I like it. Really turns everything on its head. You're logged out. You can't post or comment. Lurking will be good for me.
Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android
231–240 of 352 posts
Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android
#232[deleted]
Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android
#233According to F-Droid [1], it contains `com.google.android.gms:play-services-analytics`. [1]: https://gitlab.com/fdroid/rfp/issues/171#note_30410376
Yes it collects anonymous analytics by default but you can disable it in the settings. It's not a conspiracy. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/send-anonymous-usage-da...
Reading that link it says nothing about disabling Google analytics, which is what the parent post implies is at play here. It is not clear that is the case, but if it is, the disable button does nothing to help you.
Firefox's about:config does not seem to work on FF Focus either.
Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
Focus is an open source project with no secrets. It is easy to verify your claims by looking at the code. The telemetry is documented in detail at https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/focus-android/wiki/Telemet... We also include Adjust in Focus (not in Klar) for attribution tracking - to understand where the install came from. (This is useful if you are spending money on campaigns and you would like to understand what…
Mozilla can solve this problem the right way by doing what debian does when it wants to collect statistics: Ask users if they want to donate their information to Mozilla on first run or during the installer. Recording users' behavior by default with informing the user clearly and giving him the option to opt-out is abhorrent, regardless of the benignity of the reason behind it. Disclosure: I use firefox, but periodic…
> Mozilla can solve this problem the right way by doing what debian does when it wants to collect statistics: Ask users if they want to donate their information to Mozilla on first run or during the installer.
> Recording users' behavior by default with informing the user clearly and giving him the option to opt-out is abhorrent, regardless of the benignity of the reason behind it.
(Even as a Firefox/Mozilla fan,) I completely agree that this behavior is what Mozilla should follow everywhere. I always choose to enable telemetry for Firefox because I want to help Mozilla and trust it. But defaults need to be sensible and protective of the user, first and foremost. If most people choose to turn it off on first run when asked for, then the actions to be taken would be educating users (in simple language) on the scope of data collection and improving the reputation of the organization/company behind it.
Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android
#235How is this news ? I installed it weeks ago on my IPhone. I don't understand why Mozilla just announced it now. Maybe it's a new version. On the browser itself, I launched it, navigate on a URI, closed it, relaunched it, type the firsts characters of my previous URI and it auto completed it. From my history I guess. So it's not like incognito mode on other browsers. (Haven't retested again)
> news? They launched the android version not too long ago. This is probably just a push to get the word out to people who may not have heard. Fair enough in my opinion. > From my history I guess I don't think it's from your history. It seems like many common websites are preset to autocomplete; stackoverflow.com for example. Because it doesn't save history this seems like a nice way to reduce friction for users. I c…
>> From my history I guess
> I don't think it's from your history. It seems like many common websites are preset to autocomplete; stackoverflow.com for example. Because it doesn't save history this seems like a nice way to reduce friction for users. I could be wrong though.
In my experience, your statement is correct. Firefox Focus does not store history. It does have a long list of sites that it autocompletes. Whenever I visit HN, I actually type news.ycombinator.com into the address bar since Focus does not have bookmarking. But I don't mind that, and consider that as a feature.
Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android
#236Earlier quoted context omitted.
The purpose is to be used for quick browsing, like Google Searches, without worrying with trackers and someone getting your history. You can always use incognito mode, but this is more convenient. It is also really fast and lightweight, which is a plus for most mobile devices. It is not meant to replace your main browser (probably). Also, as rcthompson said in another comment: > This is useful to use as your default…
I see. Honestly, most of the time when I use Google Searches is because I want to look for something, and I love when Google personalizes results so that if I type "Amiga" it knows it's the computer and I don't want to learn Spanish. Most importantly, I end up visiting lots of websites that I might want to comment on, visit later on/not lose if my phone dies, share with my girlfriend, etc. I personally don't see any…
> I personally don't see any advantage with incognito mode unless you want to hide porn from your spouse,...
