Firefox for Android adding Google Integrity checks
(www.omgubuntu.co.uk)
PrivacyBeen using duckduckgo for 2 years maybe. Great for mobile
I've been using Librewolf since the new CEO came in and the "we never sell your data" bit was removed from the user agreement. Then shortly after then shipped Firefox with AI enabled by default. I don't trust them.
Shit like this is exactly why an open source browser shouldnt have a CEO.
Bug report asking them to undo it: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=2046154
Takes 45 seconds, even in mobile.
One screen to enter email, one quick confirmation, one screen to establish password.
No clue gore much data the correct from browser, but at least the registration is swift and seems private.
Thanks! Time to brigade.
"It does not mean Firefox can no longer be installed or run on non-certified or rooted Android devices, but it might mean that users on non-certified or rooted devices can’t access all AI features in Firefox for Android."
🤣 nobody wants those features anyway. Good thing I use Vanadium and Ironfox though.
Well, sure. But think more ahead.
The same mechanic is already proposed by Google to lock things you DO care about. They are talking QR code walls presented to desktop browsers. Where you have to scan a QR code on a "trusted" device to pass the wall. Trusted by google of course, not by you. They want it anywhere teh web requires "trust". Shopping, banking, access to gov services. Google has the muscle to drive it anywhere they want.
Ultimately that can put big parts of the web out of reach to your fav desktop browser. Ironfox? Waterfox? Boom, QR wall! Scan it on your google approved mobile device to proceeed! There would be fuck all your browser can do about it. Chain of trust required from a Google or Apple approved device. No chain of trust, no looky.
Would Goog/Appl ever go that far? IDK. I'm sure there would be anger. Maybe lawsuits. But think how tech illiterate ppl are now! Most ppl would not even realize anything was different! Their mass consumer devices still work. "Why are you using that weird browser on your nerd OS? It doesn't even let you shop or bank lololol!"
That ignorance is what are are up against.
I guess I will be forced into being a hermit as I get older. What a bunch of horseshit.
We'll be hermits together. All of us. And the hismits and the theymits too.
The QR code capchas are just stupid. Like the first rule of cybersecurity is to not click on random links or scan random QR codes. It would be way to easy for a malicious actor to make you scan a bad QR code.
For sure. It teaches bad habits.
Even aside from sec risks, I guess the extra friction of having to do it at all, would be part of driving ppl toward Google's ecosystem. That's the road that needs the least effort. Any other road is more dangerous and takes more effort.
Nah, I get it and I get this whole thing is getting worse by the day with everything. The age and identity verification crap, this crap with Firefox, the tracking and data collecting getting pushed more and more. Its all a bunch of bullshit, I get it. I was just making a joke that nobody wants the AI features anyway so not being able to use them on something like GrapheneOS wasn't a loss or matter to me in that specific area. But I get what you're saying. I like anyone paying attention to this stuff, just wish it would go the fuck away.
Gotcha!
Anyway I gotta work on shrinking my spiel. I have friends who don't get this stuff at all. And I think what I wrote would make their eyes glaze over. I need a good, but brief and catchy way to put it.
When you figure it out, send me a copy so I can use it as a copypasta too.
grue@lemmy.world -> When you figure it out, send me a copy
Ok... but I'm only sending it to YOU in the daylight. :P
(Never played it, before my time, but I get the ref)
Lol thats hard to do for the people who don't know or care. Good luck, I gave up explaining to people.
That's all kinds of fucked. Anybody who saw Microsoft Palladium and thought it was a good idea shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a computer.
Indeed. These trusted computing measures would be ok IF and ONLY IF I get to control the trust root.
If Google controls it, Microsoft controls it, Apple controls it... Do. Not. Want.
It is scary b/c the forces trying to defend personal computing have to succeed every time. The forces trying to subjugate it only have to succeed once. Big segments already are lost. I'm afraid. In the end, it could all be lost. The very notion of computers controlled by us instead of by BigTechCo will have been a historical flash in the pan.
If computing was invented today, we would never have ANY open platforms. We only have it b/c they squeeked in before the door slammed shut.
What is/was microsoft Palladium?
A combination of secure boot, DRM, and remote attestation Microsoft proposed adding to Windows in the early 2000s. It was such an obvious corporate power grab that it got critical coverage from the New York Times.
Things like Google SafetyNet have been equally obvious corporate power grabs, but barely got negative coverage from the tech press, much less the mainstream media.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next-Generation_Secure_Computing_Base
Things like Google SafetyNet have been equally obvious corporate power grabs, but barely got negative coverage from the tech press,
IMO, this might be b/c as tech spread into normal society, to everyday ppl, tech literacy has declined. On avg I mean, ofc there are still lots of smart, aware ppl. More than ever in raw numbers. But as a percentage, it's less. Without a critical mass of people who understand the issues and care enough about them, big tech co abuses fly under the radar.
I kinda think that if MS tried Palladium today, they could succeed. Their power grab just came too early.
MS also tried to replace the open web with a MS proprietary technology. That also died b/c ppl pushed back. Today? They'd prob succeed if they said it was for everybody's safety. "Oh... it's for my safety. I guess that's ok then."
I kinda think that if MS tried Palladium today, they could succeed.
Windows does have most of the features of Palladium today, but it's impact is modest because native desktop applications for consumers don't have the importance they once did. The main place people encounter it is game anticheat.
Mozilla Firefox has gone downhill...
Not sure if they're the best options nowadays (balancing privacy and usability), but I've been enjoying Waterfox and Zen for a while and don't see any reason to go back to Firefox.
Is there a reason you use both waterfox and zen? I've been liking waterfox.
Not much, really. I've heard Zen had memory leak issues on Windows, but I was using it on CachyOS and didn't bother to swap. But I use Waterfox on Android and on Windows, and I like it very much.
If I had to choose just one nowadays though, I would probably stick with Waterfox. I like Zen, but sometimes it feels more experimental.
Brave and Vanadium are better.
Nah Brave is terrible.
Firefox doesn't have tab groups on mobile
Why would I want that on mobile? Not enough screen real estate to matter.
That said, there is a team working on it: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/help-shape-tab-groups-on-firefox-mobile-for-android/m-p/124902
