3 ms·

So how do we turn it off? Found it. Go to settings, type privacy into the search box. The last item under "Firefox Data Collection and Use" is a check box lab

So how do we turn it off? Found it. Go to settings, type privacy into the search box. The last item under "Firefox Data Collection and Use" is a check box labelled "Allow websites to perform privacy-preserving ad measurement". It was already unchecked on mine when I looked just now.

wkat4242 2y ago
Yeah on desktop. On mobile it's a lot harder. It's still turned on and you have to use a workaround to enable about: config because they don't bother to make this option visible in settings.
- zaik 2y ago
  I can access the about:config page on mobile, but I can't seem to find a relevant option. Maybe it's already disabled for the Fennec app from F-Droid?
- chrismorgan 2y ago
  > and you have to use a workaround to enable about: config I know of no workaround short of installing from the Beta or Nightly channel.
- amne 2y ago
  chrome://geckoview/content/config.xhtml source: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/firefox-for-android-about-config/idc-p/53769/highlight/true#M31405 https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/firefox-for-android-abo...
  - wkat4242 2y ago
    Yeah apparently you can use that to set: general.aboutConfig.enable to true And then you can go to the normal about:config and set dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled to false Only then is PPA actually off (apparently, I did not manage to test this yet but someone did confirm the default setting is true). Not cool. Especially because Mozilla provides instructions for the desktop version on their site but doesn't even mention the mobile version at all.
- squarefoot 2y ago
  On mobile you probably want to try Fennec and/or Mull, both Firefox forks, compatible with FF addons and available on F-Droid.
  - parlortricks 2y ago
    As of June Fennec is now under Mozilla?
- perryizgr8 2y ago
  Do we know why they blocked about:config on mobile? It doesn't make any sense at all...
  - Bilal_io 2y ago
    It worked for me, no issues. I am on version 128.0 (Build #2016030615)
    - bravetraveler 2y ago
      I had to go through some Gecko thing first like others mentioned, quite odd. Supposedly the setting to adjust is in there too, but I have no idea what applies here
    - perryizgr8 2y ago
      Doesn't work for me 128.0 (Build #2016030615) Wonder why this is even an issue.
- htiawe 2y ago
  I recently started using Firefox again, because of all the madness around Chrome and the change of how add-ons (mainly uBlock and similar) would work. And it felt kinda good, i actually thought that Firefox was different and a part of "the good guys", now it doesn't feel that way anymore. Sigh.
  - staunton 2y ago
    I don't know of any "good guys" whatsoever that ever managed to build and maintain a browser. Anyone? Maybe one day we'll have a usable FOSS browser but I doubt it (the companies will fight tooth and nail against it including legal means, buying out companies, blocking content for them, etc.).
    - wkat4242 2y ago
      I think the guys that built WebKit originally (Konqueror) are kinda good guys. I still sponsor KDE with a monthly donation <3 But the browser wasn't really kept up, I don't think they had the money for it. It lives on in Safari though.
- aagha 2y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40974414 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40974414
tda 2y ago
on firefox mobile: open chrome://geckoview/content/config.xhtml, set general.aboutConfig.enable to true open about:config, set dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled to false
- psychoslave 2y ago
  Wow, thanks for this and the parent post.
- fransje26 2y ago
  What's the difference with setting dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled to false in the gekoview?
  - tda 2y ago
    Probably none, I didn't know it was also there. I just compiled what worked for me after scrolling through a few other posts.
- aaubry 2y ago
  Thanks a lot for this tip. I don't know how one is supposed to find this setting.
tromp 2y ago
On MacOS that checkbox is in a separate section called "Website Advertising Preferences".
l0b0 2y ago
On NixOS, set programs.firefox.policies.Preferences."dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled" = false; (https://gitlab.com/engmark/root/-/commit/bbb3ff9efb878ddda38e71a8269b876295c426bc https://gitlab.com/engmark/root/-/commit/bbb3ff9efb878ddda38...)
RegW 2y ago
Interestingly the option has a link to an explanation on how it works. Which was handy as I couldn't get past the German cookie dialogue on the original article. I guess the question is whether the aggregation services can be persuaded by clever attribute manipulation to give the ad site a near unique report for a user across many sites. <https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/privacy-preserving-attribution https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/privacy-preserving-attr...> <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-ppm-dap https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-ppm-dap> <https://github.com/mozilla/explainers/tree/main/ppa-experiment https://github.com/mozilla/explainers/tree/main/ppa-experime...>

wkat4242 2y ago

Yeah on desktop. On mobile it's a lot harder. It's still turned on and you have to use a workaround to enable about: config because they don't bother to make this option visible in settings.

