Does Mozilla disrespect user privacy like Chrome does?
Do they make it hard for the user to configure the browser like Chrome-based browser do?
Is Mozilla based on Chromium like Brave is?
Web Browser Privacy
- Thread starter Coja Petrus Uscan
- Start date
Does Mozilla disrespect user privacy like Chrome does?
Do they make it hard for the user to configure the browser like Chrome-based browser do?
Is Mozilla based on Chromium like Brave is?
Just looking at the pros/cons of all the options and making a decision. Mozilla is obviously taking a political stance and want to explore all the options.
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On a side note, it's insane to think there's only a few good choices left without using a globohomo browser..
IMO we have to accept that all the big companies are leftist scum. Even duckduckgo, telegram, etc. They are just hiding in the shadows, waiting to get enough user traction. That's exactly what facebook did : at the beginning it was really awesome. You can google "facebook ui 2007" to remember. And google too was awesome at the beginning. They did things very progressively, scheming, talking about the best way to dupe users, A/B testing....
Does that really care?
What else can one do?
prendergast
Sparrow
Please explain why being "ad-hungry" is necessarily a bad thing? Every company that offers a free service yet still wants to do well financially will have a big focus on advertising, no? They need to make a profit somehow.
Besides, ads in Brave are *completely optional*. I personally don't like seeing ads so I have them disabled and have never seen a single ad while using Brave.
Also, there's a key difference between being paid to see benign ads for Verizon or other sponsors, which is what Brave offers, and having your entire screen filled with never-ending ads (some of which are borderline pornographic or just plain creepy) which is what happens when you browse the Internet without any sort of ad blocking.
I mean you get paid BAT currency every month which can easily be converted to fiat. Something like $5 a month if you're an average user. Getting paid to browse the internet and seeing an ad every once in a while isn't too bad a deal.
Two words: F**K MOZILLA.
They are bundled with that 'Pocket' crap. It's the default empty page that shows the latest 'news'. Pocket is complete lefty drivel. I won't use Firefox ever again.
The guy who craeted Brave was also the creator of Firefox. Mozilla booted him years ago for donating to an anti-gay marriage group. That's when he started Brave. I've been using it since it was in beta. Love it. And a Eich is a stand-up guy.
www.cnet.com
Mozilla CEO Eich resigns after gay-marriage controversy
Brendan Eich steps down following calls for his ouster over his support for California's anti-gay marriage Proposition 8.
www.cnet.com
Why is nobody talking about epic browser? user friendly browser, privacy oriented and comes with an inbuilt vpn
joost
Pelican
I wouldn't trust a free VPN. I checked Epic Browser and it's based on Chromium. I think it is better to install Ungoogled Chromium and install uBlock Origins. As for cookies, whitelist only the websites you visit.
Thanks for the advice
My 50 cents - more theoretic than practical advice:
* Your browser and yourself you have multiple fingerprints. (Timing pattern of your mouse and keyboard clicks, order how you visit sites, etc. You can find this stuff in IT related talks.) This means that if you do not do against these then they can follow you even if you disable cookies.
* Cookies are necessary to follow even a single session. News sites could work without them (theoretically) but shopping carts etc will not work without them.
My advice:
* Do not disable cookies entirely but regularly delete them. This way features will work but they can't use the cookies for cross-tracking. If you want to keep a few sessions permanent then use a different profile for those and for other browsing.
* Totally anonymous browsing is only possible through "stolen" internet. And you also have to check the fingerprint of your browser and change your mouse and keyboard timing by using it in an awkward way. If you use a setup for anonymous browsing then you should not use that same setup for "normal" browsing. It is best if the anonymous browsing computer is totally separate of your "public" computer.
* Your browser and yourself you have multiple fingerprints. (Timing pattern of your mouse and keyboard clicks, order how you visit sites, etc. You can find this stuff in IT related talks.) This means that if you do not do against these then they can follow you even if you disable cookies.
* Cookies are necessary to follow even a single session. News sites could work without them (theoretically) but shopping carts etc will not work without them.
My advice:
* Do not disable cookies entirely but regularly delete them. This way features will work but they can't use the cookies for cross-tracking. If you want to keep a few sessions permanent then use a different profile for those and for other browsing.
* Totally anonymous browsing is only possible through "stolen" internet. And you also have to check the fingerprint of your browser and change your mouse and keyboard timing by using it in an awkward way. If you use a setup for anonymous browsing then you should not use that same setup for "normal" browsing. It is best if the anonymous browsing computer is totally separate of your "public" computer.
