I found your site on faves.com, I like it…I\’ll give a faves review…I\’ll be checking back….

I’ve long been a supporter of privacy, and for that reason have stayed away from Gmail et al. I’ve nothing to hide, but it’s the principle that counts. The recent advent of Phorm and others give concern for the future and I never thought that I would be reading about Firefox in a similar vein. Different, but similar. (And yes I do realise that there is actually no privacy on the web, and that at any point in time data can be read.) But the recent trends are different. They are wholesale scanning of data (MY data) to gain commercial advantage or income. When I put a letter in the snail mail, it is not read (actually illegal apart from pretty boring anyway), so why when I use electronic mail or use the web, does every man and his dog seem to think my data is suddenly become theirs to abuse?

I do not browse the web to be targeted with ads or have my profile collected, no more than when I drive my car does Toyota find out where I have driven.

The purpose of the browser is to facilitate MY quest for information (both work and home related) and to deliver that information to my screen. In the days gone past. I would have used the printed version of yellow pages or gone to the local library, or stuck to a very limited source of known data (yep, I’m well past 50!). Fortunately those days have long gone and the internet is now a valuable tool. Please don’t abuse it!

I’ve long been a supporter of privacy, and for that reason have stayed away from Gmail et al. I’ve nothing to hide, but it’s the principle that counts. The recent advent of Phorm and others give concern for the future and I never thought that I would be reading about Firefox in a similar vein. Different, but similar. (And yes I do realise that there is actually no privacy on the web, and that at any point in time data can be read.) But the recent trends are different. They are wholesale scanning of data (MY data) to gain commercial advantage or income. When I put a letter in the snail mail, it is not read (actually illegal apart from pretty boring anyway), so why when I use electronic mail or use the web, does every man and his dog seem to think my data is suddenly become theirs to abuse?

I do not browse the web to be targeted with ads or have my profile collected, no more than when I drive my car does Toyota find out where I have driven.

The purpose of the browser is to facilitate MY quest for information (both work and home related) and to deliver that information to my screen. In the days gone past. I would have used the printed version of yellow pages or gone to the local library, or stuck to a very limited source of known data (yep, I’m well past 50!). Fortunately those days have long gone and the internet is now a valuable tool. Please don’t abuse it!

1. There is no secret data project.
-you say thats the data project is official know and it is running!

2. There is no secret plan to collect user data.
-you allready collect user data, the plan isn’t secret anymore!

3. We are not already secretly collecting data.
-not you John, we understand that, google do this! we understand! … not anymore secretly!
-also you like to do this not secretly anymore at person, we understand the pressure is hard to carry!

4. Yes, we are trying to figure out how to accumulate and open better data about how people use the
web and their browsers; like everything Mozilla does, that starts with discussion like this, and we expect people to have many, many opinions.

-John, it’s not a question anymore of discussion or if you expect people to have many opinions! You know and you try to hurt peoples privacy. John, you and Google will be successfull with this, only by users who did not read this consciously, because you did not making it public on the mozilla-pages. You are not interested in a real discussion. You are only figure out, how strong the resisted part of conscious users is! By the way, to realise these functions with the title “anti-pishing” and “anti-malware” is inexcusable and also undiscussable!

John, you are getting better in this, then microsoft, did you know that? But you also know, your firm is only a dummy and your commercial interests are secure behind the foundation. Taxfree!

But maybe in future more people understand the title of your blog: “…stream of consciousness” !!!

1. There is no secret data project.
-you say thats the data project is official know and it is running!

2. There is no secret plan to collect user data.
-you allready collect user data, the plan isn’t secret anymore!

3. We are not already secretly collecting data.
-not you John, we understand that, google do this! we understand! … not anymore secretly!
-also you like to do this not secretly anymore at person, we understand the pressure is hard to carry!

4. Yes, we are trying to figure out how to accumulate and open better data about how people use the
web and their browsers; like everything Mozilla does, that starts with discussion like this, and we expect people to have many, many opinions.

-John, it’s not a question anymore of discussion or if you expect people to have many opinions! You know and you try to hurt peoples privacy. John, you and Google will be successfull with this, only by users who did not read this consciously, because you did not making it public on the mozilla-pages. You are not interested in a real discussion. You are only figure out, how strong the resisted part of conscious users is! By the way, to realise these functions with the title “anti-pishing” and “anti-malware” is inexcusable and also undiscussable!

John, you are getting better in this, then microsoft, did you know that? But you also know, your firm is only a dummy and your commercial interests are secure behind the foundation. Taxfree!

But maybe in future more people understand the title of your blog: “…stream of consciousness” !!!

On exactly which release did Firefox versions start
sending out unauthorized UDP and TCP packets to
the Internet? I refer specifically to unauthorized
outgoing DNS requests on port 53 and also to
surreptitious outgoing TCP-SYN connection-attempts to distant Mozilla servers on
port 80.

I must admit it does seem rather clever, to have all
Firefox browsers designed to send unauthorized outgoing packets to the Internet when they are launched. Perhaps this is now or will oneday become some form of regular Firefox “heartbeat”.

