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"Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"

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Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"

#51

Post by mikeocool »

SamuelAdams wrote: post #24
SoftTalker wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would pay for a browser that was 100% ad- and tracking-free. I pay for an email account. I pay for YouTube. I pay for several streaming media services. I get that people are used to browsers being free, but no reason that can't change.

You are very rare. Most people are not like you. Apple tried this with iOS 2 and 3. Minor versions cost users roughly 5-10 USD per update. Therefore many users did not install the latest OS on their devices. The cost, although small, was a barrier for many people. Apple quickly pivoted and now all software updates are free of charge to all supported devices. If Mozilla starts charging for Firefox, I predict either pe…

I don’t disagree with your point — however apple only charged for the early iOS updates on the iPod touch. And they only did it to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act — which required that if you upgraded a device not on a subscription, you had to charge.

They stopped doing it after they lobbied congress to change the law.

https://www.macworld.com/article/189247/ipodtouch-3.html

Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"

#53

Post by GeoAtreides »

BenjiWiebe wrote: post #47
Topgamer7 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately about config no longer exists for mobile devices

about:config works on Android Firefox nightly. Just checked.

hm, should I use the stable version, but be tracked,

or should I use Nightly, and risk crashes and catastrophic loss of data

choices, choices

Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"

#54

Post by redserk »

aetch wrote: post #35
aaomidi wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OS updates are not comparable. Apple charging for updates is idiotic because as a user I don’t have a choice to go use a different OS.

You do have a choice, just keep using the OS version you have. Just like using the an older Firefox version. Adding security updates and new features costs time and money.

Apple seems to have made the economics work out well with devices alone.

You don’t even have to touch their services revenue to consider ongoing iOS development a significantly successful return on their investment.

Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"

#55

Post by HighGoldstein »

aetch wrote: post #35
aaomidi wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OS updates are not comparable. Apple charging for updates is idiotic because as a user I don’t have a choice to go use a different OS.

You do have a choice, just keep using the OS version you have. Just like using the an older Firefox version. Adding security updates and new features costs time and money.

There are a couple of problems with this argument. One is that with a device (especially a premium one) the cost of support for a reasonable lifetime is considered baked into the price. The other is that security updates imply a security issue, meaning the company sold you an insecure, i.e. defective device in the first place.

Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"

#56

Post by anticensor »

GeoAtreides wrote: post #53
BenjiWiebe wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

about:config works on Android Firefox nightly. Just checked.

hm, should I use the stable version, but be tracked, or should I use Nightly, and risk crashes and catastrophic loss of data choices, choices

or use an unbranded fork that has about:config enabled

Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"

#57

Post by tooltower »

Topgamer7 wrote: post #44
thangalin wrote: post #22

1. Visit about:config 2. Set dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled to false I've added the configuration value to the following page: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Privacy/Privacy_Task_Force/firefox_... I'm not affiliated with Mozilla, but I do understand how wikis work. ;-)

Unfortunately about config no longer exists for mobile devices

I just found this setting in mobile, but I don't know if it's the same feature: Settings > Data Collection > Marketing

Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"

#59

Post by [deleted] »

SoftTalker wrote: post #10
david_draco wrote: post #7

It is obvious why Firefox does this though; they have no income otherwise like Google does. Firefox users somehow think that using is "supporting" Mozilla/Firefox, but it is not, and they would not pay for the browser, or pay a subscription free. Privacy-friendly ads are a reasonable way for Mozilla to survive long-term -- if they are indeed privacy-friendly. Ultimately you probably either need a clean-room NGO that…

I would pay for a browser that was 100% ad- and tracking-free. I pay for an email account. I pay for YouTube. I pay for several streaming media services. I get that people are used to browsers being free, but no reason that can't change.

[deleted]

Re: "Firefox added [ad tracking] and has already turned it on without asking you"

#60

Post by krono »

Topgamer7 wrote: post #44
thangalin wrote: post #22

1. Visit about:config 2. Set dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled to false I've added the configuration value to the following page: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Privacy/Privacy_Task_Force/firefox_... I'm not affiliated with Mozilla, but I do understand how wikis work. ;-)

Unfortunately about config no longer exists for mobile devices

There is chrome://geckoview/content/config.xhtml but many options shown there are nonfunctional. The relevant option is listed but I'm not sure if setting it to false has any effect.

Edit: Just found out that on that link above, you can set general.aboutConfig.enable to true to enable about.config.

It looks like the xml page and the about.config one are the same, as the modifications I made are synced.

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