I’m sure a lot of us are already using Firefox with uBlock Origin, and I’m also sure that most of us already know about Arkenfox.
Despite this, one thing that I’m still noticing on the internet are people recommending extensions that, as per the Arkenfox wiki, are frankly just not needed anymore.
So people, please stop using:
- Cookie extensions like Cookie Auto Delete
- URL cleaning extensions like ClearURLs
- Anti-fingerprinting extensions
- Redundant privacy extensions like Ghostery or Privacy Badger
- NoScript
And also please note that Firefox Multi-Account Containers is probably overkill for most threat models, and that Firefox’s builtin Total Cookie Protection is probably just fine.
You must log in or register to comment.
NoScript and Cookies Auto Delete are very much needed. uBlock’s JavaScript control is extremely basic and doesn’t toggle WebGL.
As for cookies, I only set them for sites I have accounts or ones that need to remember user data in Chromium. I personally don’t use CAD but I can certainly appreciate its convenience.
Any references you can give? I would like to research this a bit more.
This is likely a very unpopular opinion, but I’m not a fan of the “only use uBlock origin” view that seems to be going around, yes using just that makes you less fingerprintable, but you’re also just giving yourself a single point of failure and giving full control of your privacy to whatever the uBlock Origin devs want to add or refuse to add, who are at the end of the day still only human and can make mistakes.
Agreed. Ideally, any such single point of failure needs to be under a distributed or accountable kind of control. Perhaps EFF could take over uBO, for example.
I personally prefer NoScript not for just the privacy stuff, but for the security of knowing that an accidental click to a malicious site using some zeroday JavaScript exploit won’t kick in like it would, had it not been default blocked.
My NoScript profile is also fairly populated with things I’ve trusted over the years, so it’s really only new websites that require JavaScript that I have to worry about.
Maybe just me being over cautious, but just keeps me at ease, personally.
NoScript is fantastic.
As a web developer, I have to build tools for the SEO/ad team to turn my beautiful optimized sites to be ad-filled garbage. And frequently, that involves fetching data from third party sites that even I feel disgusted by, that can be easily blocked with NoScript.
The link says that NoScript is “redundant with uBlock Origin”
I like NoScript because I can click on its icon on the toolbar, and easily select which scripts on a given page to whitelist, or which to whitelist temporarily (until browser quit.) And on any page, I can select which set of scripts (by domain name) on that page to run or whitelist.
With uBlock Origin, it’s only “all script on the page” or “no scripts on the page”, right?
With uBlock Origin, it’s only “all script on the page” or “no scripts on the page”, right?
nope. You should read the uBO wiki’s pages about medium mode and hard mode. You have pretty granular control if you’re using uBO in “I am an advanced user” mode.
Oh, thanks, I didn’t realize that about advanced user mode, I’ll look into it!
Take a look at this documentation, it’s pretty good.
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Dynamic-filtering:-quick-guide
Ublock Origin allows that as well, but it’s not as easy as NoScript. So, IMO that’s a perfectly valid reason to prefer NoScript.
Yes but…
- Most people want a quick-fix… “just install these extensions and all your web privacy issues will be handled automatically, in the background and you don’t ever have to do anything at all.” The “no user effort required” approach isn’t realistic and arkenfox is not a quick-fix. It’s a lot of tough love imo.
- To use arkenfox and also not get frustrated that the entire internet is broken you will need to create a good user-overrides.js file. Creating a good one takes time. So take it and create a good one.
- RFP breaks a lot of things. If you choose to disable RFP, the arkenfox wiki suggests you use the anti-fingerprinting extension, CanvasBlocker.
- If you use arkenfox’s user.js you’ll probably want to create multiple profiles with different levels of arkenfox strength, which can be determined by your user-overrides.js file.
I mostly use arkenfox… but I also have a TCP + uBO only profile for when I need it.
Okay, which settings specifically replace these extensions? They usually also have a nice GUI with validation which is a better UX than editing text files and checking if it works by yourself.
I’ve never heard of Arkenfox or user.js. what do they do?
Also wondering how much more effective Arkenfox is to tightened security settings, uBlock, Decentraleyes, Ghostery, etc. on Firefox?
Isn’t Privacy Badger better than Ghostery?
My personal view is that anyone who forks a browser is probably not experienced enough to know how much work it is to patch security holes in a timely manner in such a large code base.
Good thing arkenfox is not a FF fork and you still get the same updates from Firefox main.
Just use LibreWolf. It has everything already set up and it includes uBlock Origin by default.
I used to use Librewolf but found it lagged behind Firefox too much when it came to security updates. But I agree with you that it does take the work out of configuring Firefox, which is convenient.
The update schedule used to be pretty bad, but they have really improved. They usually release patches within 1-2 days, but recently, I’ve often seen them release an update on the same day. It’s not that bad, especially when you combine it with just general good security practices. Block known malware on DNS/firewall level, run your browser in a sandbox and just be cautious when clicking on links. Blocking JavaScript as much as possible also reduces attack surface. For high security stuff I just use Vanadium on my phone which is hardened Chromium by GrapheneOS.
deleted by creator
btw if you watch YouTube get sponsorblock
I’m deeply unfamiliar with Arkenfox, but does it really supercede NoScript? One of my primary uses for NoScript is bypassing soft paywalls.
Love when you install a boring extension on vscode and it has a telemetry setting…
Is it possible to limit permissions for an extension to just a few domains? Most of them I’m using just for specific sites
what if u keep them disabled and only enable when need them? i assume it’s OK. 🤷 sometimes u need other extensions.
