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This is exactly what the Google Container add-on for Firefox protects against. It stops Google from tracking you across the web because your Google login does n

This is exactly what the Google Container add-on for Firefox protects against. It stops Google from tracking you across the web because your Google login does not exist when you visit other websites. It only exists within the container. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-container/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-contai... Unfortunately, it does not have Mozilla’s “Recommended” seal of approval. I assume Mozilla cannot do this because Firefox development is funded by Google, so Mozilla has to tolerate Google’s tracking to some degree. I’m still using this add-on because I cannot imagine my web browsing life without it.

autoexec 4y ago
> This is exactly what the Google Container add-on for Firefox protects against. It stops Google from tracking you across the web because your Google login does not exist when you visit other websites. I don't think that it does. I mean, it does help a little, but if you have Firefox with this add-on installed and visit websiteA which pings google's server and loads their JS which fingerprints your browser they have your device logged, the fact that you visited websiteA logged, your IP address logged, and a timestamp logged. When you visit websiteB 5 hours later (in a different tab, window, or session) and that site also pings google's server and loads their JS they get all that same information again and Google has successfully tracked you going to both sites. These containers aren't useless, but they aren't preventing Google from tracking your online activity either. Your best bet is to configure Firefox to not allow javascript (at least not by default and not got any domain owned by Google), to block all google domains at your edge, and never log into a google product. At that point, google isn't tracking you and you have no need for the add-on. That assumes that you're on a PC. If you're using an android device you might as well accept that any website you visit will be tracked by google no matter what else you do.
- zagrebian 4y ago
  > google's server and loads their JS which fingerprints your browser they have your device logged This is a big claim. Do Google’s ad-serving scripts really engage in fingerprinting? If yes, then there should be proof. Is there proof? I don’t think it’s possible for Google to do this covertly using JavaScript, so either Google does this and we have proof, or Google doesn’t do this.
  - autoexec 4y ago
    Who knows what Google is collecting internally (especially with analytics). We'd need a whistleblower to tell us, so let's just pretend Google isn't fingerprinting devices or collecting device IDs. That still leaves them with your IP address, timestamps, and a list of the websites you visited. Does that make you feel better?
    - zagrebian 4y ago
      Your claim was about fingerprinting via Google’s scripts on other websites. Such a thing cannot be concealed. JavaScript code is visible. Even if the code is obfuscated, experts can still detect if fingerprinting is performed.
      - autoexec 4y ago
        Maybe it's changed since it's been a long time since I blocked all that stuff entirely, but I thought the idea was that websites collected a bunch of data about you, your browser, and your activities (using JS) which all gets sent back to google. Google processes that data and delivers analytics reporting back to the website owners. If google were also using the data they collected to generate a device fingerprint to compare against data collected and reported at other sites you would never know. That'd be in addition to them logging the sites you visited and when as well as your IP address and user agent which they get just by remotely hosting those scripts.
        zagrebian 4y ago
        Google Analytics does not collect any information that could identify the user.
        deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
        autoexec 4y ago
        Your IP address and a timestamp are enough to give google a pretty good idea who you are in many cases. If you log into any one of their services or use one of their products using that same IP address it's a pretty strong indicator. It takes surprisingly little "non-identifiable information" to figure out someone's identify. (for example: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10933-3 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10933-3) I'm pretty sure google has enough data to put 1 and 1 together the vast majority of the time.
ajvs 4y ago
It's not needed anymore now that Total Cookie Protection AKA First-Party Isolation is now a Firefox feature.

autoexec 4y ago

> This is exactly what the Google Container add-on for Firefox protects against. It stops Google from tracking you across the web because your Google login does not exist when you visit other websites. I don't think that it does. I mean, it does help a little, but if you have Firefox with this add-on installed and visit websiteA which pings google's server and loads their JS which fingerprints your browser they have your device logged, the fact that you visited websiteA logged, your IP address logged, and a timestamp logged. When you visit websiteB 5 hours later (in a different tab, window, or session) and that site also pings google's server and loads their JS they get all that same information again and Google has successfully tracked you going to both sites. These containers aren't useless, but they aren't preventing Google from tracking your online activity either. Your best bet is to configure Firefox to not allow javascript (at least not by default and not got any domain owned by Google), to block all google domains at your edge, and never log into a google product. At that point, google isn't tracking you and you have no need for the add-on. That assumes that you're on a PC. If you're using an android device you might as well accept that any website you visit will be tracked by google no matter what else you do.

zagrebian 4y ago
> google's server and loads their JS which fingerprints your browser they have your device logged This is a big claim. Do Google’s ad-serving scripts really engage in fingerprinting? If yes, then there should be proof. Is there proof? I don’t think it’s possible for Google to do this covertly using JavaScript, so either Google does this and we have proof, or Google doesn’t do this.
- autoexec 4y ago
  Who knows what Google is collecting internally (especially with analytics). We'd need a whistleblower to tell us, so let's just pretend Google isn't fingerprinting devices or collecting device IDs. That still leaves them with your IP address, timestamps, and a list of the websites you visited. Does that make you feel better?
  - zagrebian 4y ago
    Your claim was about fingerprinting via Google’s scripts on other websites. Such a thing cannot be concealed. JavaScript code is visible. Even if the code is obfuscated, experts can still detect if fingerprinting is performed.
    - autoexec 4y ago
      Maybe it's changed since it's been a long time since I blocked all that stuff entirely, but I thought the idea was that websites collected a bunch of data about you, your browser, and your activities (using JS) which all gets sent back to google. Google processes that data and delivers analytics reporting back to the website owners. If google were also using the data they collected to generate a device fingerprint to compare against data collected and reported at other sites you would never know. That'd be in addition to them logging the sites you visited and when as well as your IP address and user agent which they get just by remotely hosting those scripts.
      - zagrebian 4y ago
        Google Analytics does not collect any information that could identify the user.
        deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
        autoexec 4y ago
        Your IP address and a timestamp are enough to give google a pretty good idea who you are in many cases. If you log into any one of their services or use one of their products using that same IP address it's a pretty strong indicator. It takes surprisingly little "non-identifiable information" to figure out someone's identify. (for example: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10933-3 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10933-3) I'm pretty sure google has enough data to put 1 and 1 together the vast majority of the time.

ajvs 4y ago

It's not needed anymore now that Total Cookie Protection AKA First-Party Isolation is now a Firefox feature.