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Disable telemetry and data collection in mozilla Firefox Quantum (2018)

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Re: Disable telemetry and data collection in mozilla Firefox Quantum (2018)

#51

Post by Aachen »

thristian wrote: post #49

A related anecdote: Firefox disabled ALSA support because their telemetry showed nobody was using it, but it turned out that the kind of people who use ALSA are also the kind of people who disable as much telemetry as possible: https://chuttenblog.wordpress.com/2020/11/05/data-science-is... Disabling telemetry is like refusing to register to vote: you minimise the chance of people doing bad things to you, but you als…

More like refusing to vote if it can't be done anonymously. That said, I have telemetry turned on in my personal browser because I trust Mozilla not to abuse my data.

At work I handle more sensitive data and there it's turned off (the basic stuff, without diving into about:config to make it completely silent).

On the other extreme, I also use Firefox during security assessments. My browser making noise on a network where I'm not supposed to be detected is not something I can have happen. Removing all URLs and disabling all telemetry settings in about:config used to be enough, but recently they added a new system and that URL doesn't seem to be in about:config, I guess it's hard-coded. With covid-19 our on-site assessments are on hold anyway, but sooner or later I'll need to disable that either in Firefox itself or in the proxy configuration (on localhost, which logs any requests I make).

Re: Disable telemetry and data collection in mozilla Firefox Quantum (2018)

#52

Post by Aachen »

mkl wrote: post #36

To see what the telemetry actually entails, go to about:telemetry. It looks like enough for fingerprinting, but doesn't seem to include websites visited. A bit more info here: https://www.zdnet.com/article/firefox-now-shows-what-telemet...

> doesn't seem to include websites visited

I mean, that would be China++ level surveillance. Of course it doesn't include what sites you visited.

Re: Disable telemetry and data collection in mozilla Firefox Quantum (2018)

#53

Post by Aachen »

Deukhoofd wrote: post #8

Does anyone know if this is still an issue in 2020?

It is. Telemetry turned off, all URLs removed from about:config, still making requests to "buckets/monitor/collections/changes/records" at the domain firefox.settings.services.mozilla.com (spotted this one in my proxy while trying to do a website audit).

Re: Disable telemetry and data collection in mozilla Firefox Quantum (2018)

#54

Post by Deukhoofd »

Aachen wrote: post #53
Deukhoofd wrote: post #8

Does anyone know if this is still an issue in 2020?

It is. Telemetry turned off, all URLs removed from about:config, still making requests to "buckets/monitor/collections/changes/records" at the domain firefox.settings.services.mozilla.com (spotted this one in my proxy while trying to do a website audit).

Are you certain that is related to telemetry, and not a request for one of Firefox's other services?

Re: Disable telemetry and data collection in mozilla Firefox Quantum (2018)

#55

Post by samoa42 »

kaba0 wrote: post #42
underdeserver wrote: post #6

Mozilla people - this is a serious issue. If you want to champion privacy, you NEED to have a big red button that says "nothing gets sent out" and you NEED to have an end-to-end test to make sure Firefox respects it.

Why? Like, seriously. Telemetry is useful, and I am more than happy to provide them with some useful metrics so they know what to improve on - since I can’t really help with the code itself, since it is an insanely huge project. It’s not like they use it to build a profile of you, as goddamn chrome does. I feel that whatever Mozilla does can never be good enough for some people, even though they are one of the most i…

imho telemetry is more often than not used to neglect common sense

Re: Disable telemetry and data collection in mozilla Firefox Quantum (2018)

#56

Post by a_imho »

thristian wrote: post #49

A related anecdote: Firefox disabled ALSA support because their telemetry showed nobody was using it, but it turned out that the kind of people who use ALSA are also the kind of people who disable as much telemetry as possible: https://chuttenblog.wordpress.com/2020/11/05/data-science-is... Disabling telemetry is like refusing to register to vote: you minimise the chance of people doing bad things to you, but you als…

So it is the privacy conscious people's fault for opting out? Hard disagree. If moz://a implements bias in their feedback loop that is on them.

Re: Disable telemetry and data collection in mozilla Firefox Quantum (2018)

#57

Post by account42 »

lorenzhs wrote: post #44
kaba0 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Like, seriously. Telemetry is useful, and I am more than happy to provide them with some useful metrics so they know what to improve on - since I can’t really help with the code itself, since it is an insanely huge project. It’s not like they use it to build a profile of you, as goddamn chrome does. I feel that whatever Mozilla does can never be good enough for some people, even though they are one of the most i…

It annoys me that Mozilla and Firefox are held to an almost impossible standard by this community, whereas others get a pass on behaviour that's far more intrusive. These posts seem to be lacking entirely in perspective. That doesn't mean that Mozilla can't be criticised, but ffs, don't blow minor issues out of proportion.

Impossible standard??? Not collecting information users have not explicitly consented to is the fucking baseline.

Re: Disable telemetry and data collection in mozilla Firefox Quantum (2018)

#58

Post by account42 »

Rexxar wrote: post #35
hajhatten wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. This is probably one of the fastest way to loose users in 2020.

I'm all for this functionality but if the said users go to Chrome because "Firefox has no privacy" this is ridiculous. Firefox is our best browser in this domain, let's not kill it by complaining indefinitely on it.

> Firefox is our best browser in this domain

Best is irrelevant - it's not good enough.

Re: Disable telemetry and data collection in mozilla Firefox Quantum (2018)

#59

Post by Aachen »

Deukhoofd wrote: post #54
Aachen wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is. Telemetry turned off, all URLs removed from about:config, still making requests to "buckets/monitor/collections/changes/records" at the domain firefox.settings.services.mozilla.com (spotted this one in my proxy while trying to do a website audit).

Are you certain that is related to telemetry, and not a request for one of Firefox's other services?

It constantly pings the servers with my IP address, timestamp, and user agent if nothing else. They can see where people are over time. I was busy so haven't looked into what it's sending (just exempted the domain from interception for the duration of the audit), but in the EU and IP address with timestamp is personally identifiable information.

Re: Disable telemetry and data collection in mozilla Firefox Quantum (2018)

#60

Post by account42 »

jamienicol wrote: post #32
csande17 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's an example of Firefox sending telemetry even after users disabled telemetry: https://www.ghacks.net/2018/09/21/mozilla-wants-to-estimate-...

There's a lovely irony in that article being littered with double click ads

At least those can be blocked by extensions.
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