4 ms·

I just don't like being bullshitted. Constant marketing about privacy while they're phoning home a bunch of data when you start and stop the browser. I did at s

I just don't like being bullshitted. Constant marketing about privacy while they're phoning home a bunch of data when you start and stop the browser. I did at some point find a doc page with a zillion steps to disable all of it but that doesn't remediate the hypocrisy IMHO.

ceejayoz 3y ago
A zillion? Preferences > Privacy > Firefox Data Collection and Use. Uncheck a couple boxes.
- user3939382 3y ago
  That's some of it but not all of it. If you uncheck those and proxy FF when it's starting you'll see the chatter. I have the doc page I'm talking about somewhere but I have no idea where it is. Fully disabling it is a long complex process involving about:config. * Found this: https://github.com/K3V1991/Disable-Firefox-Telemetry-and-Data-Collection https://github.com/K3V1991/Disable-Firefox-Telemetry-and-Dat... I haven't compared their list to the one I've used before but it's along the same lines and explains the discrepancy between the config settings and Firefox's actual behavior.
  - ceejayoz 3y ago
    Those largely appear to affect local collection of telemetry. https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/7k3r9u/mozilla_is_collecting_your_data_even_you_disabled/ https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/7k3r9u/mozilla_is_... > Telemetry data is stored locally by default. As long as the relevant options in the settings' UI are unchecked, or datareporting.healthreport.uploadEnabled is set to false in about:config, this data won't be sent. <https://medium.com/georg-fritzsche/data-preference-changes-in-firefox-58-2d5df9c428b5 https://medium.com/georg-fritzsche/data-preference-changes-i...> There's likely to still be some non-telemetry chatter, like checking for available Firefox/plugin updates etc.
    - A4ET8a8uTh0 3y ago
      << this data won't be sent If there is one thing we should have learned over the past decade, it should be that if the data is collected, it will be sent. I followed the argument and I understand what you are saying. What I am saying is that it was not that long ago that FF decided to disable plugins remotely ( I think we even discussed it on HN[1]). What makes you think they won't one day push an update to just upload that local data? [1]https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/2023/7/1.html https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/2023/7/1.html
      - ceejayoz 3y ago
        > What makes you think they won't one day push an update to just upload that local data? I'd imagine it's a buffer; presumably someone using Firefox for a decade with telemetry off won't accumulate ten years worth of telemetry pings.
StressedDev 3y ago
What telemetry are you objecting to? Telemetry has good and bad uses. For example, sending in automatic crash reports helps companies find bugs. It can also expose sensitive information which was in ram at the time of the crash. Another example is usage telemetry tells developers what part of the app is being used and can help them focus popular features or on working to let people know about useful but under used portions of the app. My main complaint about people who dislike telemetry is they never acknowledge its good uses and they never state what telemetry is objectionable.
- kortilla 3y ago
  If “being useful” is your argument for it, I don’t think you’re ever going to see eye to eye with people who don’t want it. It’s like you’re arguing about the good things the church does when it’s a discussion on separation of church and state.
  - bee_rider 3y ago
    Religion seems like a needlessly incendiary example that is going to bring up some strong rhetoric. But I mean I’m an atheist and I think religion is, on net, bad. But we’ve allowed a sort of less dangerous version of it to persist in most advanced countries, in the form of separation of church and state. If it was really just all bad, I suppose we’d ban it altogether. I think people can generally see that there are some pros to things they don’t like. Not engaging with the aspects of something that are inconvenient to your case puts you in the realm of propaganda and rhetoric, not good faith discussion.
- Fnoord 3y ago
  > My main complaint about people who dislike telemetry is they never acknowledge its good uses and they never state what telemetry is objectionable. There's a good reason for that: it is an asymmetric relationship. The person who enabled telemetry isn't necessarily the user of the software. Ie. it can be mandated or put on by a sysadmin (even by mistake), without user's say. On top of that, the user of the software and/or sysadmin are unable to assess whether they want to share the data because they cannot analyze the data beforehand. They lack the expertise in doing so. Meanwhile I have to disable telemetry every friggin' time I use Mozilla Firefox. It gets old, having to say 'no' all the time, ya know? I now realize how it feels being a young woman on the market. Geez, I feel sorry for my daughter. The shit she'll have to endure, sayin' 'no' all the time.
michaelmrose 3y ago
Click the menu button Fx89menuButton and select Settings. Select the Privacy & Security panel. Scroll to the Firefox Data Collection and Use section. Deselect the Allow Firefox to send technical and interaction data to Mozilla checkbox. You can get directly there by copying into the url bar about:preferences#privacy

ceejayoz 3y ago

A zillion? Preferences > Privacy > Firefox Data Collection and Use. Uncheck a couple boxes.

