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Kit
@108.28.157.x

1 recommendation

Kit

Anon

Configuring Firefox

Not to be an alarmist, but the release of Firefox 34.0.5 has significantly ramped up my concern about how good a job Mozilla is doing protecting our privacy and security. In particular, the last several releases of Firefox have introduced a ton of new settings in the configuration file that are hard to understand in many cases, at least for me. On top of that, Mozilla is also becoming more aggressive in shoving certain things down our throats.

The latest switch to Yahoo as the default search engine is just one example. It's not the end of the world, of course, because you can switch your default search provider fairly easily. But if you happen to screw up your profile and have to create a new one, Yahoo will be back and it will keep coming back every time, along with advertising tiles and some other things I find annoying. In the case of Yahoo, the only way I've found to prevent it from coming back is by deleting Yahoo as a search engine entirely.

But it isn't just a question of switching your default search engine to something else. On a fresh profile in Firefox 34.0.5, open the configuration file and type in the word search. I come up with 28 distinct entries. I have 34 search entries in my regular profile, almost half of which I've changed from the defaults Firefox offers up on its own.

And that's just the search function. There are many other new entries that have been added to the configuration file in recent months. Like I said, I don't want to be alarmist because it isn't always black and white when it comes to some of these new settings. Should you enable or disable the geolocation functionality? There are pros and cons and I understand that.

But there are other settings like beacon.enabled and browser.send_pings that I don't understand as well; and Firefox isn't really being pro-active is helping me to understand these things and what they’re intended to do. Like most people, I have a real life and I don’t have all time to spend getting answers to things like this.

The bottom line is I think it might be useful if we started a thread in which we share some of the changes we've made to the default Firefox configuration file and why. For example, I've made Startpage Europe the default search engine in Firefox, with Ixquick and DuckDuckGo as my fallbacks because these three search engines appear to be more privacy conscious. I could be wrong. Feel free to disagree. That’s the point of the thread.

As part of the thread, it might also be useful to exchange any articles we run across that bear on the topic. Here are a couple of links to get that started.

»thesimplecomputer.info/t ··· ak-guide

»mobile.www.rationallypar ··· ity.html

I am NOT suggesting you run out and adopt any or all of these suggestions immediately. But perhaps we can discuss those where we agree or disagree with the author ... or are just not certain and need to be enlightened.

It's just a suggestion. Feel free to contribute if you think it's a good one.

IndianaGuy
@128.90.89.x

IndianaGuy

Anon

Thanks for the links Kit. I use 'exactly' the same search engines as you and also set them to EU servers and don't notice any slowdown.
I think many of us are always interested the things (security, privacy) you are talking about. If I didn't care I would be using Internet Explorer.

I bookmarked the links as there is some interesting info especially about a 'Ping' and what Moz says it could be used for (tracking). I usually poke this stuff into a 'usr.js' file but a humdinger of an Extension with check boxes and a brief explanation and a link to more through info would sure be nice.

Using the 'ping' again as one example, "allow a ping" yes or no really should be expanded to include information as to the pros and cons, what might happen if you do or don't, perhaps in a bubble on a mouse hover.

I intend to go over this in extreme detail but it needs more experienced users than I.

StuartMW
Premium Member
join:2000-08-06

1 recommendation

StuartMW to Kit

Premium Member

to Kit
said by Kit :

Not to be an alarmist, but the release of Firefox 34.0.5 has significantly ramped up my concern about how good a job Mozilla is doing protecting our privacy and security.

Well IMO Mozilla has little interest in "our privacy and security". Neither does any other browser vendor.

The internet has become a way to collect all kind of information about its users. For those of us concerned about "our privacy and security" it a continual battle to thwart what vendors put into their software, what websites do etc.

The only way I know of to prevent data from being collected is to not use the internet--at all.

Kit
@108.28.157.x

Kit to IndianaGuy

Anon

to IndianaGuy
Glad the links were helpful, IndianaGuy. I haven't had time to explore them fully myself, but I was hoping to generate more of a discussion that would pull in people more knowledgeable than me.

Doesn't seem to be working though
Kit

Kit to StuartMW

Anon

to StuartMW
The reason I suggested this thread was because there has to be something between accepting all of the Firefox defaults and not using the internet at all.

Not using the internet at all isn't really practical and doesn't stop companies from collecting information on you from other sources; and accepting all of the Firefox defaults only insures that more information will be collected rather than less.

That's why people use extensions like Ghostery and ad-blocking lists like Easy Privacy. All I'm trying to do is to tap into the collective knowledge. There are people a lot more knowledgeable than me who change Firefox's defaults. Like I mentioned to IndianaGuy above, I was hoping to pull them in to offer the rest of us some practical tips.

If not, everyone will have to struggle on their own ...