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Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

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Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#141

Post by smitty1e »

car_analogy wrote: post #62

Suppose you want to do something anonymously. 1. Download installer from Mozilla from your home network - Mozilla now has your home IP and installer ID. 2. Transfer it via USB key to a secure, anonymous computer - one not linked to you, on a network not associated with you, such as public WiFi. 3. Install Firefox using that installer on said computer. It transmits the installer ID to Mozilla, which matches the one gi…

> Suppose you want to do something anonymously.

> 1. Download installer from Mozilla from your home network - Mozilla now has your home IP and installer ID.

Compile from source?

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#142

Post by kaba0 »

knodi wrote: post #12

wtf Mozilla, why are you making me stop using you?

How is it making you stop using it?

Like, people can’t see the difference between “telemetry” done by supermarkets by counting an approximate number of visitors vs the full-on knowing your childhood best-friends’ secret crush on you. There is eons of difference between the two.

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#143

Post by car_analogy »

smitty1e wrote: post #141
car_analogy wrote: post #62

Suppose you want to do something anonymously. 1. Download installer from Mozilla from your home network - Mozilla now has your home IP and installer ID. 2. Transfer it via USB key to a secure, anonymous computer - one not linked to you, on a network not associated with you, such as public WiFi. 3. Install Firefox using that installer on said computer. It transmits the installer ID to Mozilla, which matches the one gi…

> Suppose you want to do something anonymously. > 1. Download installer from Mozilla from your home network - Mozilla now has your home IP and installer ID. Compile from source?

Of course the "attack" is easy to avoid. But you first have to know about it. Mozilla should not be planting such landmines.

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#144

Post by kyleee »

rurp wrote: post #65
ordu wrote: post #14

They seem to be trying to gather a lot of telemetry to measure how they can boost popularity of Firefox. I wonder did they tried to measure how the measurement itself influences popularity? Social measurements are like quantum ones, they change reality. There was a funny story of a Hawthorn Experiment[1], which tried to find ways to boost productivity but at the end managed to state just that the very attempt to cond…

> They seem to be trying to gather a lot of telemetry to measure how they can boost popularity of Firefox. This might sound like a crazy idea, but they could always try listening to users! Everytime I get annoyed by something in Firefox and try to find a fix for it, I find a lot of people with the same issue across HN, Reddit, the Mozilla forums, etc. There is rarely any sign that a decision maker from Mozilla cares…

yeah the pay of the higher ups does not seem to be tied to success of the browser or the relationship they have with their users; endlessly depressing TBH

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#145

Post by noAnswer »

detaro wrote: post #102
noAnswer wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but one can image that they want to understand where are people getting these copies of ff if they do not download them themselves. These people are getting it obviously from their admins! (Like myself. I push Firefox updates to close to 1000 PCs. I thought (amongst other things) I'm doing them a favour by saving them traffic.) They obviously know that! The real reason they are doing this is simply because they sta…

> These people are getting it obviously from their admins! That's one possibility. And even if you pretend it's the only one, it's still interesting how that's distributed. Is it X admins of 1000-PC orgs, or X*500 people who also install it on dads PC? Count how often each token is used, and you got a histogram, and if you just record that you've not collected anything remotely sensitive about any user. This question…

I'm an admin of Y orgs + a hand full of private (dad) PCs. The information is useless. They collect it because they can. (Well technically I also push a installation profile that deactivates all known telemetry. So hopefully they get nothing.)

> This question can be answered extremely cleanly.

What was the question again?

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#146

Post by 34679 »

kaba0 wrote: post #129
kreeben wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It gives Mozilla the opportunity to connect my IP address with my browser with my Mozilla account. Mozilla needs to bow down to the US govt and supply them with this information should they have stored it, if the govt feels they need it.

You log into your mozilla account from your browser through the goddamn internet. They literally have to have your IP address for that and that adds absolutely zero information than necessary. It is just “people want to be outraged over nothing” yet again.

I've used Firefox for years and have never created a Mozilla account.

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#147

Post by woodruffw »

car_analogy wrote: post #143
smitty1e wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Suppose you want to do something anonymously. > 1. Download installer from Mozilla from your home network - Mozilla now has your home IP and installer ID. Compile from source?

Of course the "attack" is easy to avoid. But you first have to know about it. Mozilla should not be planting such landmines.

This isn't a landmine in any normal threat model. The average person is concerned with identity theft and perhaps their local law enforcement, not the full weight of domestic or foreign intelligence services.

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#148

Post by 8bitsrule »

d110af5ccf wrote: post #127
kbelder wrote: post #10

Firefox users who prefer to download the browser without the unique identifier may do so in the following two ways: Download the Firefox installer from Mozilla's HTTPS repository (formerly the FTP repository). Download Firefox from third-party download sites that host the installer, e.g., from Softonic. It's nuts and another indication Mozilla doesn't understand the reason they exist, but it's not that hard to get ar…

Use a reputable Linux distro and install from the official repos, problem solved. To date the Debian maintainers have proven more trustworthy than 99.99% of the software vendors out there. They also appear to have better security practices than most commercial shops.

That's a little difficult for 'official repo's that don't include ESR versions.

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#149

Post by II2II »

shreddit wrote: post #123
kreeben wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, but they advertise that "Firefox automatically protects your privacy while you browse". https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-prote...

technically they did not lie. “While you browse” is clearly excluding the time whilst installing the browser.

They promote their product by claiming that it protects people's privacy. They do something that can be reasonably interpreted as tracking (which it is, whether it is download/installation tracking as they claim, or user tracking as some people claim).

For the most part, privacy is based upon trust. Trust is earned. You don't earn trust by doing things behind people's backs or claiming that they are technically telling the truth.

Re: Each Firefox download has a unique identifier

#150

Post by ipaddr »

woodruffw wrote: post #147
car_analogy wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course the "attack" is easy to avoid. But you first have to know about it. Mozilla should not be planting such landmines.

This isn't a landmine in any normal threat model. The average person is concerned with identity theft and perhaps their local law enforcement, not the full weight of domestic or foreign intelligence services.

The average person fears the domestic intelligence service and is not as concerned with local police.
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