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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"

#111

Post by neitsab »

krono wrote: post #60
Topgamer7 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Thank you so much for that! I was missing the ability to configure a very important option for me in Stable (layout.css.prefers-color-scheme.content-override), but couldn't keep using Nightly because of its instability... You're a lifesaver!

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

#113

Post by mulmen »

throwaway81523 wrote: post #107
doe_eyes wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem isn't building a publicly-funded browser, it's building a publicly-funded browser that's good and that can keep up with the demands of the platform - which means taking risks, also when it comes to security and privacy. A publicly-funded equivalent of MSIE 6, heroically made 100% secure and private, would be a disaster for the web. And that's a pretty likely outcome if it's designed by a government commit…

The "demands of the platform" drive expanding capabilities of the browser, which in turn drive increasing commands of the platform. A vicious spiral. Magically getting everyone to switch to a less powerful browser would necessarily beat back the demands of the platform. That would be a wonderful thing, not a disaster.

[flagged]

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

#114

Post by brunoqc »

hoppyhoppy2 wrote: post #103
brunoqc wrote: post #29

Anyone knows how to disable this on Android?

menu > Settings > Data Collection

It doesn't seem to mention the new "privacy-aware" tracking.

I got studies, something about "adjust" and some telemetry thing.

Also they were already all off so it must not be one of them, I think.

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

#115

Post by throwaway81523 »

GrantMoyer wrote: post #95
lpgauth wrote: post #20

"Google/Firefox claim their tracking features are not "tracking" because they use something called "differential privacy". I don't have room to explain this class of technology, but I sincerely consider it to be fake." Differential privacy is not fake, although quite complex to do in practice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_privacy

The fake part isn't whether differential privacy exists. The fake part is claiming differential privacy can be used by browsers to provide aggregate ad conversion data to advertising networks without providing information that can be linked to an individual. According to Mozilla[1], Firefox's implementaion uses the "Distributed Aggregation Protocol" (DAP)[2]. Individual browsers report their behavior to a data aggreg…

It's fake because it provides information that can be used for evil purposes: attribution to an individual has nothing to do with it. It's fake if it really is 100% anonymous.

Example: Count Jackboot (your favorite evil politician, Trump or Biden or whoever) is running for office. He wants to know voter opinion on topic X so he can lie about it. He commissions a reputable polling firm to ask people about X, and give him only the aggregated results. The polling firm contacts you, asks your opinion about X, and promises you that your opinion can't be linked back to you. You'll be helping the Jackboot campaign completely anonymously.

You believe the anonymity promise, but that's irrelevant, you hopefully don't want to help the Jackboot campaign at all! Saying everything is private because Jackboot only gets anonymous information is a self-serving rationalization by the advertisers and data collectors. The only way to be private is give no information whatsoever.

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

#116

Post by ninjin »

TacticalCoder wrote: post #50
tatersolid wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read the Ladybird FAQ for their rationale, but building a new browser in 2024 using an unsafe language is such a facepalm it’s hard to take the entire project seriously.

Yup I don't understand the downvotes. I don't code in Rust but I also don't feel insecure about it: I wish more projects were written in Rust (or something similar). There are several research, already published here many times, which show that something insane like 75%+ of all the security exploits would be rendered cold dead in their tracks had Rust been used. I don't know how anyone, even a C/C++/VisualBasic/PHP c…

I suspect the downvotes are for a very simple reason: "Why not Rust?" comments are contributing next to nothing to the conversation. At this point, comments like this are tiresome and predictable.

What would be interesting are detailed separate posts such as what you mention about security exploits addressed and of course the stream of wonderful software that people are writing in Rust (and other languages as well for that matter). Bringing it up in relationship to Ladybird, which is an amazing accomplishment already, is incredibly petty and off-putting. The poster can do better and the community deserves better.

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

#117

Post by jopsen »

jacknews wrote: post #79

The fact they didn't loudly announce this 'feature' has seriously undermined their trustworthiness, for me at least. What's the expression; 'So much depends on reputation. Guard it with your life'. Mozilla seem to be just throwing it away.

Who would rather trust?

Apple, Microsoft, Google?

Realistically, these are the organizations that can afford to develop a high performance browser engine.

All the chrome and firefox forks probably don't have the devs or infrastructure to fork blink/gecko and keep up with security and features.

It's easy to be excited about Ladybird -- and maybe it will work, MAYBE.

It's fair to argue that we've let the web evolve into such an advanced platform that building a secure high performance browser is a HUGE moat.

People are so fast to criticize Mozilla. Maybe, this isn't all bad.

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

#118

Post by evah »

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.

If Apple delivers a defective device to the customer, I see no reason why they shouldn't be fixing it using the money the customer originally paid. A security vulnerability may eventually leave a device completely unusable.

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

#119

Post by IshKebab »

woopsn wrote: post #84
openrisk wrote: post #69

Q: How many people are using a web browser on a daily basis worldwide as their main window to the collective infosphere? A: Billions. Q: What fraction of the corresponding GDP would it take to fund a serious browser-as-public-good initiative that would develop this technology to its full potential without the perverse constraints of adtech business models? A: 0.0001%? Too small to compute? The idea that critical comm…

Mozilla is up in a bunch of shit at this point. They have a half a BILLION dollar nut to raise annually, and money from Google covers the whole thing. It's ridiculous. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation#Finances

[flagged]

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

#120

Post by mikae1 »

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

Use Mull[1].

It has sane defaults and about:config is accessible.

[1] https://f-droid.org/packages/us.spotco.fennec_dos/

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