Disable Firefox 3.5 Location Aware

[Berminator]

Type about:config ino your address bar and start doin' some BB tweaking.
You're lookin' for geo.enabled, once found right click the option toggle, now it's disabled.

http://en-us.www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/geolocation/

Thanks so much to SeasOfEuropa from PropagandaMatrix.

[PplVsNWO]

Damn, I was wondering how all those annoying ads on sites knew my general location, this has no business being implemented in Firefox.  I expected this from microsoft, but Firefox? At the very least, this should be disabled by default.

[Berminator]

Damn, I was wondering how all those annoying ads on sites knew my general location, this has no business being implemented in Firefox.  I expected this from microsoft, but Firefox? At the very least, this should be disabled by default.

The fking thing pinpointed my location within 1 mile.

[PplVsNWO]

The fking thing pinpointed my location within 1 mile.

Unbelievable.  What is the best alternative to Firefox?  Are there any with out these security breaches built in, that still have good functionality?  I use LInux by the way.

[Berminator]

Unbelievable.  What is the best alternative to Firefox?  Are there any with out these security breaches built in, that still have good functionality?  I use LInux by the way.

I've disabled the particular feature, i'm xp64, upgrading/ overclock testing right now.

[ex_nihilo]

Thanks for the info.

You can also manually set geo.wifi.uri to generate a random location.

https://nodpi.org/forum/index.php?topic=1910.0

[Berminator]

Thanks for the info.

You can also manually set geo.wifi.uri to generate a random location.

https://nodpi.org/forum/index.php?topic=1910.0

Awesome, let's get this shit sorted!

I live in London now.

[ex_nihilo]

I would recommend copying the php script to a secure server and linking there instead. Don't know who this dude is and could change the script anytime.

[Berminator]

I would recommend copying the php script to a secure server and linking there instead. Don't know who this dude is and could change the script anytime.

I just disabled it and i'm in London, no need for anything else.

[Valerius]

Can't they pretty much get the same info from your IP?

[Berminator]

Can't they pretty much get the same info from your IP?

yes but not as accurate now.

[ex_nihilo]

Can't they pretty much get the same info from your IP?

The IP address should only give the location of the hub you're connected to which depending on your provider could even be in another state.

[Berminator]

The IP address should only give the location of the hub you're connected to which depending on your provider could even be in another state.

ok, my online ip location used to be a few miles away,
when i installed firefox 3.5 it pinned me.

[Unintelligable Name]

Disable, thanks for the heads up.

[wvoutlaw2002]

Unbelievable.  What is the best alternative to Firefox?  Are there any with out these security breaches built in, that still have good functionality?  I use LInux by the way.

Not that I know of. Your best bet may be to just wait until SRWare ports SRWare Iron - Google Chrome without Google spyware - to Linux.

[luckee1]

do you have to save the setting?

[2Revolutions]

bump

[Lucian Solaris]

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Yea F that, I want to see a fork of Firefox that lacks these 'features'.  If none happen, I may just fork IceWeasel and try to strip out all the Google code!

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[luckee1]

BTW thank you for giving explicit instructions!  I wouldn't have known otherwise what the heck you were talking about or how to fix it. 

You Rock!!

[Berminator]

do you have to save the setting?

no, once it's done it's done, until you uninstall at least.

[Monkeypox]

Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention.

All FF users need to complain about this feature.  Maybe then FF will remove it.  At the very least, they should give you the option of enabling/disabling this feature at the time of installation.

BTW, you just need to double-click on "geo.enabled" to disable/enable it.

Here's what Mozilla says about privacy and the geolocation feature:

http://en-us.www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/geolocation/


Your privacy is extremely important to us, and Firefox never shares your location without your permission. When you visit a page that requests your information, you’ll be asked before any information is shared with the requesting website and our third-party service provider.

By default, Firefox uses Google Location Services to determine your location by sending:

    * your computer’s IP address,
    * information about the nearby wireless access points, and
    * a random client identifier, which is assigned by Google, that expires every 2 weeks.

For a complete description of information collected and used by Firefox, please see the Firefox Privacy Policy.

Google Location Services then returns your estimated geolocation (e.g., latitude and longitude). For a complete description of information collected and used by Google, please see the Google Geolocation Privacy Policy.

The information is exchanged over an encrypted connection to protect your privacy. Once Firefox has your location information, it passes it to the website that requested it. At no time is the name or location of the website you are visiting, or are any cookies, ever shared with Google Location Services.

Neither Mozilla or Google will ever use the information collected by Google Location Services to identify or spy on you.

For information about what the requesting website does with your location information, please refer to that website's privacy policy.

