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Firefox expands fingerprint protections

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Firefox expands fingerprint protections

#61

Post by wtallis »

philipallstar wrote: post #47
vablings wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is a nihilistic view. The browser ultimately sends only what the webpage requests. If we gut the ability for websites to request large swathes of information such as every supported TLS Cipher suite and also better protections such as GDPR to make it illegal for browsers to track this information unless a user signs up and also not gating information behind said sign-ups

> and also not gating information behind said sign-ups "People should do work for free" isn't very workable.

I don't think there's anything in GDPR or similar laws about disallowing paying for a subscription with money. It's merely about killing the practice of paying with your privacy for something otherwise labeled as "free".

Re: Firefox expands fingerprint protections

#63

Post by notafox »

tgv wrote: post #46
y-c-o-m-b wrote: post #14

I exclusively use private browsing, but I know that doesn't do much in preventing tracking, so it's nice to see this finally starting to roll out. The fact that I have to go to great lengths to browse anonymously - and companies desperately try to circumvent my genuine decision to opt out of their tracking - tells me everything I need to know about those companies. Words like sleezy, shady, and predatory come to mind…

You could try to use profiles instead of private browsing. It keeps things separated.

Also profiles can be configured and used with CLI, no need for UI (old or new).

    ./firefox -CreateProfile "profile-name /home/user/.mozilla/firefox/profile-path/"
    ./firefox -profile "/home/user/.mozilla/firefox/profile-path/"
And, you can run it directly, no need to launch default firefox profile:

Given that /usr/bin/firefox is just a shell script, you can

    - create a copy of it, say, /usr/bin/firefox-hn
    - adjust the relevant line, adding the -profile argument
If you use an icon to run firefox (say, /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop), you'll need to do copy/adjust line for the icon.

Re: Firefox expands fingerprint protections

#64

Post by unethical_ban »

notafox wrote: post #63
tgv wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could try to use profiles instead of private browsing. It keeps things separated.

Also profiles can be configured and used with CLI, no need for UI (old or new). ./firefox -CreateProfile "profile-name /home/user/.mozilla/firefox/profile-path/" ./firefox -profile "/home/user/.mozilla/firefox/profile-path/" And, you can run it directly, no need to launch default firefox profile: Given that /usr/bin/firefox is just a shell script, you can - create a copy of it, say, /usr/bin/firefox-hn - adjust the r…

Instead of needing to know scripting for a core feature, it would be nice if I could tell the program to ask me every time I open a new window which profile that window used. Right click would have an option like their containers "opening new profile window" .

Re: Firefox expands fingerprint protections

#65

Post by philipallstar »

wtallis wrote: post #61
philipallstar wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and also not gating information behind said sign-ups "People should do work for free" isn't very workable.

I don't think there's anything in GDPR or similar laws about disallowing paying for a subscription with money. It's merely about killing the practice of paying with your privacy for something otherwise labeled as "free".

The quote I gave was the context, not GDPR.

Re: Firefox expands fingerprint protections

#66

Post by unethical_ban »

hku333 wrote: post #7
tmtvl wrote: post #2

I'm already using CanvasBlocker, Decentraleyes, and the NoScript Security Suite; but getting more protections will be nice. Even if it may take a while for them to land in Waterfox.

You are actually easier to track using these addons. By installing Canvasblocker, Decentraleyes and NoScript you are providing more entropy to trackers and thus making it easier to track you. Imagine how many people worldwide block specifically Canvas, have weird looking network requests to certain js libs and have JS disabled for some (/all) scripts combined with your general setup (window size, font size, and many…

There has to be a happy middle between "no protection" and "complete uniqueness"

The web without ad blocking is revolting. Browsers building in these features makes them more popular.

Aside: Fuck the Washington Post. They have a line in their privacy policy that acknowledges the existence of "Do Not Track" flags in browsers. Their acknowledgement: since there is no industry standard for responding to it, they ignore it.

Re: Firefox expands fingerprint protections

#67

Post by pmontra »

hku333 wrote: post #7
tmtvl wrote: post #2

I'm already using CanvasBlocker, Decentraleyes, and the NoScript Security Suite; but getting more protections will be nice. Even if it may take a while for them to land in Waterfox.

You are actually easier to track using these addons. By installing Canvasblocker, Decentraleyes and NoScript you are providing more entropy to trackers and thus making it easier to track you. Imagine how many people worldwide block specifically Canvas, have weird looking network requests to certain js libs and have JS disabled for some (/all) scripts combined with your general setup (window size, font size, and many…

I more or less use those addons (uMatrix instead of NoScript) plus uBlock Origin. uMatrix doesn't load a large number of JS files. An example from an ecommerce site I'm browsing right now: the site is functional (at least in browsing mode) without the scripts from

    bigcommerce.com
    classyschema.org
    doofinder.com
    elfsightcdn.com
    google.com
    grit.software
    gstatic.com
    hexgator.com
    klarna.com
    skeepers.io
    criteo.com
    googletagmanager.com
It needs only the JS from the first party domain. So they can track me from there but all the other guys don't know about me, unless they buy data from the first party. At least they have to do more work.

I also don't get advertising in any form, maybe because I don't have ecommerce apps on my phone and I block a lot of things with Blockada, but that's another story.

Re: Firefox expands fingerprint protections

#68

Post by skydhash »

unethical_ban wrote: post #64
notafox wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also profiles can be configured and used with CLI, no need for UI (old or new). ./firefox -CreateProfile "profile-name /home/user/.mozilla/firefox/profile-path/" ./firefox -profile "/home/user/.mozilla/firefox/profile-path/" And, you can run it directly, no need to launch default firefox profile: Given that /usr/bin/firefox is just a shell script, you can - create a copy of it, say, /usr/bin/firefox-hn - adjust the r…

Instead of needing to know scripting for a core feature, it would be nice if I could tell the program to ask me every time I open a new window which profile that window used. Right click would have an option like their containers "opening new profile window" .

Better if they would allow some configuration like toggling js by domain. uBlock is great, but I would like first party support.

Re: Firefox expands fingerprint protections

#69

Post by panarky »

unethical_ban wrote: post #64
notafox wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also profiles can be configured and used with CLI, no need for UI (old or new). ./firefox -CreateProfile "profile-name /home/user/.mozilla/firefox/profile-path/" ./firefox -profile "/home/user/.mozilla/firefox/profile-path/" And, you can run it directly, no need to launch default firefox profile: Given that /usr/bin/firefox is just a shell script, you can - create a copy of it, say, /usr/bin/firefox-hn - adjust the r…

Instead of needing to know scripting for a core feature, it would be nice if I could tell the program to ask me every time I open a new window which profile that window used. Right click would have an option like their containers "opening new profile window" .

Right-click on the Firefox icon and choose "Open Profile Manager".

Or add "-p" to the startup command to do the same thing without right-clicking:

    firefox -p
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