This is a very naïve view of what incognito/private browsing mode is for. Tor (not Torbrowser) is very different from incognito/private browsing. Even for your own use, it's another layer of defense to reduce the storage of information on the device about whatever you've been up to. Certainly porn is not the only topic that can polarize people and have them assume things about you. We live in a world where even tiny things can be taken out of context, manipulated and used against us either by the people close to us, or the places we work for, or even the government. You may share a device with someone or allow someone to borrow it. You may have your device stolen while having minimal or no passcode or other protection (like encryption of data stored). There are many layers to look at to be secure enough.
The way I see it, you're putting yourself more at risk if you do not distinguish what requires private/incognito mode (it could even be Facebook), how often you should clear things up (like browsing history, caches) on your device/computer, etc.
Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android
#237Earlier quoted context omitted.
I absolutely could not agree less. Every time Google shows me some sort of "magic" that I know involves their massive compendium of personal data, I'm reminded of how much I been detest that they've stolen that information from me. No matter how much I opt out, say no, and turn things off, they continue to extract wealth from my need for basic modern services. I can't tell you much much I appreciate Mozilla understan…
> Every time Google shows me some sort of "magic" that I know involves their massive compendium of personal data, I'm reminded of how much I been detest that they've stolen that information from me. So just use something else! Oh, wait, you want to check your official university e-mail? That's provided by Google now. Oh, wait, you wanted to check city transit information? That's provided by Google now. (I'd probably…
> So just use something else! Oh, wait, you want to check your official university e-mail? That's provided by Google now. Oh, wait, you wanted to check city transit information? That's provided by Google now.
Google's own policies prevent it from doing data mining on GSuite accounts, like official email provided by Google in universities or companies or businesses. I'm sure other providers have similar policies as well. Unless you don't trust Google even a bit, your comparison on the email provider point is useless. I prefer separating things out and examining them instead of combining everything into one single worrisome name.
Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android
#238Earlier quoted context omitted.
As people below have already added their comments, I just want to give my two cents. This is not PR bullshit, but the Focus team can consider asking users on first run. This private browser, having been using it since beta on iOS, is nothing more than just a private browsing window like the one offered in Desktop version (I am not here to debate the technical implementation since I do not know). Telemetry does not br…
Part of the problem is when Mozilla gives data to Google, there is no way of knowing what Google does with it. If you want to trust Mozilla AND Google AND trust that no gag orders have been issued to the above companies by the NSA, CIA, FBI et al, fine. That's the way 99% of apps work. They all have privacy policies, and people generally trust them. The whole point of explicitly "private" or "anonymous" software is t…
very good analogy. thanks :)
Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android
#239Looks awesome and fast. Exactly what’s needed and expected from Mozilla. Thank you! Can we have something similar for desktop as well?
You could, until mozilla decided to drop support for extensions that made this possible that is. Alternatively there is waterfox + ublock origins. Waterfox is firefox without the mozilla crap: Disabled Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) Disabled Web Runtime (deprecated as of 2015) Removed Pocket Removed Telemetry Removed data collection Removed startup profiling Allow running of all 64-Bit NPAPI plugins Allow running o…
GNU IceCat does many of the same things. And you can get it on FDroid as IceCatMobile.
Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android
#240Earlier quoted context omitted.
As people below have already added their comments, I just want to give my two cents. This is not PR bullshit, but the Focus team can consider asking users on first run. This private browser, having been using it since beta on iOS, is nothing more than just a private browsing window like the one offered in Desktop version (I am not here to debate the technical implementation since I do not know). Telemetry does not br…
Part of the problem is when Mozilla gives data to Google, there is no way of knowing what Google does with it. If you want to trust Mozilla AND Google AND trust that no gag orders have been issued to the above companies by the NSA, CIA, FBI et al, fine. That's the way 99% of apps work. They all have privacy policies, and people generally trust them. The whole point of explicitly "private" or "anonymous" software is t…
Well, the browsing is private. The way you obtain and use the browser isn't necessarily. It's an important distinction, though it's certainly still enough to be a dealbreaker for some.