Switching from Chrome to Firefox can supercharge your privacy in minutes

ANNOx

Level 2
Sep 26, 2020
43
The first statement is very likely true, even though FF has moved a very few of these to its Options page.

The second may be true because of increased entropy, especially if you do the full gHacks mods. Even The Hated One admits FF default settings aren't good (his changes are only to built-in setting on Options page), but how many people even see his tweaking vids?

Chromium alternatives all demand at least some changes to default settings, even if they aren't hidden in chrome://flags, as in point #1 above. How many people even bother to look, let alone change settings like search engine, 3rd party cookie blocking, etc.?

This is likely the bottom line, because some degree of "privacy" at the browser level (limited at best to reducing the most basic, ordinary tracking methods) doesn't prevent the many other ways we're all tracked.

I'm sticking with Brave, which I find to have hit the sweet spot for built-in features amongst Chromium browsers. (y) :D
My exact point . Not many people are going to watch The Hated One . If Mozilla is going to preach about "privacy" why not for the average people who are venerable ..why only for the techies like The Hated One . Why create a hype if you cant deliver for us all . Why "about:config" . Why ?
 
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oldschool

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I like this guy's sensible arguments about Mozilla. Unfortunately, he appears to agree that the solution is we should pay for everything, including his new partnership. :LOL:I thought the idea behind the internet was that it was supposed to open and free? How can it be open if it's not free? $$$ = barriers.
 
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shmu26

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Jul 3, 2015
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Firefox actually works better with my password manager (LastPass) and banking sites. Google Chrome seems to block the password manager from working properly with my bank. I assume this is for security reasons. But since I use unique passwords for all sensitive sites, I appreciate Firefox letting me do what I want to do, the way I want to do it.
 

bayasdev

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Sep 10, 2015
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I like Firefox but their JS engine feels slower than Chromium, using Brave I don't have slowdowns on Reddit or FB. Among the other Chromium browsers out there Brave cares more about Linux users by adding the video acceleration patches to their official builds.
 

shmu26

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I like Firefox but their JS engine feels slower than Chromium, using Brave I don't have slowdowns on Reddit or FB. Among the other Chromium browsers out there Brave cares more about Linux users by adding the video acceleration patches to their official builds.
Brave has a very good update schedule, also on Linux. They push out the new builds fast.
 

Arequire

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Feb 10, 2017
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Why doesn't Mozilla provide us with privacy settings out of the box for average people . Why hide behind "about:config" settings... if it's about privacy of the average Joe .
I'd argue they do provide privacy settings for average people out of the box. Third-party cookies, social media trackers and fingerprinters are blocked by default, and all tracking content is blocked in private windows.
You can argue Mozilla should be blocking tracking content in all windows and activating various about:config settings to further boost Firefox's privacy chops, but enabling these settings is guaranteed to result in functionality breakage and would ultimately undermine the ability of the average person to use the browser.

The web simply wasn't built to be private, and the more you attempt to reclaim your privacy from it the more unstable it becomes in the process.
That's fine for us techies who are knowledgeable enough to deal with it, but for the majority of the population who don't know that Firefox's Tracking Protection even exists, or what it does, or that it's the cause of the site breakage they're currently experiencing, or that an exclusion list exists for it and they have the ability to add said broken site to it, or that by adding the broken site to it it'd negate the breakage, that instability isn't acceptable
 
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SeriousHoax

Level 47
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Mar 16, 2019
3,630
Just want to add one thing here that many may have missed, looks like Google Chrome now blocks all third third party cookies by default. At least on android, can't tell about PC. I was testing Edge's speed on Android vs Chrome and Firefox and that's when I noticed this. This was tested in a newly flashed rom. This is great from Chrome and Chrome adapting this means everyone else will follow soon. Btw, Safari has been doing this for few years I think and Firefox should've done this already.
Google is completely ending support for third party cookies before 2022.
 

