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Mozilla did something good! (files.catbox.moe)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/linuxmemes@lemmy.world
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Charlie/penguinz0 doing a celebratory pose with a section of the Firefox release notes reading: "On Linux, Firefox uses less memory and no longer requires a forced restart after an update has been applied by a package manager."
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[–] 4 points 1 year ago (12 children)

Still does telemetry, and allows easy fingerprinting by default. Use Librewolf instead.

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  • [–] 44 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    Or you can just opt out if you don't think Mozilla should have this data which is strictly about the browser and whether it's the default browser, and which in no way compromises any personal info.

    Just because something uses telemetry doesn't mean it's used in a way that compromises your personal data.
    Google, Microsoft, Facebook and many others do that, Mozilla/Firefox does not.

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  • [–] 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    FF in my experience respects settings too. MS straight up ignores or resets them silently, and Google goes full dark patterns and/or creates new settings to nickel and dime you on data

    Facebook no experience, dumped that shit in like 09

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    MS straight up ignores or resets them silently

    That was the thing that bothered me the most. Sure I could go through every subsystem individually and make the changes to make the system more private and secure. That would take a while to do manually, or use one of the tools that do this. But, every time anything has an update you can't trust that it didn't reset a setting.

    Running the tool after every update is annoying and after a while it just got frustrating to see settings, that I know I've disabled (because, the tool does it every time), which are now re-activated thanks to an update.

    It's just scummy behavior.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

    You probably missed the news. But Firefox is becoming a data seller too.

    Recently they updated their policies, since they are on GitHub you can see the exact changes.

    One of them was the elimination of a phrase like "we won't sell your data, and that's a promise". So promise broken I guess.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    You probably missed the news.

    No I did not, but did you ever stop to wonder why there is so much anti Firefox propaganda, as Google is trying to prevent ad-blockers?

    Manage technical and interaction data collection settings in Firefox:
    https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/technical-and-interaction-data

    What is technical and interaction data?:
    https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/technical-and-interaction-data#w_what-is-technical-and-interaction-data

    information about how Firefox functions on your device and how you use its features. This includes performance details like page load times, and memory usage, as well as insights into which Firefox features you interact with, such as bookmarks, tabs or settings. Additionally, it collects general device information, including your operating system, browser version and hardware specifications. Mozilla uses this data to enhance Firefox while respecting your privacy.

    There is zero, zip, zilch, nada personalo info collected.
    So please point out to me which of these it is that worries you?
    Also please point out which of these it is you think Mozilla would be able to sell?

    Firefox is becoming a data seller too.

    I think that technically that is libel!

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    It is not propaganda as it is factual information. If you believe this is 4D chess from Google to manipulate us to dislike Firefox you are out of your mind. https://github.com/mozilla/bedrock/commit/d459addab846d8144b61939b7f4310eb80c5470e this is an actual commit made by mozilla. It was not made by Google.

    Changes include:

    • Removing "we don't sell access to your data". Curiously this change is only for the TOU. Presumable because that is legally binding. Idk where the "else" branch is displayed though.
    • Removing this question from FAQ: "Does Firefox sell your personal data? Nope. Never has, never will (...). That's a promise"
    • Remove another mention in the TOU "and we don't sell your personal data". That again was not removed from the "else" branch

    That to me indicates one of the following:

    • They have started selling data.
    • They plan on selling data in the near future.
    • They don't feel confident that they can keep that promise forever. That is, they see a future where they sell data.

    I don't like either of those alternatives.

    I don't know if they are able to sell the data you mentioned. Because I'm not in the enshittification minds of giant American corporations. 20 years ago people would laugh at the idea of buying data about the screen size of a user. But now they do, and use it for fingerprinting. If recent history has shown anything is that most data has some kind of value. And giant corporations will find their way to use that data against users.

    I've seen way too many companies that were supposed to be the cool kids and were doing everything morally enshittify. There's no reason to believe Mozilla is going to be different. They're showing the same signs.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    I never claimed they didn't remove those lines.
    But your screen size is NOT personal info.

    Also this line was in my previous post:

    Mozilla uses this data to enhance Firefox while respecting your privacy.

    So how do you imagine selling personal data is respecting privacy?
    Again what you are doing could be libel, you have zero evidence to back up your claim, it's pure speculation.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I thought they specifically take anti-fingerprinting measures by default? Is this not true?

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    They do, but just like anything dealing with security or privacy, there are degrees of inconvenience and "breaking" that are not suited for every situation.

    Firefox is a good default, but if you want more privacy, LibreWolf is an option. LibreWolf configures more settings by default to protect your privacyβ€” but these come at a cost. The cost being that more websites are likely to break and/or need "fixing". Look at the list of features that LibreWolf may break here [0]. This is not a browser for your general family or someone who just wants things to "work".

    Interestingly, LibreWolf disable Google Safe Browsing, which they actually recommend you enable as Firefox has implemented it in a privacy preserving way. The devs disable it by default in LibrewWolf for a semi-technical reason [1]. Without Google Safe Browsing you will not get warned about dangerous sites known for phishing, malware, or unwanted software. Technically inclined people may not want this, but I would never disable this feature for friends/family as that would put them at risk.

    Lastly, if your friends/family ran into website that doesn't work, they will not be troubleshooting the problem or trying to find a workaround. They will uninstall the browser and go running back to Chrome- this is the fine line that Firefox needs to navigate to ensure they protect user privacy, but don't inconvenience those who don't have the technical chops or patience.

    [0] https://librewolf.net/docs/faq/#what-are-the-most-common-downsides-of-rfp-resist-fingerprinting

    [1] https://librewolf.net/docs/faq/#why-do-you-disable-google-safe-browsing

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