I'm setting up a new computer and will post the outline for how to setup browsers for privacy here.
I use five browsers.
One for work - LibreWolf
One for containerising Google and Yandex logins - Iridium
One for containerising another Google login - Vivaldi
One for containerising a Telegram (web) login - Opera
One for containerising subversive browsing - Brave
I was using Gab's Dissenter, but looks like they've discontinued it.
LibreWolf is used the most, as it is the one I trust the most.
Here are the setup instructions for Brave, which bills itself as a privacy browser and aims to revolutionise online ads, make them more private and graceful.
Website: https://brave.com/
It can be installed via the Ubuntu Software Center, if using that, but does not have it's own Debian package at the moment. It has been criticised for having a few call home features, but these can be disabled.
These settings are intended to store nothing in the browser.
Install - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/...-vpn-p/majdfhpaihoncoakbjgbdhglocklcgno?hl=en
........In the extension's settings settings enable auto-connect
Install - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-redirect/pmcmeagblkinmogikoikkdjiligflglb?hl=en
........Enable the plugin for Nitter, Invidious and search engines
........Select searx.be as the default search engine, yewtu.be as the default Invidious instance and pussthecat.org as the default Nitter instance
Settings->Appearance->Wide address bar
Settings->Appearance->Always show full URLs
Settings->Appearance->Show tab search button [off]
Settings->Shields->Advanced view
Settings->Shields->Trackers and ad blocking [aggressive]
Settings->Social blocking [disable Google and Facebook]
Settings->Privacy [Disable P3A and daily usage ping]
Settings->Privacy->Clear browsing data->On exit [select all and save]
Settings->Privacy->Cookies and other site data->Sites that can never use cookies [Add: google.com, bing.com, facebook.com, twitter.com, linkedin.com, yahoo.com, youtube.com]
Settings->Privacy->Security [use SecureDNS with CleanBrowsing]
Settings->Search engine->Manage search engines [Add default engine: Searx, :s, https://searx.be/search?q=%s; delete other engines]
Settings->Extensions->Hangouts [off]
Change download folder to desktop and don't ask where to save: brave://settings/downloads
Turn off Brave rewards: brave://rewards/
This setup gives you a browser-based VPN, which is free and can be used on top of your normal VPN. The default search engine is set as Searx Belgium, which will give you more or less the same results as Google, without touching a Google honeypot. It will also ban pornographic material, which includes Reddit.
I use five browsers.
One for work - LibreWolf
One for containerising Google and Yandex logins - Iridium
One for containerising another Google login - Vivaldi
One for containerising a Telegram (web) login - Opera
One for containerising subversive browsing - Brave
I was using Gab's Dissenter, but looks like they've discontinued it.
LibreWolf is used the most, as it is the one I trust the most.
Here are the setup instructions for Brave, which bills itself as a privacy browser and aims to revolutionise online ads, make them more private and graceful.
Website: https://brave.com/
It can be installed via the Ubuntu Software Center, if using that, but does not have it's own Debian package at the moment. It has been criticised for having a few call home features, but these can be disabled.
These settings are intended to store nothing in the browser.
Install - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/...-vpn-p/majdfhpaihoncoakbjgbdhglocklcgno?hl=en
........In the extension's settings settings enable auto-connect
Install - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/privacy-redirect/pmcmeagblkinmogikoikkdjiligflglb?hl=en
........Enable the plugin for Nitter, Invidious and search engines
........Select searx.be as the default search engine, yewtu.be as the default Invidious instance and pussthecat.org as the default Nitter instance
Settings->Appearance->Wide address bar
Settings->Appearance->Always show full URLs
Settings->Appearance->Show tab search button [off]
Settings->Shields->Advanced view
Settings->Shields->Trackers and ad blocking [aggressive]
Settings->Social blocking [disable Google and Facebook]
Settings->Privacy [Disable P3A and daily usage ping]
Settings->Privacy->Clear browsing data->On exit [select all and save]
Settings->Privacy->Cookies and other site data->Sites that can never use cookies [Add: google.com, bing.com, facebook.com, twitter.com, linkedin.com, yahoo.com, youtube.com]
Settings->Privacy->Security [use SecureDNS with CleanBrowsing]
Settings->Search engine->Manage search engines [Add default engine: Searx, :s, https://searx.be/search?q=%s; delete other engines]
Settings->Extensions->Hangouts [off]
Change download folder to desktop and don't ask where to save: brave://settings/downloads
Turn off Brave rewards: brave://rewards/
This setup gives you a browser-based VPN, which is free and can be used on top of your normal VPN. The default search engine is set as Searx Belgium, which will give you more or less the same results as Google, without touching a Google honeypot. It will also ban pornographic material, which includes Reddit.