zaik 2y ago
I can access the about:config page on mobile, but I can't seem to find a relevant option. Maybe it's already disabled for the Fennec app from F-Droid?
chrismorgan 2y ago
> and you have to use a workaround to enable about: config I know of no workaround short of installing from the Beta or Nightly channel.
amne 2y ago
chrome://geckoview/content/config.xhtml source: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/firefox-for-android-about-config/idc-p/53769/highlight/true#M31405 https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/firefox-for-android-abo...
- wkat4242 2y ago
  Yeah apparently you can use that to set: general.aboutConfig.enable to true And then you can go to the normal about:config and set dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled to false Only then is PPA actually off (apparently, I did not manage to test this yet but someone did confirm the default setting is true). Not cool. Especially because Mozilla provides instructions for the desktop version on their site but doesn't even mention the mobile version at all.
squarefoot 2y ago
On mobile you probably want to try Fennec and/or Mull, both Firefox forks, compatible with FF addons and available on F-Droid.
- parlortricks 2y ago
  As of June Fennec is now under Mozilla?
perryizgr8 2y ago
Do we know why they blocked about:config on mobile? It doesn't make any sense at all...
- Bilal_io 2y ago
  It worked for me, no issues. I am on version 128.0 (Build #2016030615)
  - bravetraveler 2y ago
    I had to go through some Gecko thing first like others mentioned, quite odd. Supposedly the setting to adjust is in there too, but I have no idea what applies here
  - perryizgr8 2y ago
    Doesn't work for me 128.0 (Build #2016030615) Wonder why this is even an issue.
htiawe 2y ago
I recently started using Firefox again, because of all the madness around Chrome and the change of how add-ons (mainly uBlock and similar) would work. And it felt kinda good, i actually thought that Firefox was different and a part of "the good guys", now it doesn't feel that way anymore. Sigh.
- staunton 2y ago
  I don't know of any "good guys" whatsoever that ever managed to build and maintain a browser. Anyone? Maybe one day we'll have a usable FOSS browser but I doubt it (the companies will fight tooth and nail against it including legal means, buying out companies, blocking content for them, etc.).
  - wkat4242 2y ago
    I think the guys that built WebKit originally (Konqueror) are kinda good guys. I still sponsor KDE with a monthly donation <3 But the browser wasn't really kept up, I don't think they had the money for it. It lives on in Safari though.
aagha 2y ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40974414 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40974414

tda 2y ago

on firefox mobile: open chrome://geckoview/content/config.xhtml, set general.aboutConfig.enable to true open about:config, set dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled to false

psychoslave 2y ago
Wow, thanks for this and the parent post.
fransje26 2y ago
What's the difference with setting dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled to false in the gekoview?
- tda 2y ago
  Probably none, I didn't know it was also there. I just compiled what worked for me after scrolling through a few other posts.
aaubry 2y ago
Thanks a lot for this tip. I don't know how one is supposed to find this setting.

tromp 2y ago

On MacOS that checkbox is in a separate section called "Website Advertising Preferences".

l0b0 2y ago

On NixOS, set programs.firefox.policies.Preferences."dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled" = false; (https://gitlab.com/engmark/root/-/commit/bbb3ff9efb878ddda38e71a8269b876295c426bc https://gitlab.com/engmark/root/-/commit/bbb3ff9efb878ddda38...)

RegW 2y ago

Interestingly the option has a link to an explanation on how it works. Which was handy as I couldn't get past the German cookie dialogue on the original article. I guess the question is whether the aggregation services can be persuaded by clever attribute manipulation to give the ad site a near unique report for a user across many sites. <https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/privacy-preserving-attribution https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/privacy-preserving-attr...> <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-ppm-dap https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-ppm-dap> <https://github.com/mozilla/explainers/tree/main/ppa-experiment https://github.com/mozilla/explainers/tree/main/ppa-experime...>