user3939382 3y ago
That's some of it but not all of it. If you uncheck those and proxy FF when it's starting you'll see the chatter. I have the doc page I'm talking about somewhere but I have no idea where it is. Fully disabling it is a long complex process involving about:config. * Found this: https://github.com/K3V1991/Disable-Firefox-Telemetry-and-Data-Collection https://github.com/K3V1991/Disable-Firefox-Telemetry-and-Dat... I haven't compared their list to the one I've used before but it's along the same lines and explains the discrepancy between the config settings and Firefox's actual behavior.
- ceejayoz 3y ago
  Those largely appear to affect local collection of telemetry. https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/7k3r9u/mozilla_is_collecting_your_data_even_you_disabled/ https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/7k3r9u/mozilla_is_... > Telemetry data is stored locally by default. As long as the relevant options in the settings' UI are unchecked, or datareporting.healthreport.uploadEnabled is set to false in about:config, this data won't be sent. <https://medium.com/georg-fritzsche/data-preference-changes-in-firefox-58-2d5df9c428b5 https://medium.com/georg-fritzsche/data-preference-changes-i...> There's likely to still be some non-telemetry chatter, like checking for available Firefox/plugin updates etc.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0 3y ago
    << this data won't be sent If there is one thing we should have learned over the past decade, it should be that if the data is collected, it will be sent. I followed the argument and I understand what you are saying. What I am saying is that it was not that long ago that FF decided to disable plugins remotely ( I think we even discussed it on HN[1]). What makes you think they won't one day push an update to just upload that local data? [1]https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/2023/7/1.html https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/2023/7/1.html
    - ceejayoz 3y ago
      > What makes you think they won't one day push an update to just upload that local data? I'd imagine it's a buffer; presumably someone using Firefox for a decade with telemetry off won't accumulate ten years worth of telemetry pings.

StressedDev 3y ago

What telemetry are you objecting to? Telemetry has good and bad uses. For example, sending in automatic crash reports helps companies find bugs. It can also expose sensitive information which was in ram at the time of the crash. Another example is usage telemetry tells developers what part of the app is being used and can help them focus popular features or on working to let people know about useful but under used portions of the app. My main complaint about people who dislike telemetry is they never acknowledge its good uses and they never state what telemetry is objectionable.

kortilla 3y ago
If “being useful” is your argument for it, I don’t think you’re ever going to see eye to eye with people who don’t want it. It’s like you’re arguing about the good things the church does when it’s a discussion on separation of church and state.
- bee_rider 3y ago
  Religion seems like a needlessly incendiary example that is going to bring up some strong rhetoric. But I mean I’m an atheist and I think religion is, on net, bad. But we’ve allowed a sort of less dangerous version of it to persist in most advanced countries, in the form of separation of church and state. If it was really just all bad, I suppose we’d ban it altogether. I think people can generally see that there are some pros to things they don’t like. Not engaging with the aspects of something that are inconvenient to your case puts you in the realm of propaganda and rhetoric, not good faith discussion.
Fnoord 3y ago
> My main complaint about people who dislike telemetry is they never acknowledge its good uses and they never state what telemetry is objectionable. There's a good reason for that: it is an asymmetric relationship. The person who enabled telemetry isn't necessarily the user of the software. Ie. it can be mandated or put on by a sysadmin (even by mistake), without user's say. On top of that, the user of the software and/or sysadmin are unable to assess whether they want to share the data because they cannot analyze the data beforehand. They lack the expertise in doing so. Meanwhile I have to disable telemetry every friggin' time I use Mozilla Firefox. It gets old, having to say 'no' all the time, ya know? I now realize how it feels being a young woman on the market. Geez, I feel sorry for my daughter. The shit she'll have to endure, sayin' 'no' all the time.

michaelmrose 3y ago

Click the menu button Fx89menuButton and select Settings. Select the Privacy & Security panel. Scroll to the Firefox Data Collection and Use section. Deselect the Allow Firefox to send technical and interaction data to Mozilla checkbox. You can get directly there by copying into the url bar about:preferences#privacy