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Hey. Came across these privacy settings and thought i should share with someone that probably care for a bit more anonymity online. Works on Firefox.
About Config Settings:
Firefox allows the users to modify the configuration settings. Open Firefox and type “about:config” in the URL bar. You will see the following message:
“This might void your warranty! Changing these advanced settings can be harmful to the stability, security and performance of this application. You should only continue if you are sure of what you are doing”.
Accept the risks. To change most of the settings, double click the setting to toggle the slider between “True” and “False”. For other parameters you need to provide a number. You should search the for desired parameter, in the search bar of “about:config” page...
About:Config Recommended Parameter Values:
privacy.trackingprotection.enabled: True
-as it blocks website’s tracking
geo.enabled: False
-as it disables Firefox from sharing the user's location data
browser.safebrowsing.phishing.enabled: False
-as it disables Google’s “Safe Browsing” and “Phishing” protection. Otherwise, Google scans and stores the sites for the presence of malwares.
browser.safebrowsing.malware.enabled: False
-as it disables Google’s ability to scan and store sites for the presence of malwares.
dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled: False
-as many websites request a notification, if we copy an image or text. Setting the slider to “False” disables this ability of the websites.
media.navigator.enabled: False
-as it disables the website's ability to see webcam and micro-phone (On/Off) status
dom.battery.enabled: False
-as it disables the website's ability to see the exact battery levels
WebRTC: (Web Real - Time Communications):
WebRTC is a new communication protocol that relies on JavaScript. It can leak our actual IP address behind the VPN. Hence, consider the following settings:
media.peerconnection.enabled: False
media.peerconnection.turn.disable: True
media.peerconnection.use_document_iceservers: False
media.peerconnection.video.enabled: False
media.peerconnection.identity.timeout: 1
Unfortunately, WebRTC cannot be fully disabled in Google Chrome.
Additional Recommended Changes:
For furtherance of privacy, you may apply following additional changes:
privacy.firstparty.isolate: True
-Isolates all the browser identifiers (e.g. cookies) to prevent tracking across different domains
privacy.resistFingerprinting: True
-Makes Firefox more resistant to browser finger-printing
browser.cache.offline.enable: False
-Disables offline cache
browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo: 0
-Even when Firefox is barred from remembering history, closed tabs are stored temporarily at Menu > History > Recently Closed Tabs.
browser.urlbar.speculativeConnect.enabled: False
-Disables pre-loading of auto-complete URLs. Firefox preloads URLs that auto-complete when user types in the address bar. A concern if URLs suggested are not the intended ones.
network.cookie.cookieBehavior: 1
-Disables cookies
0 = Accepts all cookies by default
1 = Only accepts from the originating site (blocks third-party cookies)
2 = Blocks all cookies by default
network.cookie.lifetimePolicy: 2
-Cookies are deleted at the end of the session
0 = Accepts cookies normally
1 = Prompts for each cookie
2 = Accepts for current session only
3 = Accepts for N days
network.http.referer.trimmingPolicy: 2
-Sends only the scheme, host and port in the Referer header
0 = Sends the full URL in the Referer header
1 = Sends the URL without its query string in the Referer header
2 = Sends only the scheme, host and port in the Referer header
webgl.disabled: True
-WebGL is a potential security risk.
browser.sessionstore.privacy_level: 2
-This preference controls when to store extra information about a session: contents of forms, scroll-bar positions, cookies and POST data.
0 = Stores extra session data for any site.
1 = Stores extra session data for unencrypted (non-HTTPS) sites only.
2 = Never stores extra session data.
extensions.blocklist.url: https://blocklists.settings.services.mozilla.com/v1/blocklist/3/ / /
-Limits the amount of identifiable information sent when requesting the Mozilla’s harmful extension block-list. Optionally, the block-list can be disabled entirely by setting extensions.blocklist.enabled to false for increased privacy, but decreased security.
These customised settings, provide greater degree of protection.
About Config Settings:
Firefox allows the users to modify the configuration settings. Open Firefox and type “about:config” in the URL bar. You will see the following message:
“This might void your warranty! Changing these advanced settings can be harmful to the stability, security and performance of this application. You should only continue if you are sure of what you are doing”.
Accept the risks. To change most of the settings, double click the setting to toggle the slider between “True” and “False”. For other parameters you need to provide a number. You should search the for desired parameter, in the search bar of “about:config” page...
About:Config Recommended Parameter Values:
privacy.trackingprotection.enabled: True
-as it blocks website’s tracking
geo.enabled: False
-as it disables Firefox from sharing the user's location data
browser.safebrowsing.phishing.enabled: False
-as it disables Google’s “Safe Browsing” and “Phishing” protection. Otherwise, Google scans and stores the sites for the presence of malwares.
browser.safebrowsing.malware.enabled: False
-as it disables Google’s ability to scan and store sites for the presence of malwares.
dom.event.clipboardevents.enabled: False
-as many websites request a notification, if we copy an image or text. Setting the slider to “False” disables this ability of the websites.
media.navigator.enabled: False
-as it disables the website's ability to see webcam and micro-phone (On/Off) status
dom.battery.enabled: False
-as it disables the website's ability to see the exact battery levels
WebRTC: (Web Real - Time Communications):
WebRTC is a new communication protocol that relies on JavaScript. It can leak our actual IP address behind the VPN. Hence, consider the following settings:
media.peerconnection.enabled: False
media.peerconnection.turn.disable: True
media.peerconnection.use_document_iceservers: False
media.peerconnection.video.enabled: False
media.peerconnection.identity.timeout: 1
Unfortunately, WebRTC cannot be fully disabled in Google Chrome.
Additional Recommended Changes:
For furtherance of privacy, you may apply following additional changes:
privacy.firstparty.isolate: True
-Isolates all the browser identifiers (e.g. cookies) to prevent tracking across different domains
privacy.resistFingerprinting: True
-Makes Firefox more resistant to browser finger-printing
browser.cache.offline.enable: False
-Disables offline cache
browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo: 0
-Even when Firefox is barred from remembering history, closed tabs are stored temporarily at Menu > History > Recently Closed Tabs.
browser.urlbar.speculativeConnect.enabled: False
-Disables pre-loading of auto-complete URLs. Firefox preloads URLs that auto-complete when user types in the address bar. A concern if URLs suggested are not the intended ones.
network.cookie.cookieBehavior: 1
-Disables cookies
0 = Accepts all cookies by default
1 = Only accepts from the originating site (blocks third-party cookies)
2 = Blocks all cookies by default
network.cookie.lifetimePolicy: 2
-Cookies are deleted at the end of the session
0 = Accepts cookies normally
1 = Prompts for each cookie
2 = Accepts for current session only
3 = Accepts for N days
network.http.referer.trimmingPolicy: 2
-Sends only the scheme, host and port in the Referer header
0 = Sends the full URL in the Referer header
1 = Sends the URL without its query string in the Referer header
2 = Sends only the scheme, host and port in the Referer header
webgl.disabled: True
-WebGL is a potential security risk.
browser.sessionstore.privacy_level: 2
-This preference controls when to store extra information about a session: contents of forms, scroll-bar positions, cookies and POST data.
0 = Stores extra session data for any site.
1 = Stores extra session data for unencrypted (non-HTTPS) sites only.
2 = Never stores extra session data.
extensions.blocklist.url: https://blocklists.settings.services.mozilla.com/v1/blocklist/3/ / /
-Limits the amount of identifiable information sent when requesting the Mozilla’s harmful extension block-list. Optionally, the block-list can be disabled entirely by setting extensions.blocklist.enabled to false for increased privacy, but decreased security.
These customised settings, provide greater degree of protection.