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They key to online privacy is obfuscation, having a strategy, and knowing when it's appropriate to be pragmatic or paranoid. The Internet's infrastructure is such that expecting 100% privacy and anonymity is impossible.
Not a single browser can guarantee privacy for you. It's mainly up to you to find the right balance and stay ahead of the game. Don't be lazy but learn about IP addresses, networking and the likes rather than believing anything at face value, if privacy is important to you. The reality is virtually all browsers phone home in one way or another by default.
What you want is a browser that's customizable enough to suit your privacy needs while still remaining, well, usable. Otherwise you might as well stop using the Internet altogether. If need be, you can use different browsers depending on your purpose. It's what some would call "browser isolation". That, combined with a reliable VPN and/or Tor (based on Firefox) + custom DNS servers and, if necessary, disabling IPv6.
I'm far from sold on Brave and dislike anything based on Chromium anyway in terms of user interface. Though I distrust the Mozilla Foundation, Firefox can still be customized enough (beyond the usual "Settings") to be privacy-friendly and usable. It's also not going away any time soon.
For general use, I recommend firefox-esr (Extended Support Release) with plugins like uBlock Origin and HTTPS Everywhere. Set up different Firefox profiles for different purposes and customize the
For those using Linux, it may be worth checking out how your distribution handles Firefox. Some distributions provide a customized Firefox-esr version while others provide a vanilla version. GNU Icecat may be an additional option (note that it's based on Firefox), though it's getting rather outdated and I had to modify or disable certain plugins for usability's sake since the web these days is too infested with JavaScript to disable it entirely.
You can find an alternate take on Brave here. More info on Firefox can be found here. A a mitigation guide that describes much of what I explained above can be found here. It's worth going through.
Not a single browser can guarantee privacy for you. It's mainly up to you to find the right balance and stay ahead of the game. Don't be lazy but learn about IP addresses, networking and the likes rather than believing anything at face value, if privacy is important to you. The reality is virtually all browsers phone home in one way or another by default.
What you want is a browser that's customizable enough to suit your privacy needs while still remaining, well, usable. Otherwise you might as well stop using the Internet altogether. If need be, you can use different browsers depending on your purpose. It's what some would call "browser isolation". That, combined with a reliable VPN and/or Tor (based on Firefox) + custom DNS servers and, if necessary, disabling IPv6.
I'm far from sold on Brave and dislike anything based on Chromium anyway in terms of user interface. Though I distrust the Mozilla Foundation, Firefox can still be customized enough (beyond the usual "Settings") to be privacy-friendly and usable. It's also not going away any time soon.
For general use, I recommend firefox-esr (Extended Support Release) with plugins like uBlock Origin and HTTPS Everywhere. Set up different Firefox profiles for different purposes and customize the
user.js file. Some of the more intrusive functionalities like Pocket can even be removed. Also make sure to disable WebRTC. And, of course, restrict cookies.For those using Linux, it may be worth checking out how your distribution handles Firefox. Some distributions provide a customized Firefox-esr version while others provide a vanilla version. GNU Icecat may be an additional option (note that it's based on Firefox), though it's getting rather outdated and I had to modify or disable certain plugins for usability's sake since the web these days is too infested with JavaScript to disable it entirely.
You can find an alternate take on Brave here. More info on Firefox can be found here. A a mitigation guide that describes much of what I explained above can be found here. It's worth going through.
Are you concerned by calling home? An HTTPS proxy should be installed that signs everything with an own certificate that is installed into the trust of chain. That way every communication can be made visible.
I have once done that and browsers really phone home. For example when they suggest search results or when they check whether a page is fake they send all the info necessary to track you.
Yes but that's what I meant when I said they phone home by default. Brave is no exception to that, unfortunately. That's where customization comes in to mitigate that problem. Fortunately, it is possible to get around that.
Just want to clarify one thing about my previous post: when I recommend custom DNS servers, what I mean is using DNS servers other than those of your ISP at the Operating System level, not at the browser level. I don't recommend "DNS over HTTPS" (see Firefox settings).
Caution is advised, though. It's all a matter of trust in the end. You could use your VPN provider's DNS servers or even Google's public DNS servers (no thanks) or choose one from the OpenNIC project (see here).