For more information about your privacy, you should also read:

    * Mozilla Firefox privacy policy
    * Google privacy policy

[Monkeypox]

I sent some feedback to Mozilla.  Maybe if enough people let them know that they're unhappy with this feature, they'll remove it, or at least give users the option of opting -out:

Hi:

I was disappointed when I recently learned of the geolocation feature in Firefox.  I don't believe that a feature with such a potential to violate a user's privacy should be a part of an "alternative" browser such as Firefox.  I might as well just use Internet Explorer or Google Chrome if this is how much Mozilla cares about my privacy.

I understand that this feature can be disabled (and I've done so), but at the very least, the user should be made aware of this feature and be given the option of enabling or disabling it at the time of installation.

Thank You.

[Berminator]

I sent some feedback to Mozilla.  Maybe if enough people let them know that they're unhappy with this feature, they'll remove it, or at least give users the option of opting -out:

Hi:

I was disappointed when I recently learned of the geolocation feature in Firefox.  I don't believe that a feature with such a potential to violate a user's privacy should be a part of an "alternative" browser such as Firefox.  I might as well just use Internet Explorer or Google Chrome if this is how much Mozilla cares about my privacy.

I understand that this feature can be disabled (and I've done so), but at the very least, the user should be made aware of this feature and be given the option of enabling or disabling it at the time of installation.

Thank You.

Right On!

[Berminator]

*do we have a sticky candidate here?*

[wvoutlaw2002]

This is partly why Stallman said open-source does not always mean freedom.

[Cywar]

Thanks for bumping this up - wow.

[InfoArsenal]

Honestly they could be snagging your location anytime firefox does an autoupdate--and that it includes all other software including windows.

You're basically screwed either way.

[Femacamper]

Turn off autoupdate, and check after each update.

[SoP]

Sounds like a non-technical person stands little chance to maintain online privacy in that case - but thanks for the info about FF!

[ex_nihilo]

Did anyone else get an auto update adding some Microsoft .NET framework addon?

[Flynn]

Did anyone else get an auto update adding some Microsoft .NET framework addon?

I don't do updates, if it ain't broken...

[champdee]

Type about:config ino your address bar and start doin' some BB tweaking.
You're lookin' for geo.enabled, once found right click the option toggle, now it's disabled.

http://en-us.www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/geolocation/

Thanks so much to SeasOfEuropa from PropagandaMatrix.

Thanks! I didn't know about that.. kinda like a command console. I disabled it. I use FF, but I used to really like Opera (www.opera.com) So I'll go back and forth between the two.

[luckee1]

Hey guys,

There is this now on there  about:config

Is this a new thing that is tagging our location?
browser.geolocation.warning.infoURL;http://%LOCALE%.www.mozilla.com/%LOCALE%/firefox/geolocation/


Interesting....
network.dns.disableIPv6;false
network.dns.ipv4OnlyDomains;

[ramallamamama]

Thanks for the FF fix!

[Cryptvill]

Wonderful, glad you bumped this. Thanks

[Committed]

Thanks for the info.

You can also manually set geo.wifi.uri to generate a random location.

https://nodpi.org/forum/index.php?topic=1910.0

Thanks, that worked great. 

[White Rose Sophie]

bump

[wembley87]

Has me down to my exact street , but i cant work out how to disable it 

[wembley87]

Status - User Set

Type - Boolean

Value - False

Is that disabled now ?

[TheTimeToActIsNow]

Sounds like a non-technical person stands little chance to maintain online privacy in that case - but thanks for the info about FF!

I doubt even most technical people truly enjoy "online privacy" with monitoring tools like NarusInsight, and whatever superseded PROMIS as their "make all separate databases into One database" style software.  The internet was created and is still publicly controlled by the US government, and the main backbone of the internet is also US based.  Hell, most people use the DNS servers owned by their ISP, in addition to routing all HTTP traffic unencrypted through their system.  And even people who are savy enough to use something like TOR (which was created by the NSA) are still vulnerable if the government has control of all the entry and exit pipes (which they do.)  And I'm sure the NarusInsight has no problem recording all TOR traffic, and indeed, why else would the NSA just give this tool to the public... I mean, c'mon, they know about the weakness of TOR, and they have the ability to exploit that weakness, put 2+2 together and it's so obvious.  I could go on and on, because the purposely created vulnerabilities and traps exist on every level, and with PROMIS, or whatever system replace PROMIS, they are able to tie together ALL THE DATA THEY HAVE MINED FROM YOU.  Their profiles on everyone is simply insane.  LESSON: Realize that you have absolutely 0 privacy on the internet, and act accordingly.  There are still things you can do (like using different wireless networks) that can help you get an extra level of privacy, also, using several proxies over a shell tunnel, with ONLY text enabled on your web browser is also pretty hard to poke a hole in, but it's still doable.

These are just my opinions, and I'm a bit rusty on these subjects, so please verify all my claims for yourself and make your own decision.