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Firefox Configuration Guide for Privacy Freaks and Performance Buffs

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Re: Firefox Configuration Guide for Privacy Freaks and Performance Buffs

#91

Post by pieter_mj »

suprfnk wrote: post #32
ams6110 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I've tried some of these extremely hardened configurations but ultimately there's too much breakage. My config now is basically: - uBlock Origin in default configuration - No 3rd party cookies (breaks some things, but not too many) - Clear history and cookies on exit Combined with an /etc/hosts file, and rather frequent browser restarts (generally daily).

> Clear history [..] on exit Why the history? That's not readable by anyone except you, right? > Clear [..] cookies on exit So do you have to keep logging in to websites daily? Isn't that very annoying?

> Why the history? That's not readable by anyone except you, right?

history sniffing

Re: Firefox Configuration Guide for Privacy Freaks and Performance Buffs

#92

Post by hazeii »

craftyguy wrote: post #90
hazeii wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, thanks; I haven't seen it, looks interesting and a worthy project. I tend to prefer simple low-tech solutions though, and given the first two commands to start it are to do with fixing pulseaudio bugs and desktop integration is (for me personally) somewhat of a put-off.

There's also bubblewrap, which I haven't used, but promises to be an even lighter way to sandbox applications. Generally, I agree with you that the lighter the implementation is, the better, but when it comes to sandboxing and other security measures, I would prefer not to roll my own.

From my brief look at firejail, how would I do the rollback? (i.e. reset everything back to exactly how it was before the run). Also n.b. I'm not rolling any security measures of my own here - it's reliant on the kernel correctly separating users.

Re: Firefox Configuration Guide for Privacy Freaks and Performance Buffs

#93

Post by acqq »

r3bl wrote: post #30
acqq wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what you don‘t mention is that that privacy extenson now also has more telemetry. Sad.

I just checked all the links in the repo of the add-on, and only links to Mozilla's domains are links to the MPL license.

I’ve had it installed before and received the prompt “to install the update of this extension please accept the new telemetry conditions.” I don’t claim every user sees it (maybe I’m a/b tested?). I’ve rejected it, and checking the repo wouldn’t help for that.

The new requested permission, different from the ones previously accepted by me is, if I remember:

"Monitor extension usage and manage themes"

What's that if not a new telemetry? In a privacy-oriented extension!

It's explained here:

https://github.com/mozilla/multi-account-containers/wiki/Per...

""Monitor extension usage and manage themes": Required to provide interoperability with other container Add-ons by checking if they have the required permissions."

How about not being required? Older versions really didn't require. Knowing the management (see "Looking Glass"), even if the extension is not using the telemetry at the moment it's just "hey the user already agreed!" Especially troublesome as I haven't agreed anywhere else.

Re: Firefox Configuration Guide for Privacy Freaks and Performance Buffs

#94

Post by cinquemb »

feelin_googley wrote: post #79
cinquemb wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> … so doesn't have access to it many requests the browser will make outside of that scope. You have access if you chose to modify/recompile the .cpp/.rs files that deal with sending requests that those higher level functions use, this is what I do. Some particular places of interest on /mozilla-central/: - /servo/components/style/gecko/urls.rs, will pertain to calls called from css image functions - /netwerk/protoco…

To clarify, you are modifying and recompiling a Mozilla browser from source?

Correct. If anyone else is interested you can get started here and modify things for yourself for your own purposes [0].

[0] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Developer_g...

Re: Firefox Configuration Guide for Privacy Freaks and Performance Buffs

#95

Post by dorfsmay »

hazeii wrote: post #33

For privacy, on a linux box are there any downsides to simply creating one or more extra accounts, and running Firefox in them for privacy ('DISPLAY=:0 firefox')?. I use this approach to set up firefox as I like it on a spare account, then copy '.mozilla' to '.mozilla-base'. Then it's just a simple case of 'su -l guest' and (via a script) 'rm -fr ~/.mozilla; cp -a ~/.mozilla_base .mozilla; DISPLAY=:0 firefox; rm -fr…

I'm curious, if you try https://www.nothingprivate.ml/ from two different instances of Firefox using your script, is it still able to tack you?

FWIW, I use different Firefox "profile" and that site is able to link the two profiles.

Re: Firefox Configuration Guide for Privacy Freaks and Performance Buffs

#96

Post by elorant »

severine wrote: post #78
elorant wrote: post #73

The one thing I'd like configurable in FF Quantum is the amount of processes it spawns. I run Selenium tests and if I choose to run five or six instances I end up with two dozen processes. Fucking hell.

