[SOLVED] Do we want Firefox 93 now that it is reported to track our address bar keystrokes

yvesjv · 10-09-2021, 02:38 PM

As usual, did my morning routine and checked /. (yeah, I'm old)
And sees this:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/21/1...kes-to-mozilla

Maybe if available as an sbo with the option to remove this 'new feature'?

garpu · 10-09-2021, 02:53 PM

"You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." You can opt out of these things (and the search bar "ads"), but...this shouldn't have been a thing to begin with. I didn't mind tolerating a bit of slowness and a bigger memory footprint than chrome, because of how the privacy issues were handled. I've been searching for greener pastures, as it were, because some of the directions firefox has been moving in are concerning.

Didier Spaier · 10-09-2021, 02:55 PM

The same article says that it can be disabled by the user and how to do that. No need to do anything on the distribution's side as it is an user setting.

Pithium · 10-09-2021, 03:55 PM

I just use Falkon. It ships in Slackware and is part of the KDE ecosystem. If we can't trust falkon, then we can't trust KDE....

cwizardone · 10-09-2021, 04:09 PM

Isn't Falkon a chrome clone?

marav · 10-09-2021, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cwizardone

Isn't Falkon a chrome clone?

Falkon (KDE) uses QtWebEngine, which is a fork of Blink (google), which is a fork of WebKit (Apple), which is a fork of KHTML (KDE)

deal with this ... ;-)

Pithium · 10-09-2021, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marav

Falkon (KDE) uses QtWebEngine, which is a fork of Blink (google), which is a fork of WebKit (Apple), which is a fork of KHTML (KDE)

deal with this ... ;-)

I tried to think about it and all I got was a headache.. Either way compatibility with websites definitely falls into the chromium category.

yvesjv · 10-09-2021, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pithium

I just use Falkon. It ships in Slackware and is part of the KDE ecosystem. If we can't trust falkon, then we can't trust KDE....

Thanks.
Just checked and tried falkon.
It works.

Maybe run a wireshark with those indvidual browsers when I'm bored.
But life is too short, I'll just use another browser until they too decide to start analytics/logging of sorts.

chrisretusn · 10-09-2021, 10:17 PM

Do we want Firefox 93 now that it is reported to track our address bar keystrokes?

This "we", who is currently using Firefox 93.0, says yes, I want it. FWIW, Firefox 93 is not in Slackware right now unless the user adds it.

From post at Slashdot:

Quote:

To power Firefox Suggest, Firefox sends the keystrokes you type into your address bar, your location information, and more to Mozilla's servers.

So far I have not seen anything that resembles and ad, the suggestions offered are related to what I type. I see nothing to worry about here. As for location, well damn, that goes out all them time to a lot of servers based on what I do. "Tracking keystrokes" is a bit of a stretch, LOL, yeah how terrible of them, guess I'd better not enter any sensitive stuff in the address bar. Any way this "feature" can be turned off.

From the links post at Slashdot:

Quote:

Furthermore, Firefox doesn't tag the ads displayed via Firefox Suggest.

Yes is does tag the suggestions (not ads) with "Firefox Suggest", see attached screenshot.

MadMaverick9 · 10-09-2021, 11:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisretusn

... I see nothing to worry about here. As for location, well damn, that goes out all them time to a lot of servers based on what I do. "Tracking keystrokes" is a bit of a stretch, LOL, yeah how terrible of them, guess I'd better not enter any sensitive stuff in the address bar. ...

@chrisretusn - And Yet Another Member of the I Got Nothing To Hide crowd.

First audacity, now mozilla firefox. When will this BS stop.

@chrisretusn - Remember this and remember it well:

Quote:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

And you think this is all a joke - think again:
www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/google-is-giving-data-to-police-based-on-search-keywords-court-docs-show/

elMoco · 10-10-2021, 03:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMaverick9

@chrisretusn - And Yet Another Member of the I Got Nothing To Hide crowd.

First audacity, now mozilla firefox. When will this BS stop.

@chrisretusn - Remember this and remember it well:

Quote:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

And you think this is all a joke - think again:
www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/google-is-giving-data-to-police-based-on-search-keywords-court-docs-show/

I do not think here applies the Martin Niemöller's poem (often mistakenly attributed to Bertolt Brecht), but the quote "if you're not paying for the product, you are the product".

I love open source and free software. Collaborative work is great, but these companies creating big software want (I would even say need) to monetize it, in one way or another. It's your choice to pay directly for it, or to pay by allowing them (or someone else) using you as a product. Just a matter of choice.

MadMaverick9 · 10-10-2021, 03:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elMoco

I do not think here applies the Martin Niemöller's poem (often mistakenly attributed to Bertolt Brecht), but the quote "if you're not paying for the product, you are the product".

I love open source and free software. Collaborative work is great, but these companies creating big software want (I would even say need) to monetize it, in one way or another. It's your choice to pay directly for it, or to pay by allowing them (or someone else) using you as a product. Just a matter of choice.

And you forgot the third choice - Drop it like a Hot Potato. Esp. if they violate my freedom and privacy.

And another thing - I don't mind paying for things, but it has to be on my terms.

marav · 10-10-2021, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMaverick9

And you forgot the third choice - Drop it like a Hot Potato. Esp. if they violate my freedom and privacy.

And another thing - I don't mind paying for things, but it has to be on my terms.

How much did you donate to the Mozilla Foundation?
Probably as much as me, nothing...
So, they have to find ways to fund themselves (and it's not only 2 guys developing in their basement), and as long as the user can disable these options, I'm fine with it

LuckyCyborg · 10-10-2021, 03:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMaverick9

And you forgot the third choice - Drop it like a Hot Potato. Esp. if they violate my freedom and privacy.

And another thing - I don't mind paying for things, but it has to be on my terms.

And what have in common the Slackware with your pathological paranoia?

Apparently, you consider your constitutional right to spread fear and conspiracy theories. Good for you!

BUT, I for one, as a Russian Federation citizen, I can eventually look with condescency at your conspiracy theories.

Yes, honestly I will applaud when the cops will grab you because you did a search, because all you do is to spread hate and paranoia.

Ser Olmy · 10-10-2021, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garpu

I've been searching for greener pastures, as it were, because some of the directions firefox has been moving in are concerning.

The leadership at The Mozilla Foundation have been hard at work for years now, trying their utmost to become irrelevant. After endless UI redesigns and questionable privacy policies, I've decided to honor their wishes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by marav

How much did you donate to the Mozilla Foundation?
Probably as much as me, nothing...

I'm not willing to throw money into what seems to be a black hole, in the absurd hope that this will somehow convince the quite overpaid Powers That Be at Mozilla that they should change their ways. Surely, that would only convince them that they're going in the right direction?

It's just like with the Samba project; they keep complaining about lack of funding, but do they publish a proper project roadmap, ask their users for feedback regarding features, and/or use crowdfunding? Nope.