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For advertising, Firefox now collects user data by default

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Re: For advertising, Firefox now collects user data by default

#291

Post by lexicality »

alabhyajindal wrote: post #284

Greeted by a cookie banner in a different language when I open. I swear cookie banners are the biggest problem facing the internet. We need to do something about this!

honestly it's got to the point that any time I get a cookie banner more complicated than yes/no I immediately revoke JS privileges for that website.

At least ublock origin makes that easy, but it's still ridiculous.

On the bright side, French courts have ruled that this kind of cookie popup is illegal under the GDPR so maybe they'll slowly be destroyed

Re: For advertising, Firefox now collects user data by default

#292

Post by Y_Y »

carlosjobim wrote: post #257
lofaszvanitt wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Yes, yes! Excellent! Then that system can also be improved, so that important websites get more money from a visit because they need the support more. For example the Arch Linux wiki. And also the system should have a blocklist so that dangerous and undemocratic websites do not get any money from the visitors. Also, individuals who are richer should have more of their salary deducted, since they can afford it, and pe…

Take from the rich, give to the docs!

Re: For advertising, Firefox now collects user data by default

#293

Post by MrAlex94 »

MiddleEndian wrote: post #263
MrAlex94 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A few criticisms of LibreWolf: * There is no legal entity behind the project. Should anything ever happen with the project (it can happen, even if unlikely), there are no legal ramifications. * The binaries aren't signed. Yes, code signing is a bit of a racket, but there is some merit in it. * There is no auto-update mechanism. Might not seem like a big deal, but IMO it is, especially on Windows where you're recommen…

>There is no auto-update mechanism. Might not seem like a big deal, but IMO it is, especially on Windows where you're recommended to rely on 3rd party client to update the browser for you. You've now added a middle man, and since the binaries are not signed... well there's no guarantee you aren't downloading a malicious binary. To me, this seems like a plus. If you want users to update, provide them with something wo…

But we're not talking about Firefox's update mechanism here, we're talking about Librewolf's. They are already the custodians of custom settings and making the choice for you, so it doesn't seem like a valid comparison here.

I would also say a web browser should be the one piece of software constantly updated due to the sheer volume of security patches issued every few weeks.

Re: For advertising, Firefox now collects user data by default

#294

Post by Barrin92 »

freeone3000 wrote: post #244
Klonoar wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you call Stockholm syndrome, I call reality. ;P This is an area that we are stuck contending with. Legal solutions are needed here but that path is mired by complex and powerful lobbying. If Mozilla can push for a more private or more protective - even if not fully private or fully protective - then I’d like to see where it goes.

Or they could just not do this shit. Completely refuse to help your enemies. Actually support their users.

Firefox has 3% market share. Completely refusing to engage with your enemies only works when you have the actual guns to back that attitude up.

If you refuse to engage with the ad industry they just ignore you. Oh and the company that owns a large part of the world's ad industry and owns the browser that has 65% market share also pays like 90% of your bills.

I mean, what's step two of your glorious plan to charge fists raised into battle?

Re: For advertising, Firefox now collects user data by default

#295

Post by ta988 »

latexr wrote: post #87
eco wrote: post #17

The CTO of Mozilla just posted on /r/firefox about this: https://old.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1e43w7v/a_word_abo...

> It’s clear in retrospect that we should have communicated more on this one What isn’t clear, in retrospect or otherwise, is why companies/apps/services need to keep learning this lesson. The user outcry was utterly predictable from even before the first web article was out. The fact that no one with decision power at Mozilla saw it coming is worrying: either they have zero understanding of people’s concerns for pri…

They don't care. It is not the first time, always the same excuse and blame the user to not be intelligent enough to understand (this is what communicated more means in their broken by profit minds).

Re: For advertising, Firefox now collects user data by default

#296

Post by raxxorraxor »

eco wrote: post #17

The CTO of Mozilla just posted on /r/firefox about this: https://old.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1e43w7v/a_word_abo...

To be honest, I would have used a different approach and browsers would very well be capable to give erroneous data and contaminate data from tracking users. This would be going on the offensive, and I don't believe there are any legal barriers that prevent users from "ad fraud".

I don't believe in cooperation with an industry that has shown no remorse with tracking users at all. That will not be successful. Advertisers will employ this and still track. And it is possible to not get tracked and deliver false data, even today.

Re: For advertising, Firefox now collects user data by default

#297

Post by gkbrk »

quikoa wrote: post #61
JonChesterfield wrote: post #40

Firefox mobile also won't let me into about:config. So I guess that's the end. Opera? Other recommendations?

As mentioned elsewhere in this thread: Go to: chrome://geckoview/content/config.xhtml then enable about:config after that dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled can be set to false.

If you need to do that much hacking around to plug a deliberate privacy hole, you might as well use another browser.

Re: For advertising, Firefox now collects user data by default

#298

Post by phicoh »

Klonoar wrote: post #152
phicoh wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox market share is going down. One reason is that the people who would be promoting Firefox aren't. Personally I feel mostly ashamed to admit I'm using Firefox. In theory Firefox is great. In practice they coming up with new ways to treat their core user base badly.

> One reason is that the people who would be promoting Firefox aren't. Individual promotion of Firefox worked very well when the browser(s) it was trying to displace were effectively frozen in time. Chrome (et al) and Safari are not those browsers. The average user isn't going to get a markedly different experience by switching to Firefox.

That is because Mozilla has consistently moved Firefox in the direction of a Chrome clone.

When Firefox started is was not a copy of existing browsers. There is no reason it would have to be now. But they have rejected their core users. So now the only option left is a Chrome clone because that is what people are used to.

Re: For advertising, Firefox now collects user data by default

#299

Post by lolinder »

rc_mob wrote: post #253
southernplaces7 wrote: post #232

One of the few things about Firefox that made me attempt to tolerate its repeatedly slow, shitty performance and tendency to slow my whole device down, was the privacy angle. With that gone, why bother? Might as well use Chrome. At least it's light and fairly quick.

Eh? Chrome is famously bulky and a memory hog

There are a lot of people who still think of Firefox from 5 years ago. Whatever else you can say about Mozilla (and I have a lot to say about Mozilla) they have actually really improved performance to where I'm not convinced it's any worse than Chrome. Browsers are just doing more than they used to.

Re: For advertising, Firefox now collects user data by default

#300

Post by Y_Y »

_heimdall wrote: post #269
sloowm wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I walk outside I'm bombarded by ads. Almost all websites have been tailored to include ads and hide information. You're tracked on all devices you touch. Vaguely referencing more laws or larger government doesn't mean anything. We're not talking about all problems but a specific one. There is an obvious imbalance between the power and information an individual consumer can use to shield themselves from activities…

Seeing ads outside likely doesn't harm you though, you can ignore them. If your city is plastered with ads to a point at where you can't stand it you can always move, that's just another part of a city that someone may decide they don't like and want something different. > Almost all websites have been tailored to include ads and hide information. You're tracked on all devices you touch. That's really the crux of it…

> Seeing ads outside likely doesn't harm you though, you can ignore them.

Just for a different perspective, I can't ignore them. I read more-or-less all text that comes into my field of vision, and cannot help but look at bright flashing lights. To my knowledge this isn't recognized anywhere as a disability (though it is associated with a standard diagnosis).

For me, and presumably others like me, flashing road signs that tell me I'm driving the right speed thanks are a serious dustraction even though I've seen the same one hundreds of times. I stopped watching association football when animated sideline ads became common because I could mot focus on the game.

If it makes sense to put in wheelchair ramps at the stadium couldn't it make sense to accommodate me, even if most people can redirect their attention just as easily as walking up the stairs?

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