But it is configurable! Preferences > General > Performance > Uncheck the box next to Use recommended performance settings. You will then be able to change the following settings: - Use hardware acceleration when available - Content process limit

Nope, that doesn't work. I have it at one (default) and it's still spawning too many processes. I guess it's part of how things work now with FF. You get a snappier experience in exchange of higher memory usage because it's multitasking. If only we could turn that thing off.

Re: Firefox Configuration Guide for Privacy Freaks and Performance Buffs

#97

Post by alwillis »

patrickbolle wrote: post #62
alwillis wrote: post #34

Great article. However, the days when we could install some plugins and tweak a few settings to restore our privacy are, unfortunately, pretty much over. There’s only so much a plugin can do when it doesn’t have access to the core APIs of the rendering engine or the network stack. As long as Google and Firefox are incentivized to make money by ads, user tracking and all of the rest, they won’t stop. Long story short:…

This sounds 100% like an ad just FYI

I didn’t intend to sound like an ad——my apologies if it came off that way. No more 4am posts. ;-)

But in all seriousness, I stand by what I said—just installing plugins isn’t going to do it any longer. Blocking ads and tracking scripts and the like needs to built-in to the browser and that’s what Brave has done.

Brendan Eich's explanation is on point: https://vimeo.com/209336437

Re: Firefox Configuration Guide for Privacy Freaks and Performance Buffs

#98

Post by craftyguy »

hazeii wrote: post #92
craftyguy wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also bubblewrap, which I haven't used, but promises to be an even lighter way to sandbox applications. Generally, I agree with you that the lighter the implementation is, the better, but when it comes to sandboxing and other security measures, I would prefer not to roll my own.

From my brief look at firejail, how would I do the rollback? (i.e. reset everything back to exactly how it was before the run). Also n.b. I'm not rolling any security measures of my own here - it's reliant on the kernel correctly separating users.

You can use --private-home to 'import' an existing set of files (e.g. a 'clean' FF profile) into the sandbox, then any modifications made to it are discarded when FF quits.

Re: Firefox Configuration Guide for Privacy Freaks and Performance Buffs

#99

Post by hazeii »

dorfsmay wrote: post #95
hazeii wrote: post #33

For privacy, on a linux box are there any downsides to simply creating one or more extra accounts, and running Firefox in them for privacy ('DISPLAY=:0 firefox')?. I use this approach to set up firefox as I like it on a spare account, then copy '.mozilla' to '.mozilla-base'. Then it's just a simple case of 'su -l guest' and (via a script) 'rm -fr ~/.mozilla; cp -a ~/.mozilla_base .mozilla; DISPLAY=:0 firefox; rm -fr…

I'm curious, if you try https://www.nothingprivate.ml/ from two different instances of Firefox using your script, is it still able to tack you? FWIW, I use different Firefox "profile" and that site is able to link the two profiles.

In both cases (on separate accounts, same computer), it said "Thank you, xx xxxx! Let's see the magic..." (I used the same user name and IP address from both).

Restarting (exactly the same version) of Firefox a second time and revisiting the site gave:

"Are you anonymous? Do you think that switching to your browser's private browsing mode or incognito mode will make you anonymous?

Sorry to disappoint you, but you are wrong!. Everyone can track you. You can check it out for yourself. Just type your name below."

Which seems to suggest that whatever the site does failed in my (admittedly unusual but still simple) case.

However, I have little doubt that my (rather atypical) setup could be fingerprinted accurately - assuming, of course, I was part of a big enough minority to be worth advertising to.

N.B. other local factors could affect the results here; the more obvious ones are local DNS and a firewall between the ADSL router and the LAN.

Re: Firefox Configuration Guide for Privacy Freaks and Performance Buffs

#100

Post by severine »

elorant wrote: post #96
severine wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it is configurable! Preferences > General > Performance > Uncheck the box next to Use recommended performance settings. You will then be able to change the following settings: - Use hardware acceleration when available - Content process limit

Nope, that doesn't work. I have it at one (default) and it's still spawning too many processes. I guess it's part of how things work now with FF. You get a snappier experience in exchange of higher memory usage because it's multitasking. If only we could turn that thing off.

My bad, sorry... What about this, from [1,2]?

> To disable e10s/multiprocess go to about:config by typing it in your URL bar. Search for browser.tabs.remote.autostart using the search box on about:config. There may be multiple results. Set them all to false and restart the browser (if there are no entries, create it as a boolean and set it to false).

[1] https://support.mozilla.org/es/questions/1191898

[2] https://support.mozilla.org/es/questions/1191898

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