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Firefox built-in spyware that cannot be disabled

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Firefox built-in spyware that cannot be disabled

#41

Post by Bender »

wkat4242 wrote: post #37
josephcsible wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think "disable DoH" there means "block all DoH servers at the router", not "configure Firefox to not try to use DoH".

Blocking DoH at the router is almost impossible because it looks exactly the same as other HTTPS traffic. The only option is to do a man in the middle like some business firewalls (eg zscaler) do. I don't like DoH much either because apps can use it to bypass my local pihole. But blocking it is hard when an app hardcodes its own DoH server. DoH is really a solution for a US problem that we in Europe don't have. Here…

Blocking DoH at the router is almost impossible because it looks exactly the same as other HTTPS traffic.

I covered that in the comment next to this one.

Re: Firefox built-in spyware that cannot be disabled

#42

Post by wkat4242 »

Bender wrote: post #33
josephcsible wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think "disable DoH" there means "block all DoH servers at the router", not "configure Firefox to not try to use DoH".

Yes, I disable it using the suggested method of returning NXDOMAIN for "use-application-dns.net". I do also disable it in applications such as the browser to avoid the log entries. grep appli /etc/unbound/unbound.conf local-zone: "use-application-dns.net." always_nxdomain And then I have about 80 IP's that I blackhole. People often counter that with, "but DoH can run on any HTTPS endpoint and you can't block CDN's",…

Ahh I saw your other comment. Yes this makes sense. Most of them would use known domains.

I don't think pihole will be able to MITM though at decent speeds, if it's actually running on a raspberry pi.

Re: Firefox built-in spyware that cannot be disabled

#43

Post by propaganja »

mkeedlinger wrote: post #39
thrwwycbr wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The settings is literally what OP changed, and mentioned that the _source code which needs patches_ contains the URLs, which is correct. You can verify that easily by grepping the codebase. As LibreWolf doesn't patch these hardcoded URLs out, their marketing is wrong and a fraudulous statement. They don't remove these features and they are also not stubbing out the APIs (e.g. like TOR's patchset does). I'm not here t…

This is a patch file from the repo that you listed. Does it not remove the problematic hard-coded URLs? https://codeberg.org/librewolf/source/src/branch/main/patche...

I need to know the outcome of this argument, and also the mistaken party's ultimate response to said outcome—whether he concedes gracefully, quietly ghosts away, commences all-out holy war perhaps—that I may quietly judge his character thereupon.

Re: Firefox built-in spyware that cannot be disabled

#45

Post by gmreads »

propaganja wrote: post #43
mkeedlinger wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a patch file from the repo that you listed. Does it not remove the problematic hard-coded URLs? https://codeberg.org/librewolf/source/src/branch/main/patche...

I need to know the outcome of this argument, and also the mistaken party's ultimate response to said outcome—whether he concedes gracefully, quietly ghosts away, commences all-out holy war perhaps—that I may quietly judge his character thereupon.

I would read a novel written by you. good sir.

Re: Firefox built-in spyware that cannot be disabled

#46

Post by Nasreddin_Hodja »

josephcsible wrote: post #9
Bender wrote: post #2

I noticed this as well and blocked it in my local DNS. I also disable DoH. grep firefox /etc/unbound/override/combined.conf local-zone: "firefox-settings-attachments.cdn.mozilla.net" always_nxdomain local-zone: "firefox.settings.services.mozilla.com" always_nxdomain

> I also disable DoH Why? DoH is good for privacy.

Firefox's builtin DoH ignores /etc/hosts. I'd prefer systemwide DoH instead.

Re: Firefox built-in spyware that cannot be disabled

#48

Post by andrei_says_ »

wkat4242 wrote: post #36
k8svet wrote: post #16

I swear there must be one person at Mozilla with power and a massive sunk cost complex surrounding their pocket acquisition. if they actually cared, it wouldn't be built-in and so offensively un-disableable.

Yeah pocket is such a useless tool. I love a lot of their stuff like the containers and local translation but pocket is just spam.

I agree it should be an add on.

On uselessness - it’s my primary offline reader - have it installed on an eink boox device and send 20-30 articles per week from the browser to the boox.

But bundling it with the browser makes no sense.

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