Live data from Hacker News

Firefox bullshit removal

gist.github.com

111–120 of 183 posts

Re: Firefox bullshit removal

#111
post #62
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Let's disable Javascript too while we are at it. ...as if much of HN's userbase doesn't already do that.

I don't completely disable javascript but I use uMatrix... it seems like a good middle ground...

I used to use NoScript. It was a revelation to see how much junk just disappears when there's no javascript.

Now I find uMatrix better but the first rule I created was:

* * * block

Since that was the basic starting point for NoScript.

Then slowly build up your whitelist of sites to allow javascript as desired/needed.

Re: Firefox bullshit removal

#112
post #3

Interesting. Though at that point why wouldn't you just use Brave ?

You think Brave does not send telemetry :-)

On iOS it links to Fabric and Crashlytics. Both of those did not pass Mozilla's strict data collection rules. I'd love to use them in our mobile products, but they collect too much data, too much personal identifyable data, and store all of that at a third party. (Owned by Google)

Re: Firefox bullshit removal

#113
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary. Maybe if you're on a hardwired desktop, but for everything else it is incredibly accurate. You don't even need to have GPS in your device -- WiFi is plenty. Try it: https://whereamirightnow.com/ It puts my laptop exactly where I am.

Wired, it gives me a location 3 miles away from my house. Smartphone, it want to use GPS. That's kind of cheating, isn't it?

Smartphone, it want to use GPS. That's kind of cheating, isn't it?

It is, but it also shows just how much information people could leak if they casually dismiss any permissions prompting with "allow" (or even worse, have such permissions be granted by default.)

Re: Firefox bullshit removal

#114
post #106

Websockets? Really? Even if they are an ugly hack on top of HTTP, they are too damn useful to be disabled. Let's disable Javascript too while we are at it.

What plugins or techniques do you use to disable JavaScript while keeping the flexibility to whitelist some of the websites where JavaScript can be enabled?

i love “is blocker” for safari; it’s hugely configurable with regexes, allowing things on some domains only, allowing globally from some domains, blocking of canvas elements, XHR requests, frames, plenty more too!

Re: Firefox bullshit removal

#115

You forgot the last step, which is to respond to every link posted on Hacker News, regardless of what it's about, with a complaint about how the site doesn't function correctly with your unique browser config.

If websites were smart, they'd design their webpages to work with every unique browser. It's actually super easy to do.

It's just not as profitable to treat your users with respect, unfortunately.

Re: Firefox bullshit removal

#116
post #108
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You send them data. Now they have your IP. You don't know if it gets deleted.

AFAIK We throw IP addresses away pretty quickly after receiving a telemetry packet. You can read about our data collection approval process here: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Data_Collection An IP address would be Category 4 - I think it is pretty much impossible to get approval for category 4. I highly doubt we have any products out there that actually collect Category 4 data.

Do your webservers really not have any logging? By default they all do.

I've accepted it as a given that if I interact with a website, it will know my IP, but "phoning home" is a slightly different matter.

Re: Firefox bullshit removal

#117
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What plugins or techniques do you use to disable JavaScript while keeping the flexibility to whitelist some of the websites where JavaScript can be enabled?

i love “is blocker” for safari; it’s hugely configurable with regexes, allowing things on some domains only, allowing globally from some domains, blocking of canvas elements, XHR requests, frames, plenty more too!

When you use a thing like "is blocker", do you still need a separate ad blocker or is the JavaScript blocker sufficient to block ads as well?

Re: Firefox bullshit removal

#118
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was under the impression the search deals are merely which engine are the default. How does having the default search be Google make the Mozilla corp beholden to Google?

If the search engine is unhappy, they will pay less money to be the default.

Then another search engine will happily take the that browser's market share.

Re: Firefox bullshit removal

#119
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like the problem is you're spending your time on adversarial websites. Give JS to a skillful developer who shares your goals, and they'll use it to make the website better.

By the look of it that altruism died ten years ago. Current sites load 20-100 external scripts, mostly in ads, analytics, and non essential content.

Not altruism (except occasionally), incentive alignment. Websites that don't otherwise profit from you are incentivized to be as you describe; websites that profit from your happiness (paid directly, funded for a purpose, a generosity, etc) aren't.

Re: Firefox bullshit removal

#120
post #108
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You send them data. Now they have your IP. You don't know if it gets deleted.

AFAIK We throw IP addresses away pretty quickly after receiving a telemetry packet. You can read about our data collection approval process here: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Data_Collection An IP address would be Category 4 - I think it is pretty much impossible to get approval for category 4. I highly doubt we have any products out there that actually collect Category 4 data.

The problem hereby is that nobody can actually verify this. But this is true for all companies/servers you don't control.
Post reply on HN