Feature request: addons for anonymity

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Hmm222
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Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by Hmm222 » 2022-08-31, 07:58

When we visit any website, certain information is known such as browser details,OS and version, RAM, etc. You can see a lot of info about your browser and system via deviceinfodotme.

Pale Moon browsers stick out like a sore thumb. Even with built-in counter fingerprinting measures in place, any website admin can see you're visiting their website, much like they can by doing a simple IP address check.

So why not allow some additional add-ons (extensions) to work with Pale Moon? Right now, I have uBlock Origin installed. But no other extension such as User-Agent switcher can be installed with Pool Moon which is unreasonable, imo.

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moonbat
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Re: Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by moonbat » 2022-08-31, 08:31

Hmm222 wrote:
2022-08-31, 07:58
So why not allow some additional add-ons (extensions) to work with Pale Moon?
Did you even look at the Pale Moon addons site, or did you come here expecting to install Firefox extensions? Those are incompatible with Pale Moon, given that it is a hard fork of Firefox from roughly 5 years ago and not a simple rebuild like Waterfox and others.
Hmm222 wrote:
2022-08-31, 07:58
any website admin can see you're visiting their website, much like they can by doing a simple IP address check.
And do what with that information? That's the way the internet works, if you're over paranoid then you can be 100% safe by not connecting to any server. Your IP address is but one data point among several that can be combined for tracking.
If tracking is the concern, the best thing to do is block trackers and advertising scripts given that the entire purpose of website tracking is to shovel crappy ads in your direction.
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Moonchild
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Re: Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by Moonchild » 2022-08-31, 10:44

Hmm222 wrote:
2022-08-31, 07:58
Even with built-in counter fingerprinting measures in place, any website admin can see you're visiting their website, much like they can by doing a simple IP address check.
Just like any store owner can see your face (and have it on CCTV) when you go shopping. That is the nature of moving in public spaces. No matter how much you try to mask yourself, they will still be able to get some details from your very presence.
maybe this post by me from 2014 is a good read for a primer on it. I know it's old but the basic premises and analogies still apply.
https://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4099
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andyprough
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Re: Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by andyprough » 2022-08-31, 13:21

Hmm222 wrote:
2022-08-31, 07:58
You can see a lot of info about your browser and system via deviceinfodotme.
You can easily spoof every important check on deviceinfo.me with the Canvas Blocker Legacy add-on, a vpn, and by setting a site-specific user agent with the Sasuga add-on. I've done it many times just for fun. As Moonchild points out though, the best investment of your time is to learn to use the ad/tracker blockers. Pale Moon has some excellent ad/tracker blocker add-ons with very advanced features that can help you with privacy concerns, especially ηMatrix.

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Re: Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by fatboy » 2022-08-31, 14:17

Off-topic:
moonbat, relax with the assumptions :P
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Re: Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by moonbat » 2022-08-31, 23:55

Off-topic:
fatboy wrote:
2022-08-31, 14:17
Off-topic:
moonbat, relax with the assumptions :P
Fair assumption, given how often this happens. Nobody bothers to read the project description on the main website, let alone search the forums before diving in to make genius suggestions that we should support web extensions or complain that they can't install Firefox extensions. Seen it happen several times. :roll:
"One hosts to look them up, one DNS to find them and in the darkness BIND them."

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Hmm222
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Re: Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by Hmm222 » 2022-09-01, 04:49

Thanks everyone for the gaslighting! :clap: :wtf: :!:

The only add-on that works (partly) from Pale Moon's add-on site is User Agent Status. Unlike other user agent switchers, you can't change the user agent for ALL sites. It's on a site basis.

There are no free VPNS that I'm aware of that will change your user agent. Moreover, installing a VPN client can mess up your Windows. Besides, this can be avoided by having a trusted extension like User Agent Switcher.

It's unfortunate that most of you (from the responses) all feel privacy isn't a big deal until they're a victim and suffer consequences. It's like with most covidiots who behave in a reactive instead of a proactive manner.

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Re: Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by vannilla » 2022-09-01, 07:14

Changing the user agent does nothing for privacy, which is why everybody is telling you that you should not care about it but rather install a content blocker like uBlock or eMatrix and use that instead.
Changing the user agent will, if anything, break sites more than it happens with a new profile, so there's that too.

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Re: Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by Moonchild » 2022-09-01, 07:17

I don't see how any of what was said is gaslighting.

