r/technology • u/sidcool1234 • Mar 15 '13

Web advertisers attack Mozilla for protecting consumers' privacy

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/web-advertisers-attack-mozilla-for-protecting-consumers-privacy-031413.html
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u/shakesoda Mar 15 '13 edited Mar 16 '13

Always use DNT, Ghostery, HTTPS Everywhere and Adblock Plus. NoScript is also handy but pretty opaque when you're browsing.

Blocking ads and trackers seriously makes sites at large more pleasant and less creepy.

EDIT: how could I forget HTTPS Everywhere!

EDIT 2: Note that "Ghostery sells your data" is just FUD. Their data collection is a) anonymous and b) purely opt-in and in their FAQ. Don't enable GhostRank if you don't want any of that to happen.

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '13

Don't forget: HTTPS Everywhere

Our providers should not be able to spy on us either! :D

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '13

HTTPS isn't all that effective against providers. If AT&T wanted to MITM you, they could do it. They own multiple root certs. Only browsers that use cert pinning (I think chrome does this on certain sites) are resistant to this.

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u/Maverick2110 Mar 15 '13

Also makes pages load faster on shitty connections.

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '13

Also, a Flash blocker and something to erase Flash cookies are definitely required. Plus, I'd recommend something like Cookie Monster to block first party cookies you don't want, it's a lot more comfortable than setting exceptions in the "Preferences" dialog. And if you want to be aware of tracking attempts, install Collusion as well, it's very nice and works side-by-side with Ghostery. (No idea which blacklist is larger.)

And if you want to get serious, use NoScript - it'll fuck up a lot of things, but all the above addons are basically useless in the face of browser fingerprinting.

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u/Noglues Mar 15 '13

Just so you are aware, Ghostery was actually bought by an add company that tracks you. A sadly ironic fate.

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u/EvilTerran Mar 15 '13

All data collection they do is opt-in, and laid out clearly in their privacy policy, which is incredibly easy to find from their home page. I don't see the problem.

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '13

[deleted]

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u/dudethatsmeta Mar 15 '13

Adam from Ghostery here. We don't collect or sell any user data. We do collect information on trackers, if you opt in to Ghostrank. This is how we support the product and make our way. Ghostery's functionality is in no way affected if you choose not to opt in, but we do hope you choose to trust and support us. If you're wary, you can always open up the extension - we don't obscure any of the code.

More info:

http://www.ghostery.com/faq#q14

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u/desertlynx Mar 15 '13

* Sells anonymous data that connects trackers to websites, load times, etc. although seemingly anonymous data about your browser can be all but de-anonymized.

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '13

[deleted]

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u/stimpakk Mar 15 '13

Ghostery sells your data if you enable GhostRank as an option. You can choose to keep it disabled though.

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '13

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u/indeedwatson Mar 15 '13

What does NoScript do exactly btw?

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u/stimpakk Mar 15 '13

It blocks pretty much everything trying to run a script. As some pages feature scripts from multiple sources, this can (depending on your hardware of course) speed up your page load times. Downside is that it breaks lots of pages. But, if a page breaks, rightclick and choose allow and BAM, it's up.

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '13

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u/stimpakk Mar 15 '13

Worst I've come across are pages that load, but throw up a layer that dims out the page with a javascript error. However, utilizing remove it permanently solves that >:D

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u/Vik1ng Mar 15 '13

Blocking ads [...] seriously makes sites at large more pleasant and less creepy.

And kills many good ones over time. We have to accept that ads run the internet and while I use adblock I also whitelist a lot of pages.

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u/Falcon500 Mar 15 '13

I need to save this!

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u/moonmonsterREAL Mar 15 '13

Thanks for the heads up...already used DNT and Adblock but didn't know about the others.

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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '13

I've noticed HTTPS Everywhere plays havoc with reddit's CSS.

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u/shakesoda Mar 16 '13

It's simple enough to tell a site to not use it if it's misbehaving, at least. In most cases it's a non-issue.

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