Of course it is even more clever to send out
user-unauthorized TCP-SYN packets to Mozilla
servers (pseudo-randomly) on occasions when users
click a mouse-button or press enter, the resulting
connections to Mozilla’s servers would have received state along with the connections that
users actually did seek to make. A very clever
mechanism to effectively defeat stateful firewalls.

Between Netfilter and PF I believe i’ve been able to
filter and drop all of the DNS packets and at least
some of the TCP-SYN packets.

I’ve noted the packets seeking to travel via ports 53
and 80, have I somehow missed any packets on port
443, or will you make use of this port too only in
future releases?

When configured not to use DNS, Firefox should
not be sending DNS packets out. When not
configured to initiate TCP connections with
distant Mozilla servers, Firefox should not be
doing so surreptitiously, without a user’s permission.

Sir, your packets betray you.

On exactly which release did Firefox versions start
sending out unauthorized UDP and TCP packets to
the Internet? I refer specifically to unauthorized
outgoing DNS requests on port 53 and also to
surreptitious outgoing TCP-SYN connection-attempts to distant Mozilla servers on
port 80.

I must admit it does seem rather clever, to have all
Firefox browsers designed to send unauthorized outgoing packets to the Internet when they are launched. Perhaps this is now or will oneday become some form of regular Firefox “heartbeat”.

Of course it is even more clever to send out
user-unauthorized TCP-SYN packets to Mozilla
servers (pseudo-randomly) on occasions when users
click a mouse-button or press enter, the resulting
connections to Mozilla’s servers would have received state along with the connections that
users actually did seek to make. A very clever
mechanism to effectively defeat stateful firewalls.

Between Netfilter and PF I believe i’ve been able to
filter and drop all of the DNS packets and at least
some of the TCP-SYN packets.

I’ve noted the packets seeking to travel via ports 53
and 80, have I somehow missed any packets on port
443, or will you make use of this port too only in
future releases?

When configured not to use DNS, Firefox should
not be sending DNS packets out. When not
configured to initiate TCP connections with
distant Mozilla servers, Firefox should not be
doing so surreptitiously, without a user’s permission.

Sir, your packets betray you.

And I’ll share it freely with you. No, wait. You shared it with me. Wha…??

Yea. The data appears on this page in the comments above this one. And the clear, unrefutable conclusion of that data is that an overwhelming proportion of responders do not want FireFox to collect usage data in any form.

My question is what are you going to do with *this* data. If it’s something different than backing off from your position, then I have to say I would never trust your assurances that data you intend to collect would be used in the best interests of FireFox users.

Look, your arguments just don’t make sense. You claim this is not about economics, but about “leveling the playing field.” What does that even mean? The playing field is not level because +90% of computers come with a default browser other than FireFox. The playing field will not be level while that continues, and collecting FireFox browsing usage data will not change that.

How will dealing with the inevitable fork to a non-tracking version of FireFox make FireFox community stronger?

And I’ll share it freely with you. No, wait. You shared it with me. Wha…??

Yea. The data appears on this page in the comments above this one. And the clear, unrefutable conclusion of that data is that an overwhelming proportion of responders do not want FireFox to collect usage data in any form.

My question is what are you going to do with *this* data. If it’s something different than backing off from your position, then I have to say I would never trust your assurances that data you intend to collect would be used in the best interests of FireFox users.

Look, your arguments just don’t make sense. You claim this is not about economics, but about “leveling the playing field.” What does that even mean? The playing field is not level because +90% of computers come with a default browser other than FireFox. The playing field will not be level while that continues, and collecting FireFox browsing usage data will not change that.

How will dealing with the inevitable fork to a non-tracking version of FireFox make FireFox community stronger?

I think the reaction here is clear an unambiguous, don’t you? So now we get to see where mozilla corp’s priorities lie; with the users, or with its corporate partners.

One thing you can be sure of: your users will vote with their feet.

I think the reaction here is clear an unambiguous, don’t you? So now we get to see where mozilla corp’s priorities lie; with the users, or with its corporate partners.

One thing you can be sure of: your users will vote with their feet.

Seriously, John, even thinking about this is a major mistake. About the only think I can see coming out of this is getting your products banned from any companies’ networks and losing the support / usage / advocacy of FOSS enthusiasts everywhere.

Any reporting should be STRICTLY voluntary, and turned off by default. Maybe it should even be a separate download. Users should easily be able to turn it off at any time. I think the best thing you could do is to swear off data collection permanently, and begin to market your products as “on your side, not the corporations’ side”. Combine that with highlighting the ways in which competitors funnel user data to marketers, and you will see an uptick in usage.

Seriously, John, even thinking about this is a major mistake. About the only think I can see coming out of this is getting your products banned from any companies’ networks and losing the support / usage / advocacy of FOSS enthusiasts everywhere.

Any reporting should be STRICTLY voluntary, and turned off by default. Maybe it should even be a separate download. Users should easily be able to turn it off at any time. I think the best thing you could do is to swear off data collection permanently, and begin to market your products as “on your side, not the corporations’ side”. Combine that with highlighting the ways in which competitors funnel user data to marketers, and you will see an uptick in usage.