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Firefox Send: Private, Encrypted File Sharing

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Re: Firefox Send: Private, Encrypted File Sharing

#41

Post by xj9 »

AndrewDucker wrote: post #26
xj9 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not aware of any entirely decentralised system which would allow two computers which are behind NAT to find and then talk to each other. Or any obvious design which would work there. then you're clearly not the person we should be asking to build this kind of thing are you? :-) my proposal actually solves two important problems with peer-to-peer systems, and I barely have to write any new code to make it work! th…

Assume I'm at my computer with i2p installed. How do I find your computer? (Serious question - I've not used it myself, and I'm intrigued at the process.)

https://geti2p.net/en/about/intro

endpoints are identified by their public key hash. each endpoint maintains a set of anonymized routes. this routing information is stored in a Distributed Hash Table (DHT). if you want to connect to another endpoint, you lookup the route for the public key hash, build an outbound route, and you're good.

more concretely, an ipfs transfer would work by using public key hashes in place of IP addresses to identify peers and a known set of endpoint keys for bootstrapping.

Re: Firefox Send: Private, Encrypted File Sharing

#42

Post by eli »

vesinisa wrote: post #24
eli wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can see exactly what they collect here https://github.com/mozilla/send/blob/master/docs/metrics.md and decide for yourself. I think it's misleading to refer to Google as an advertising company when talking about Analytics since this data won't be used for targeting ads.

I was actually referring to this incident where Mozilla started shipping an opt-out "addon" in Firefox that automatically shares your browsing history with a third party: https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/74n0b2/mozilla_shi...

OK, well this doesn't do that.

Re: Firefox Send: Private, Encrypted File Sharing

#43

Post by throw2016 »

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #5

It really is a shame that there still isn't a easy way (A person whose computer knowledge extends to using facebook), that I know of, of sending arbitrarily large files that isn't tethered to a specific cloud service and is also reliable (can tolerate connection dropping). It seems that bitorrent protocols are pretty close, but I don't think there is a seamless client that allows for "magical" point to point transact…

Technically a one to one connection to send files should be simple, just open a socket on both sides or use nc. Of course there is NAT but its not insurmountable. The sending or receiving party has to share their IP. And this can only be real time, there is no scope to store files anywhere.

Aside I have recently noticed visits to ecommerce sites sit near permanently on top of my Firefox history than other sites, is Firefox doing deals with Amazon and others, and has this been been disclosed?

Re: Firefox Send: Private, Encrypted File Sharing

#44

Post by unlmtd1 »

NikolaeVarius wrote: post #5

It really is a shame that there still isn't a easy way (A person whose computer knowledge extends to using facebook), that I know of, of sending arbitrarily large files that isn't tethered to a specific cloud service and is also reliable (can tolerate connection dropping). It seems that bitorrent protocols are pretty close, but I don't think there is a seamless client that allows for "magical" point to point transact…

IPFS

Re: Firefox Send: Private, Encrypted File Sharing

#45

Post by soapdog »

HalfwayToDice wrote: post #12
vesinisa wrote: post #8

Do they share my files and "anonymized" upload history with a third party (edit: was "advertising company") for this service as well?

They share it with RiseUp, the radical-left organisation they fund. Don't worry my friend, your files are safe with them.

This type of comment without any reference or source is the kind of stuff that is destroying the internet and good journalism. It is users like you that spread FUD and fake information that makes it really hard for people to discern noise from signal online.

First, you can read all about MOSS[1] which is a program inside Mozilla that gives grants to open source projects.

Part of Mozilla current efforts alongside with many other foundations is to provide/help means of safe internet communication and tools for people who are in danger of surveillance such as political dissidents in dangerous countries, journalists doing investigative works and many other cases. You can see a lot of the good stuff that is being worked on for Journalism work at the coral project[2] and the Knight-Mozilla fellowship[3]

So it is a part of the Mozilla Foundation mission and ethos to back up projects that make the internet healthier from the common people. In an age with the state spying on everyone, rampant profiling happening in the name of advertising, and other dangers, giving a grant to a project providing "a coordination platform used by activists across the political spectrum, to improve the security of their email service", by the way, Mozilla also donates to Tor and other projects too...

Now, in all I have said above, do you know what is missing? Sharing your data... Yes, Firefox has telemetry, Mozilla sites have analytics scripts, but those two are necessary to make Mozilla more efficient. Sharing your personal data is not. Mozilla is not in the business of profiling you or selling you out. STOP SPREADING FUD

PS: I am a mozilla community member, if I can read the source code and the discussions around policy, so can you. Make an informed decision before spreading fud.

[1]: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/moss/ [2]: http://coralproject.net/ [3]: https://opennews.org/what/fellowships/info/

Re: Firefox Send: Private, Encrypted File Sharing

#46

Post by AndrewDucker »

padenot wrote: post #39
AndrewDucker wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, three systems which all require a central service?

Those services are for the initial peer discovery and SDP exchange, which can be done by other means (using any other side-channel). Ongoing work is happening, for example by the webtorrent folks, to remove this constraint.

Yeah, it's initial peer discovery and connection setup (if behind NAT) I'm talking about. Once you've found the other PC and got a connection set up then all is well ;-)

Do these services also act as connectors in case of double NAT?

Re: Firefox Send: Private, Encrypted File Sharing

#47

Post by [deleted] »

HalfwayToDice wrote: post #27
mtmail wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In another comment you say the donated money to that organisation. Why do you think user data would be shared with them?

Because by donating to RiseUp, Mozilla have made themselves a political organisation, and political organisations do things for political ends, not privacy ends.

[deleted]

Re: Firefox Send: Private, Encrypted File Sharing

#48

Post by AndrewDucker »

xj9 wrote: post #41
AndrewDucker wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assume I'm at my computer with i2p installed. How do I find your computer? (Serious question - I've not used it myself, and I'm intrigued at the process.)

https://geti2p.net/en/about/intro endpoints are identified by their public key hash. each endpoint maintains a set of anonymized routes. this routing information is stored in a Distributed Hash Table (DHT). if you want to connect to another endpoint, you lookup the route for the public key hash, build an outbound route, and you're good. more concretely, an ipfs transfer would work by using public key hashes in place…

So all you need is the hash (sent to you by your friend over IM or email or postcard) and you're good to go?

I like it.

Now, is it available today in a form (as the OP put it) which "A person whose computer knowledge extends to using facebook" can use?

Re: Firefox Send: Private, Encrypted File Sharing

#49

Post by sametmax »

sarabande wrote: post #28

I'm curious -- Mozilla says it can't decrypt the file on their side: Mozilla does not have the ability to access the content of your encrypted file [...] https://testpilot.firefox.com/experiments/send How is the receiver able to decrypt the file -- i.e. what is the decryption key if not the URL slug, which presumably Mozilla has as well?

Key is in the hash. Check 0bin.net. We use the same trick to encrypt the pastebin content. The sources are available so you can see the gist of it. It's a very simple code.

Re: Firefox Send: Private, Encrypted File Sharing

#50

Post by mtgx »

They should add this as a shortcut button in Firefox. I think it makes even more sense than having the Pocket icon there. Not everyone may want to save their articles on another service, but pretty much everyone needs to send a file privately to someone else every now and then. So something like this should be super-easy to access.

I learned about Firefox Send when it launched but completely forgot about it until now. I would definitely use it more if it had an easy-to-access (read: not burried in the Settings page) shortcut in the browser.

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