Skip to content
New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

Sign up for GitHub

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

Jump to bottom

Correct a number of factual inaccuracies. #19

Open
wants to merge 1 commit into
base: master
Choose a base branch
from
Open

Correct a number of factual inaccuracies. #19

Changes from all commits
Commits
Show all changes
1 commit
Select commit
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension
Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Diff view
Diff view
22 changes: 12 additions & 10 deletions readme.md
View file
Open in desktop
@@ -1,32 +1,30 @@
This list aims to block core Firefox features which actively leak data to third-party services (as opposed to attempts of sites to track you or otherwise passively collect information). As it isn't always easy to draw a strict line, the most critical passive data faucets like WebRTC are also mentioned.
This list aims to help you disable core Firefox features which actively leak data to third-party services (as opposed to attempts of sites to track you or otherwise passively collect information). As it isn't always easy to draw a strict line, the most critical passive data faucets like WebRTC are also mentioned.

To disable specific functionality open ```about:config``` and change the value to ```false```.

#### [Google Safe Browsing](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-does-phishing-and-malware-protection-work)
#### [Google Safe Browsing Malware Protection](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-does-phishing-and-malware-protection-work)

Leaks the browsing history to Google. Note that disabling Safe Browsing exposes you to a risk of not being stopped from visiting malicious or phishing sites.
Leaks metadata about uncommon downloads to Google. Note that disabling Safe Browsing exposes you to a risk of not being stopped from downloading malicious software. There is a UI pref for this in Security tab.
```
browser.safebrowsing.enabled
browser.safebrowsing.downloads.enabled
browser.safebrowsing.malware.enabled
```

#### Firefox stats collecting

[Stability and performance reports.](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/#health-report)
[Stability and performance reports.](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/#health-report) These are sent only to Mozilla. There are UI prefs for these in the Advanced | Data Choices tab.
```
datareporting.healthreport.service.enabled
datareporting.healthreport.uploadEnabled
```

[Usage statistics.](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/#telemetry)
[Usage statistics.](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/#telemetry) These are sent only to Mozilla. There is a UI pref for this in the Advanced | Data Choices tab. It is disabled by default in release builds.
```
toolkit.telemetry.enabled
```

#### [Encrypted Media Extensions (DRM)](https://wiki.mozilla.org/Media/EME)

A binary plugin (closed-source) is shipped with Firefox since v38. It enables playback of encrypted media and lets you use e.g. Netflix without Microsoft Silverlight. To completely remove the plugin you would have to install an [EME-free](http://download.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/latest/win32-EME-free/) build of Firefox.
On Windows, a closed-source binary plugin is automatically downloaded from Adobe by Firefox since v38. It runs in a sandbox and enables playback of encrypted media, so you can use e.g. Netflix without Microsoft Silverlight. The best way to disable this is to uncheck the checkbox in the DRM pane of the Content preferences - this will remove the plugin from disk. The only difference between a normal build and an [EME-free](http://download.cdn.mozilla.net/pub/firefox/releases/latest/win32-EME-free/) build of Firefox is that this checkbox is unchecked by default.
```
media.eme.enabled
media.gmp-eme-adobe.enabled
Expand All @@ -41,14 +39,14 @@ loop.enabled

#### [Pocket integration](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/save-web-pages-later-pocket-firefox)

A third-party service for managing a reading list of articles.
A third-party service for managing a reading list of articles. No connection is made to this service unless you specifically sign up for it.
```
browser.pocket.enabled
```

#### Search suggestions

Everything you type in the search box is sent to the search engine. Suggestions based on local history will still work.
Everything you type in the search box is sent to the search engine as you are typing (rather than just when you press Enter). If you disable this, suggestions based on local history will still work.
```
browser.search.suggest.enabled
```
Expand All @@ -61,6 +59,8 @@ media.peerconnection.enabled
```

#### Geolocation

Provides your location to websites, but only with your active consent in each case.
```
geo.enabled
```
Expand All @@ -76,6 +76,8 @@ geo.enabled

0.4 - removed mention of ```Tracking Protection```, because while blocking trackers, it ["uses the same API as Google Safe Browsing"](https://github.com/amq/firefox-debloat/pull/2#issuecomment-115728580). I would recommend using [uBlock](https://github.com/chrisaljoudi/uBlock) for this purpose instead.

0.5 - corrected many inaccuracies. Removed reference to standard Safe Browsing because it downloads lists of malware sites and commonly-downloaded files, rather than sending them to Google, and so leaks no history.

\* tested using Fiddler


Expand Down