Mozilla recently bought the ad tech company Anonym, and starting with Firefox ESR 128 Anonym will be given access to browser measurement. This is opt-out, and enabled by default.
As I understand it, the user data is anonymized using differential privacy, and combined with advertiser data it is processed by an ML algorithm developed Anonym, and the end product is ad suggestions.
Is the default installation of Firefox still reasonably safe to use?
I know Qubes OS doesn’t modify the default installation, and not having Firefox installed also isn’t an option.
The fact that this feature is enabled by default, and has the potential to be spyware, seems like an issue to me, but I could be wrong.
I think it is “safe” as in secure. But not “safe” as in private. QubesOS is mostly a “security” oriented OS. It CAN BE A PRETTY GOOD privacy oriented OS, as well, if you use Qubes-Whonix inside, in which case, you will be using Tor Browser, anyways.
All in all, the thing mozilla is doing is a shameful display, but shouldn’t be a problem for qubesOS users. We have our compartmentalization, we have our disposables. We have our Qubes-Whonix. We can install Mullvad Browser. We should be OK.
Not in most cases. For my casual browsing I have already switched to using Mullvad Browser. I only use vanilla firefox for some mis-behaving captive portals on public wifis nowadays.
We should not be worried in short-term. Debian will resurrect Iceweasel if the necessity arises. And other Distro would follow (except Ubuntu who is happy with snap packaging of FF by Mozilla). Debian has a good reputation to disable FF user tracking features in their packages. The CloudFlare DoH issue comes to mind.
Overall we should be worried in long term. Firefox is the last considerable non-Blink based web browser. Everyone else use Blink rather than Gecko. And Torbrowser and its forks are actually Firefox ESR with some tweaks.
Just search for statistical information of Web browsers market share. The figures are horrifying. With so many little FF users, Web developers will be less and less interested to test their designs with FF and would only focus on Blink based web browser market. Even Opera might surpass FF soon.
Without Servo, Mozilla has nothing to say in security orientated market. And they ditched Servo.
It is my opinion. Historically they have done that many times. When Mozilla announced their partnership with CloudFlare and suggested the possibility of enabling CloudFlare DoH by default,
Ondřej Surý and other Debian maintainers expressed their opposition and their intention to remove it in their packaging.
To me, this does sound like something you should worry about.
If Anonym fills the role of the “aggregation service”, you have to fully trust that they can’t deanonymize the data in any way. If they are able to track the data back to you, they can pretty much real time monitor your browser.
The final outcome was to disable it. And it was less of a privacy issue than the case we are discussing at the moment. In fact, the 2019 case had some privacy benefit for many people in US who usually have more aggressive and invasive internet provider.
Parrot already has Firefox 128 but manages to stop tracking with anonsurf. You can do your own tests… I rarely use Firefox. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and than you become desperate and anything goes. What makes you think that Qubes is not there yet? I do my own tests too.