New Firefox Suggests Ways To Get More Out of the Web (cnet.com)

Starting Tuesday, Firefox will nudge you to try out options designed to make the web more interesting, more useful or more productive. From a report: Mozilla's new Firefox 64 keeps an eye on what you're up to and prompts you to try extensions and features that could help you with that activity, the browser maker said. For example, if you open the same tab lots of times, it could suggest you pin it to your tab strip for easier future access. Other suggestions include installing the Facebook Container extension to curtail the social network's snooping, a Google Translate extension to tap into Google's service, and the Enhancer for YouTube extension to do things like block ads and control playback on Google's video site.

The feature could help you customize Firefox more to your liking -- something that could help you stick with the browser in the face of Google Chrome's dominance. And that, in turn, could help Mozilla pursue its push toward a privacy-respecting web that's not just effectively controlled by Chrome.

Comments

First Priority

[Anonymous Coward]

In today's age, the first and foremost priority should be to stop the surveillance. Everything else is secondary.

Sounds creepy

[rsilvergun]

I guess it's not different than some of the tool tips in modern video games or Microsoft Office, but when it comes to a browser that's a bit much. It's like looking at the books I check out from the library only worse.

Will it help me turn it off?

[Anonymous Coward]

If i dismiss enough of these stupid unsolicited popups, will it tell me how to turn the feature off in about:config?

Re:Is Mozilla snooping if data never leaves device

[Anonymous Coward]

The data are still ON the device and therefore vulnerable to examination. This is similar to "undo close tab" is a security risk (in that the knowledge of previously opened tabs remains on the device/in-memory even after the tabs are closed). The feature works even when in private mode, which is supposed to never retain history.

Not a huge deal, but it's something you have to consider. If I lived in a country where videos of cats wearing pajamas was considered objectionable content, and Firefox kept a record of my visiting an obscure cats-in-pajamas web site AND a count of how many times I visited it, the government official pounding on my door to accuse me of a feline sleepware violation could use a tool to extract that information.

Entire argument above is obviously invalid if these new features respect private mode browsing.

Re:just no

[fustakrakich]

Suggestions?

A thousand times, Seamonkey, a 20 year old browser with a familiar face that works as good as ever.