I do suggest you search the forum, as user agent overrides have been discussed plenty, including the (ill-advised) global overriding of it.
What VPNs have to do with anything, I don't know either. If you want to avoid privacy/tracking issues then using free VPN services should also be avoided though; you'll be tracked by the VPN, in fact, presenting all your traffic to them on a silver platter... VPN servers aren't free so the simple fact will be you are the product in that case if you get to use it for free.
Off-topic:
P.S.: People's approaches to COVID are completely irrelevant to this discussion; who's gaslighting here? :wtf: ;-)
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Re: Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by jobbautista9 » 2022-09-01, 08:43

Hmm222 wrote:
2022-09-01, 04:49
The only add-on that works (partly) from Pale Moon's add-on site is User Agent Status. Unlike other user agent switchers, you can't change the user agent for ALL sites. It's on a site basis.
Hi, I'm the developer of that add-on you mentioned. The fact that it doesn't change the user agent for all sites is by design, and the same can be said for other user agent switchers listed on the Pale Moon add-ons site. A blanket override often will be counterproductive, as it can break many sites. And the privacy benefit, if there's even any, isn't worth it as websites usually don't bother tracking their users using UA alone.
Hmm222 wrote:
2022-09-01, 04:49
There are no free VPNS that I'm aware of that will change your user agent. Moreover, installing a VPN client can mess up your Windows. Besides, this can be avoided by having a trusted extension like User Agent Switcher.
I don't see how a VPN will help in this case. In fact they're more likely to harm your privacy (especially the "free" VPN ones) than help you, imo. I have not heard of any good VPN service which accepts anonymous payments; they most likely use either credit card or PayPal, which can reveal your personal information. Essentially you're just shifting the trust from your ISP to your VPN. Whether that's a good idea or not really depends on your threat model.

There have been cases of VPNs disclosing their logs to a third-party like law enforcement. And even if there are no reports of a particular VPN doing that, can you be 100% sure that they won't ever release logs? Have you visited their data centers to see if their claims are true?
Hmm222 wrote:
2022-09-01, 04:49
It's unfortunate that most of you (from the responses) all feel privacy isn't a big deal until they're a victim and suffer consequences. It's like with most covidiots who behave in a reactive instead of a proactive manner.
I'm sorry if it seems like we don't value the user's privacy, but this couldn't be further from the truth. While Pale Moon doesn't brand itself as a "privacy browser" like LibreWolf and Tor Browser, it does provide more privacy protections to the user than many other mainstream browsers out there (even Firefox!). For one, we don't and will never use telemetry on the user, and this is proven by the fact that we've disabled every telemetry code in the platform and are constantly removing every bits of it from our repository (while making sure it won't break the browser). We also provide out-of-the-box canvas poisoning, which is available via about:config. The browser also doesn't include WebRTC, which is known to leak your IP address even when you're behind a proxy.

In terms of security (which is closely related to privacy), Pale Moon also does great there as well. We intentionally don't provide an integrated PDF reader for one, which reduces the browser's attack surface (PDF is notorious when it comes to security issues). Users can still view PDF files within the browser if they wish, either via extensions or NPAPI plugins, or they can have Pale Moon automatically open an external helper application for that (yay for user choice!). Pale Moon is also obviously up-to-date when it comes to security vulnerabilities; Moonchild has contacts within Mozilla's security team, which means he can get security fixes from Firefox faster than other forks or rebuilds of Firefox.

Did you know that Pale Moon addressed Spectre and Meltdown before any other mainstream browser did? viewtopic.php?t=17928 Another proof of Pale Moon being more proactive than you think.
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Re: Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by andyprough » 2022-09-01, 16:24

Hmm222 wrote:
2022-09-01, 04:49
Thanks everyone for the gaslighting!
I'm a proud gaslighter.

As I said above, I've successfully and easily spoofed every important fingerprinting check with Pale Moon on deviceinfo.me which was causing you so much consternation. If you aren't using a vpn, then how are you spoofing your IP address? Switching your user agent does nothing to stop sites from tracking you if the sites already have your IP address. Your post doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Have you tried the Tor browser? If you are super paranoid about being fingerprinted, then that's probably the direction you need to go.

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Re: Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by Pelican » 2022-09-02, 03:04

What a waste of time trying to be anonymous. As it has already been said, spoof the user-agent and web pages may not load properly, if at all.

IP address? VPNs are a waste of time and some services can block them. In any case, every time you connect, your ISP may be giving you a different IP address each time anyway, sometimes on a totally different network block.

Blocking cookies does nothing because all they do is store login details and preferences for your convenience.

If you want to remain anonymous because you don't want your preferences shown, ie: which pages you visited, you are wasting your time there also because every user accessing a web page gets a session ID assigned and that has nothing to do with cookies or what an "add-on" can do.

Best thing to do is grow up and appreciate the fact that your access to a web site is a privilege. If you don't deserve that privilege, don't go there!

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Re: Feature request: addons for anonymity

Unread post by moonbat » 2022-09-03, 00:48

Pelican wrote:
2022-09-02, 03:04
Blocking cookies does nothing because all they do is store login details and preferences for your convenience.
You block third party and all cookies by default except for sites that require you to login, or that break without letting cookies be set :roll:
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