Moonhorse

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I'd argue they do provide privacy settings for average people out of the box. Third-party cookies, social media trackers and fingerprinters are blocked by default, and all tracking content is blocked in private windows.
You can argue Mozilla should be blocking tracking content in all windows and activating various about:config settings to further boost Firefox's privacy chops, but enabling these settings is guaranteed to result in functionality breakage and would ultimately undermine the ability of the average person to use the browser.
Maybe firefox should have 1-3 modes like tor browser has safe, safer, safest
Firefox could have , basic, moderate, strict modes that are privacy/ security balanced modes
 

Arequire

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Maybe firefox should have 1-3 modes like tor browser has safe, safer, safest
Firefox could have , basic, moderate, strict modes that are privacy/ security balanced modes
They could but they'd still have to default to a mode the eliminates/minimises breakage, less they exclude the majority of people from using their browser. See the second paragraph I added to to my post above for explanation as to why (focuses on Tracking Protection but applies to other functionality breaking features too).
 

show-Zi

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Jan 28, 2018
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The general user is not interested in the various information posted here. I think that's the advantage and the disadvantage of Firefox. In other words, it is suitable for discussion by enthusiasts, but lacks the friendliness that appeals to general users.
Personally, I feel that the change in the handling of add-ons has had a large impact on the stagnation of the number of users.
 

SearchLight

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Jul 3, 2017
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Despite the ongoing debate concerning the privacy of Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and Ungoogled Chromium running concurrently is the debate of using Secure DNS over HTTPS. So far, Firefox passes all categories of Cloudfare's Browser Test. Moreover, Chrome, Firefox, and now Edge allow custom settings of your preferred DNS vendor.

Some of the latest Ungoogled Chromium builds do not have custom settings built-in for Secure DNS over HTTPS like the others. So if this feature indicates the latest trend to where browsers should be or are moving, which browser represents the best of breed? This just makes things more confusing.

Another factor which needs to be considered is extension compatibility. Not all secure and privacy focused browsers at this time allow the use of common extensions.

It would be nice if there was one browser that finally "had it all" in terms of security, privacy, compatibility, and useability. Anyone found it?
 

SearchLight

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I gave Firefox another try last week, I still dislike it, it's the last time I bother with it - I feel I am an enthusiast that really can't stand Firefox or its derivatives - Prefer Brave at this time to the rest :):)
I downloaded Brave to try. I wish its devs offered the ability to customize Secure DNS over HTTPS like Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera offer. If they do this perhaps this will be the one that has it all?:).
 

oldschool

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I gave Firefox another try last week, I still dislike it,
I'm giving it yet another try mostly due to the pandemic, but try as I might, it still just bugs me mostly due to its GUI and page loading. It does have some nice features, many of which are hidden. I'm still Brave though. (And don't any of you wise guys say any different! You know who you are!;):LOL:)
Some of the latest Ungoogled Chromium builds do not have custom settings built-in for Secure DNS over HTTPS like the others. So if this feature indicates the latest trend to where browsers should be or are moving, which browser represents the best of breed?
I downloaded Brave to try. I wish its devs offered the ability to customize Secure DNS over HTTPS
Brave and ungoogled Chromium have the "Secure DNS lookups" flag. The UI switch in Edge, etc. is for convenience and is limited to the browser itself. There is no other difference in terms of DNS.

Browser choice is very personal but one available feature like DNS shouldn't be a deal-breaker.
 

SearchLight

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I'm giving it yet another try mostly due to the pandemic, but try as I might, it still just bugs me mostly due to its GUI and page loading. It does have some nice features, many of which are hidden. I'm still Brave though. (And don't any of you wise guys say any different! You know who you are!;):LOL:)


Brave and ungoogled Chromium have the "Secure DNS lookups" flag. The UI switch in Edge, etc. is for convenience and is limited to the browser itself. There is no other difference in terms of DNS.

Browser choice is very personal but one available feature like DNS shouldn't be a deal-breaker.
Came across this by Avast: The Private Browser That Stops Tracking | Avast Secure Browser.

I wonder if it is just bells and whistles and not privacy or security conscious like Brave or the others?
 
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