beware! firefox 42 & betterprivacy incompatibility

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by imdb, Nov 24, 2015.

  1. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

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    if you're using betterprivacy add-on with ff 42 and over, you should either disable the add-on till it gets updated or untick "Prevent the Firefox 'Clear Recent History' functions from handling LSO's as usual cookies" option. otherwise your browsing history will not be cleared.
     
  2. The Red Moon

    The Red Moon Registered Member

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    If you use the custom settings in the privacy section of firefox,it does not even store your browsing history.Also you can set firefox to store no cookies at all and whitelist known and often used sites.Chrome has this functionality too.
    There are other firefox/palemoon add-ons that could be much better in this regard.
     
  3. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

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    @The Red Moon
    in what regard? deleting lso cookies?
    if so, care to name one please?
     
  4. Nanobot

    Nanobot Registered Member

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  5. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

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    @Nanobot
    good to hear that. thanks for the heads-up.
     
  6. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

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    good news everyone.
    betterprivacy is updated and now compatible with the latest ff.
     
  7. Sordid

    Sordid Registered Member

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    Don't flash and Firefox settings do this?
     
  8. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

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    @Sordid
    if they did, there would've been no need for betterprivacy & such.
    so the answer is; no, they don't.
     
  9. harsha_mic

    harsha_mic Registered Member

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    Looks like from Flash v10.1 onwards, if user is browsing in private session, during the end of the session, Flash clears out LSO's too. See here
     
    Last edited: Nov 27, 2015
  10. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

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    @harsha_mic
    thanks for the heads-up.
    i almost never use browsers in private/incognito mode though.
     
  11. harsha_mic

    harsha_mic Registered Member

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    @imdb
    Luckily, that is how i use my browser, or anywhere i open a browser, except on a mobile device though.
    Whenever, i want the url to be saved in the browsing history, i open it in normal window and then close it immediately.

    I guess users browsing in PB mode, does not need to have betterPrivacy addon :)
     
  12. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

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    @harsha_mic
    you may be right but that's way too inconvenient & cumbersome for me.
    i can always clear browsing history with one click on my own computers. so i don't bother with that.
     
  13. Sordid

    Sordid Registered Member

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    I must be missing something. You say "thanks for the heads-up. i almost never use browsers in private/incognito mode though" as if that would have been the solution yet seem to understand LSOs get dumped by Firefox in effectively the same way...what gives eg what does BP offer that the native cookie handling does not provide? Not saying you're wrong, just curious.
     
  14. marzametal

    marzametal Registered Member

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    Locate every directory on your C drive that is called "Flash Player". Delete the folder and it's contents. Right click in the same place and create a text file called "Flash Player", make sure to remove the .txt so no extension is applied. With an empty file called "Flash Player" in every place the directory exists, it'll prevent Flash-generated super-cookies.

    example.jpg

    Updating browser does not negate these changes, nor does updating Flash.
     
  15. Brummelchen

    Brummelchen Registered Member

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  16. quietman

    quietman Registered Member

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    Excellent idea !

    Many thanks for posting.
     
  17. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

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    @Sordid
    did i get it wrong? thought you said browsers needed to be run in private/incognito mode for lso's to be cleared upon session ending. i didn't know that until you mentioned it, so i thanked you but said i hardly ever use browsers in private/incognito mode.

    @marzametal
    is there any downside to that?
     
  18. Sordid

    Sordid Registered Member

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    No worries.

    Harsha_mic suggested private mode. I only mentioned it because your remarks were not congruent ie my solution appears IMO to be more robust and flexible yet serves similar purpose as private mode and BetterPrivacy.

    To clarify, I was suggesting other native solutions. So, I hope you try these and report back.

    Block/control LSO via Flash controls:

    http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/7302/delete-flash-cookies-to-improve-your-privacy-online/

    Delete/control cookies/LSO in Firefox:

    There was a wiki with config pics and info demonstrating that FFox has a Flash cookie control API since v4.0, but can't find it, so....

    Navigate to about:preferences#privacy

    Choose--
    Fox will: Use custom settings
    Keep cookies until: I close Firefox

    Remark: If you use "clear history when fox closes", UNCLICK cookies and site prefs if you would like to KEEP select LSOs (this setting otherwise overrides post-session cookie exceptions). Set desired delete exclusions in "Accept cookies from sites > Exceptions > Allow".


    Now, you can configure outright denial of LSOs or accept some but not others directly in Flash. You can also session control with the option to delete all or keep some cookies/LSOs in Firefox.

    I don't use BetterPrivacy workflow, but I am wondering if this is a suitable replacement? Let us know!
     
  19. marzametal

    marzametal Registered Member

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    I haven't noticed any issues arising from replacing the directory with a no-extension empty file. I watch videos on YouTube without problem, and have also played various flash-based games provided by iWin or BigFish. I am not on social media, so cannot comment on the games that are on there and if the approach I used would cause dramas.

    Simply deleting the empty file and creating an empty folder called "Flash Player" is all you would need to do to reverse the change.
     
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