Android is now warning of Firefox sharing data
Android is now warning of Firefox sharing data
Found this notification this morning on my pixel 6.
Wait a second. You're expecting Google to not FUD? Ha ha ha oh wow. I mean I didn't actually expect them to do so, but yeah.
Expected, no. Surprised, also no.
Google: "Forcing us to divest Chrome could have impacts on our ability to support Mozilla and their high executive salaries as we own the space with Chrome."
Also Google:
Google warning you about Mozilla is just peak fucking irony
Alright gang, what are some good open source Firefox forks available on Android and Linux?
Waterfox
Librewolf for Linux. And ironfox on android
i mean it's just because you can grant websites location data and toggle telemetry.
"Quick! Jump to chrome instead!" - Google spokesperson
Deactivate from settings Have https always on, protection against tracking on strict, data collection and daily ping on off.
And that's it.
Fennec is great on Android
I've been pretty happy with it as my casual web search browser, putting all my social media on a different browser. And it's in F-Droid, so that always feels good.
Firefox engines have telemetry since old ages. Do you know what even crazier ??? even other firefox browser like fennec has Mozilla telemetry.
PSA : disable it with Blocker (ROOT) for more privacySending telemetry like crashes and what features you use/don't use isn't really in the same category as using location data for marketing purposes. It's a very important distinction to draw.
It has a mozilla telemetry component, but that doesn't mean that it's necessarily reporting to mozilla - which wouldn't make much sense anyway - nor that it actually functions at all. Most telemetry components in Firefox can't simply be deleted because it causes stuff to break, so they are replaced with stubs that don't actually do anything.
That's a regular notification, which would happen for any application whose data policy is changed on the Play Store page. These policy are as declared by the app publisher. This would be the same for any application that didn't check that "sharing data with third party" box earlier, then checked it later on.
As of the latest Chrome update on PC, they have dropped support for uBlock. You can still technically enable it, but they disabled it by default once you update.
That got me back to Firefox with breakneck speed.
Hopefully soon Librewolf, Fennec F-droid and other forks will become mainstream.
I haven't switched to Librewolf on pc yet; hoping that turning off the telemetry/etc options in ff is enough, but I'm starting to think it might not be long.
I switched over to LibreWolf recently. I discovered Vivaldi just a few hours before I learned about the Manifest v3 stuff for Chromium (which is a shame because I actually LOVED Vivaldi). I really want to try Zen Browser, but I’m using old, 2011-era Macs (running Ubuntu 24.04 on one) and it won’t install. LibreWolf is great because of its clean, minimal design and absolute privacy-forward thinking. I’ve enjoyed it so far (and I’m only running it on the Ubuntu machine).
I want to switch over further but so far I've had so much else going on that data privacy hasn't taken a priority. Things are getting weird now so it is time for a priority change.
Frankly speaking, calling out Google and Chrome, then moving to Firefox while Mozilla have been doing it's best Google impression for years now is not that great of a plan.
I wonder how long Firefox will be ok with all that, since Mozilla bought that advertisement business a while ago.
The main problem is that building a web browser is extremely difficult and everyone else uses Google's version of WebKit. So there's no alternatives: it's either Google or Mozilla. Forks don't count because if some functionality that end users need is deprecated, nobody will maintain it and it will just disappear once it's removed from the main codebase
So if Mozilla wants to monetize location data, what does this mean for all the custom ROMs that use Mozilla's location provider instead of Google's?
This might mean that we would have no true free location provider left.
Edit: just was thinking, what does this mean for Firefox forks that also use Mozilla's location service?
So if Mozilla wants to monetize location data, what does this mean for all the custom ROMs that use Mozilla's location provider instead of Google's?
Nothing, because they dont sell location data, this just seems like a routine warning that pops up when ToS and Privacy policy changes, and since they have clarified their position on this matter, (not to mention the lack of alternative FOSS web engines). We really shouldn't let this bother us
Of course i might be wrong and it may come out that Mozilla has turned heel(lot of heel turning happening lately)
wait, mozilla has a location provider? maybe there is open street map, idk what's the difference between a map and a location provider
My (probably incomplete) understanding is: phones have a GNSS chip (such as GPS, Galileo, or Glonass), but getting location from that takes a long time and a lot of battery. So they estimate location based on other information such as what cell tower they are connected to and the list of available wi-fi networks. This requires a database with all that info, which Google built through its Street View cars.
So the location provider is a service to which your phone sends all the info it has and which replies with an estimate of your location; which means it handles a lot of sensitive data.
Fork it, split it off, share it.
Even if this isn't entirely true, you know Google wouldn't pass up the opportunity to reduce Firefox market share to scare everyone back to Chrome.
Firefox? You mean the company they give several hundred million dollars/year? Yeah I don't think they're too worried. They need some number of users on Firefox to prevent anti-trust issues. Which they're on the brink of right now.
There's no need to reduce Firefox marketshare. Most people don't even consider using anything else than whatever is default in their device.
Also, it's not a Google scare tactic or a flex. Every application on the Play Store must disclose the general outlines of their data policy, including the sharing of data. Lying with those checkbox is not a good idea but they are completely informative and put there by the publishing party, so the people responsible for publishing Firefox on mobile just updated these, and this is what is shown when an app publisher say their app is sharing data with third parties.
tl;dr: it's very likely that not a single soul at Google even looked at this, as this is just the regular behavior of the Play Store with apps that changes their data policy or indicate sharing user data with third parties.
