data back to Google Analytics" on that page.
This is probably a better page, as the original one linked is indeed for sending data to Mozilla. This one also talks about "service providers":
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/
Though it also doesn't mention GA.
Re: Firefox tracks users with Google Analytics in the add-on settings
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wouldn't it be possible for a browser to implement js but simply not implement any functions that can be used to track you?
Like not implementing cookies, LocalStorage, screen resolution info, font enumeration, canvas, WebGL, WebRTC, etc etc? It's probably realistically possible to disable those with the existing browsers. Problem is, that will also break sites that expect you to have all those available. And it's said that there are too many of those (I never saw a proper analysis, though) Just consider: there are sites (one of my favori…
Cookies are still needed for site logins so it would be quite difficult to get rid of them, it would be possible however to enable them only for the sites that you are planing to log into.
As for local storage, I only needed it for some greasemonkey extensions. Do legit sites actually use it?
> font enumeration, canvas, WebGL, WebRTC
I have all of these disabled for the last 2 years or so actually and I don't feel like I miss anything. Only a few non-important sites need these.
> Just consider: there are sites (one of my favorite pizza delivery sites does that) that break if you just block Google Analytics ga.js (or their newer versions, whatever they're called) scripts. Just because they have stuff like `_gaq.push` hardcoded into click handlers and if those raise exceptions, they fail.
I think that uBlock Origin avoids that if you have the experimental filter enabled.
Re: Firefox tracks users with Google Analytics in the add-on settings
#64Given Firefox's pro-privacy positioning vs Chrome [1] and the fact that, by virtue of being in about: these requests get sent even if the user is browsing in private browsing mode or has extensions installed explicitly to block this kind of traffic [2] it's surprising the Mozilla employees in that thread are so keen to dismiss this. [1] https://mobile.twitter.com/meatcomputer/status/8813107782251... [2] https://githu…
Sending these requests with TP enabled (i.e. in private browsing) is a plain bug as far as I'm concerned.
Granted disguising things as a bug is also one of the sneakier and better ways to implement the feature if that was the intent to begin with ;-)
Re: Firefox tracks users with Google Analytics in the add-on settings
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem with that approach is that, many technically literate Firefox users will deliberately opt-in to Telemetry as a component of their support for a pro-privacy product. Telemetry actively benefits development of Firefox, and a pro-privacy user will want to strategically share their data with entities they trust in order to row back against the tide of entities that they do not trust. Frankly, Mozilla are shoo…
The problem here is that GA is quite frankly Telemetry For Websites. Frankly, Mozilla are shooting themselves in the foot by sending any data from any of their products or web properties to their primary competitor. This ship sailed a long time ago. Mozilla negotiated stricter privacy in their contracts with Google, and Mozilla Legal clearly believes Google will uphold those agreements despite it being a competitor.
> This ship sailed a long time ago
You may be right, but I hope not. The fact Mozilla negotiated stricter privacy in their contracts is a step in the right direction, so this shows some desire to improve. It needn't be the final step.
Beyond that, there are other areas where there's been similar change. The Mozilla Stumbler project, for example, is explicitly designed to improve user choice in a privacy-sensitive area dominated by a Google service; a service that was embedded in Safari, Firefox and Opera 12 (Presto) for a long time without users being aware their browser was phoning home to Google.
I would hope this GA fiasco could someday be similarly resolved with enough user pressure.
Re: Firefox tracks users with Google Analytics in the add-on settings
#66Tofumatt wrote "we will not be removing analytics support entirely. It is extremely useful to us and we have already weighed the cost/benefit of using tracking."
Which reads a lot like "they are giving us a pile of money to breach your privacy, so to hell with you."
Re: Firefox tracks users with Google Analytics in the add-on settings
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’d argue the root cause is more that Mozilla is willing to trade away privacy for developer convenience. Oh, not arguing that. Even with Google out of the picture entirely, Telemetry is a nice example. But I'd argue it is needed to stay relevant as a browser. So it's not a good counterargument to Mozilla's decision here. You can see from the relevant bugs that GA vs Piwik and such were certainly considered, so peopl…
> For --some people-- all firefox users that won't be enough. The only reason people use Firefox nowadays is because they don’t trust Google. The intersection between "Trusts Google not to abuse data they get access to" and "uses Firefox" is the empty set.
Nah, as is evident by the amount of Firefox users that still have Google as their search engine.
It's a false equivalence. There is a difference between trusting Google not to abuse data they legally guaranteed not to abuse (Firefox), versus, well, pretty much plainly saying your data will be used, and knowing that the product has many features which make the tracking more pervasive and invasive (Chrome, Google Accounts, etc).
I'd love for Mozilla to not use any Google stuff at all, but I'd also love a pony.
Re: Firefox tracks users with Google Analytics in the add-on settings
#68I find it quite amusing how the new web extensions are unable to block this in comparison to the "legacy" ones. https://github.com/mozilla/addons-frontend/issues/2785#issue... I am really wondering why they want to replace xul addons with the web extension ones when they are so weak compared to the xul ones?
>when they are so weak compared to the xul ones
To many, I suspect that is the prime intent.
Re: Firefox tracks users with Google Analytics in the add-on settings
#69Ironically Mozilla does not allow third-party developers to include Google Analytics in any way shape or form in a Firefox Add-on.
Re: Firefox tracks users with Google Analytics in the add-on settings
#70Tofumatt wrote "we will not be removing analytics support entirely. It is extremely useful to us and we have already weighed the cost/benefit of using tracking." Which reads a lot like "they are giving us a pile of money to breach your privacy, so to hell with you."
They aren't giving out money, they're giving out a free service (GA). If they gave out money at least that could be used to set up a replacement :-)