Browser/privacy woes

Destry · 2018-08-05 12:58:35

This thread about Firefox slipping something into a nightly is stirring up privacy concerns. Cloudflare being at the center of it.

Just learned about IceCat though.

phiw13 · 2018-08-05 22:56:42

Hmm. Me not liking that much. Thanks for the tip.

Rebuilding the Great Firewall of China(™), the US way; one “privacy feature” after the other “fake news” filtering. MAGA.

bici · 2018-08-06 04:33:29

What is Firefox up to??

zero · 2018-08-06 09:53:18

Did I read somewhere that Mozilla was being funded by Google or another big player? I know it is constantly telling me I must upgrade, which would also mean an upgrade to my OS. So I was looking for alternative browsers. Unfortunately Vivaldi has javascript problems ( I can’t even find anywhere where you can set anything javascript. So Textpattern won’t delete a plugin. When the js comes up with Are you sure? and the OK, it freezes my whole computer. I have to logout, login again. And I still can’t delete, no matter what. Sorry for going off-topic a bit but FF is up to no good, imho. Wish there was a good alternative.

phiw13 · 2018-08-06 12:24:08

zero wrote #313273:

Did I read somewhere that Mozilla was being funded by Google or another big player?

Google pays a nice little sum of money for the privilege of being the default search engine in Firefox. At one point a few years ago, they switched to Yahoo for their US operations, but afaik, they’ve now reverted to Google.

BTW – Google also pays Apple for the same privilege in Safari / MobileSafari – some 3 billion USD.

(wish they paid me for visiting them – 1million USD / Year is OK, payable in Yen / Yuan / Won (NK) / Rouble / Euro / Rial ).

(…) So I was looking for alternative browsers. (…)

Sorry can’t help with that.

jakob · 2018-08-06 12:42:27

zero wrote #313273:

So I was looking for alternative browsers. Unfortunately Vivaldi has javascript problems ( I can’t even find anywhere where you can set anything javascript.

Brave maybe?

towndock · 2018-08-06 16:50:11

Right now I use both OpenDNS and Google DNS (usually finding either faster than ISP provided DNS.) So one or the other has some idea of my web surfing, for better or for worse.

I use Firefox, Chrome & Safari (with a separate machine to check sites on Edge & Explorer) – and Firefox more than the others. I get the hypothetical concerns, but in reality is Cloudflare sniffing some of my net browsing life different than Google and OpenDNS?

There will likely soon be multiple articles about the web on how to circumvent this is if you want to.

Re Google paying Mozilla, I’ve read that those search payments are some 90% of Mozilla revenue. Google (or Yahoo) has been most of Mozilla $ for well over a decade. Without those resources Firefox would have way fewer developers and likely not be a top tier browser for long.

michaelkpate · 2018-08-06 23:07:14

phiw13 wrote #313280:

Google pays a nice little sum of money for the privilege of being the default search engine in Firefox. At one point a few years ago, they switched to Yahoo for their US operations, but afaik, they’ve now reverted to Google.

Back in November: Google’s back: It’s Firefox’s default search engine again, after Mozilla ends Yahoo deal

The irony is that AOL and Yahoo! are both part of Verizon’s Oath and AOL still owns Netscape (although they never used the brand for anything).

Personally, I never use Firefox for much of anything. Every Linux distro I have tried has come with it and it was a handy way to download Chrome.

phiw13 · 2018-08-06 23:46:42

michaelkpate wrote #313305:

Personally, I never use Firefox for much of anything. Every Linux distro I have tried has come with it and it was a handy way to download Chrome.

Hmm, me suspects that Chromium (Chrome at least, not sure how other browsers that use Chromium as a rendering engine¹ will be able to opt in or out) will follow suite with this ill-guided idea, and pointing to Google’s DNS servers.

¹ Opera, Vivaldi, Brave, Yandex browser, …

michaelkpate · 2018-08-07 03:17:56

phiw13 wrote #313307:

Hmm, me suspects that Chromium (Chrome at least, not sure how other browsers that use Chromium as a rendering engine^1^ will be able to opt in or out) will follow suite with this ill-guided idea, and pointing to Google’s DNS servers.

I actually couldn’t remember what my home router DNS was set to so I checked. I ran Steve Gibson’s DNS Benchmark a few months ago and it was the fastest choice.

But reading over what Firefox is doing, it sounds strictly opt-in. Personally, I don’t see a cause for alarm. But then I am the person who still has a Gmail account.

michaelkpate · 2018-08-07 03:26:54

Here’s a list of publicly-available DNS over HTTPS servers: https://github.com/curl/curl/wiki/DNS-over-HTTPS#publicly-available-servers

phiw13 · 2018-08-07 05:07:58

michaelkpate wrote #313309:

But reading over what Firefox is doing, it sounds strictly opt-in. Personally, I don’t see a cause for alarm. But then I am the person who still has a Gmail account.

No, it is currently experimental technology, that is why it is opt-in. The Mozilla blog post makes clear that the intent is to make it the default by the end of the year. Luckily they seem to plan keeping the pref to turn it off (opt-out).

Conceptually, DNS over HTTPS is fine. And I understand the argument about rogue DNS servers when you connect from coffee shops or whatever. What I deeply dislike and distrust is that browser makers get to decide which DNS server I’m to use¹. And worse, centralized in the hands of a couple of US mega corporations with deep ties to the US security state. If you don’t see the danger in that, I’ve got a lovely beach-front property in central Texas to sell you; dirt cheap!. (and see also your post in the other thread)

¹ And worse, decide for all users world wide.

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#1 2018-08-05 12:58:35