There isn't to much to reduce. I don't think Google is scared or afraid by Firefox, like at all.
Like chrome does something different?
Yes, chrome is doing something different. It is even worse!
Lol if Google really wanted to kill FF they would just stop paying them half a billion a year.
I wonder if they say people should be careful with Chrome 😂
they don't have to! they microsoft explorered that shit
So you're advocating that Google shouldn't broadcast that firefox is broadcasting your current location? Even though they do this for every other app available on Android, you're saying they shouldn't do this for firefox?
Why?
This notice is effectively added by the Firefox developers when they select the ability to enable location services and also tick a box thay they collect data.
Been using Libre Wolf, no issues so far. Fuck Firefox
Does libre wolf have an android app?
IronFox is the closest alternative. F-Droid repo here:
FWIW I'm not seeing this on the Play Store for Firefox 136.0.1 on my Pixel 8a, and I'm not seeing any warnings on Beta or Nightly either:
I don't see it from installs direct via Obtainium, either.
God damn why's the world so shit
This is the Bad Place
It really is. Literally everything is shit and I'm so fucking over it.
i know, thats some really late stage capitalism bullshit.
God damn why’s the world so shit
Society empowers and encourages shitty people that only care about their own kind/tribe, is why.
Society empowers and encourages shitty people that only care about
their own kind/tribethemselves, is why.
use ironfox or fennec
Pretty easy to disable the location app permission or set it to ask every time. Firefox hasn't asked me to enable it since turning it off.
Yeah I'm pretty sure Firefox won't ask for or use your location, unless a website wants it for some reason (which is almost never a good one).
and even then, for me at least, the dialog that pops up is broken and lot of times the "Allow" button literally does nothing
Didn't they also elude to collecting telemetry recently? I know it's up for some debate but, if true, I'm not sure that's a thing we can turn off.
Do they mean “Firefox can get your location data to pass on to pages you give permission to, who we cannot guarantee won’t share it with advertisers” or “Firefox reserves the right to do a deal to monetise the tantalising firehose of location data coming from your device unless you specifically opt out”?
Who can say
Get ironfox?
fennec vs ironfox opinions?
I like fennec because the name is cute.
I've not heard of ironfox before this thread! Could you possibly link it? Doesn't seem like it's on FDroid or IzzyOnDroid
In addition to what others have said, it can be downloaded from the Accrescent app store:
You have to add IronFox's repo in F-Droid before you can install it from there. This is their Github link.
IronFox is on F-Droid. That where I got it from at least
Well, there seem to be some good safe alternatives. I am currently switching from Firefox to Vivaldi, for example.
Isn't Vivaldi a chromium browser?
Hmm I didn't know that. I was looking for more data privacy. However, there seem to be good alternatives.
Many Linux distributions will need to dig Firefox looks like . I use Fennec btw , and in desktop Libre wolf since a long time.
I had already downloaded and installed Ironfox (FF Android fork) on my phone and have been using it for a week or so. It works identically to FF for android. Ublock Origin is working in Ironfox too.
Fanboys of Firefox: "DUHB DUHB USE FIREFOX CUZ IT NOT CHROME DUHB DUHB!"
Genuine question to see if the downvotes are justified or not : are you implying Chrome is a good browser and if so, why?
Just use chrome man, that will really take the fight to the next level
Do they share location data without asking though? Google has an incentive to exaggerate.
I don't use default firefox for this damn reason.. I hope that Mull Fork gets going soon.. I've been in refuge in IceRaven since that time..
Ironfox?
You know what they say about people who live in glass houses...
Don't advertise others' locations?
Looks like its enshittification continues unabated :/
How is Mullvad Browser? I know it's based on Firefox but wouldn't imagine they would tolerate this.
Mullvad is really for anonymous sessions. It's meant to blend in with every other Mullvad instance on the Net so it helps make users harder to identify. It's not geared towards daily use.
On desktop, I switched to Librewolf and installed the Dark Reader add-on.
I will continue using Firefox on Android because I have absolutely no illusions about my privacy on this fucking thing.
It doesn't exist on Android AFAIK, so it's irrelevant here.
Fine. I preferred Fennec over the two for quality of life and ease of use balanced with privacy.
does anyone actually have a good privacy in mind alternative with sources to back it up?
Iceraven hasn't burned me yet
Does anyone know if Blockada mitigates this problem on Android?
Well, if there was any doubt before, with the weird ToS p.r. dance they were doing last week, now we know, for sure.
I've already switched to LibreWolf on the desktop. Is there a good non-Firefox browser for Android available?
Vivaldi is where it’s at
It's closed source and chrome(ium)(?) based. I'm not entirely convinced by Vivaldi.
No, it's really not. Fuck chromium of all flavors.
Are you aware of Firefox's changes to their privacy policy that has been in the news the past 2 weeks? If not you can easily find articles and youtuve videos on it.
That's why I'm posting this 🤷♂️
I didn't mean it to come across as insulting or anything. I meant it all genuinely to be helpful
