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The reason that I chose mint over Ubuntu was because of the ubuntu spyware concern (Yes, I know I can just turn the monitoring thing off). Anyways, I am reading a book about how to use mint, and I was reading a section about the locate command when something about google popped up. I started browsing through the directory that I had found, but I didn't have a program that I knew of to open any of the files. Remembering Ubuntu, I typed Locate Amazon into the bash and I came up with a rather concerning list of potential spyware. What is all this, what does it do, and should I be concerned?


The google stuff:
/usr/lib/cli/Google.GData.Documents-2.1
/usr/lib/cli/Google.GData.Documents-2.1/Google.GData.Documents.dll


The very much more concerning Amazon stuff:
locate amazon
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/af/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/ar/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/bg/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/bn-IN/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/br/amazon-france.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/bs/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/cy/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/da/amazon-co-uk.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/de/amazondotcom-de.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/el/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-AU/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-CA/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-GB/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-IE/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-SG/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-US/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-ZA/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/eo/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/es-AR/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/eu/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/fa/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/fr/amazon-france.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/ga-IE/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/gd/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/gl/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/hr/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/hy-AM/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/is/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/ja/amazon-jp.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/kn/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/ku/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/lg/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/lt/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/mk/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/mr/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/nb-NO/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/nn-NO/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/nso/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/or/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/pt-PT/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/ro/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/si/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/sq/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/sr/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/te/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/th/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/tr/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/zh-CN/amazondotcn.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/browser/distribution/searchplugins/locale/zu/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/af/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/ar/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/bg/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/bn-IN/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/br/amazon-france.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/bs/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/cy/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/da/amazon-co-uk.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/de/amazondotcom-de.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/el/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-AU/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-CA/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-GB/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-IE/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-SG/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-US/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-ZA/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/eo/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/es-AR/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/eu/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/fa/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/fr/amazon-france.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/ga-IE/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/gd/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/gl/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/hr/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/hy-AM/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/is/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/ja/amazon-jp.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/kn/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/ku/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/lg/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/lt/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/mk/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/mr/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/nb-NO/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/nn-NO/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/nso/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/or/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/pt-PT/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/ro/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/si/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/sq/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/sr/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/te/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/th/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/tr/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/zh-CN/amazondotcn.xml
/usr/lib/firefox/distribution/searchplugins/locale/zu/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/af/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/ar/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/bg/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/bn-IN/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/br/amazon-france.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/bs/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/cy/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/da/amazon-co-uk.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/de/amazondotcom-de.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/el/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/en-AU/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/en-CA/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/en-GB/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/en-IE/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/en-SG/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/en-US/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/en-ZA/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/eo/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/es-AR/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/eu/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/fa/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/fr/amazon-france.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/ga-IE/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/gd/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/gl/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/hr/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/hy-AM/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/is/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/ja/amazon-jp.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/kn/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/ku/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/lg/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/lt/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/mk/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/mr/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/nb-NO/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/nn-NO/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/nso/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/or/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/pt-PT/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/ro/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/si/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/sq/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/sr/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/te/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/th/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/tr/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/zh-CN/amazondotcn.xml
/usr/lib/firefox-addons/searchplugins/zu/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/lib/thunderbird/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-GB/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/lib/thunderbird/distribution/searchplugins/locale/en-US/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/banshee/icons/hicolor/16x16/categories/amazon-mp3-source.png
/usr/share/banshee/icons/hicolor/16x16/categories/amazon-mp3-store-source.png
/usr/share/banshee/icons/hicolor/22x22/categories/amazon-mp3-source.png
/usr/share/banshee/icons/hicolor/22x22/categories/amazon-mp3-store-source.png
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/C/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/ca/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/cs/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/da/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/de/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/el/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/en_GB/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/es/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/fr/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/gl/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/hu/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/ja/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/sl/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/uk/amazon.page
/usr/share/gnome/help/banshee/zh_CN/amazon.page
/usr/share/icons/Mint-X/apps/16/amazon-mp3-store-source.png
/usr/share/icons/Mint-X/apps/22/amazon-mp3-store-source.png
/usr/share/icons/Mint-X/apps/24/amazon-mp3-store-source.png
/usr/share/icons/Mint-X/apps/32/amazon-mp3-store-source.png
/usr/share/icons/Mint-X/apps/48/amazon-mp3-store-source.png
/usr/share/icons/Mint-X/apps/scalable/amazon-mp3-store-source.svg
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/af/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/ar/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/bg/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/bn-IN/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/br/amazon-france.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/bs/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/cy/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/da/amazon-co-uk.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/de/amazondotcom-de.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/el/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/en-AU/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/en-CA/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/en-GB/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/en-IE/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/en-SG/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/en-US/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/en-ZA/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/eo/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/es-AR/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/eu/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/fa/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/fr/amazon-france.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/ga-IE/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/gd/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/gl/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/hr/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/hy-AM/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/is/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/ja/amazon-jp.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/kn/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/ku/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/lg/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/lt/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/mk/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/mr/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/nb-NO/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/nn-NO/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/nso/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/or/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/pt-PT/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/ro/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/si/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/sq/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/sr/amazon-en-GB.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/te/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/th/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/tr/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/zh-CN/amazondotcn.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/common/artwork/firefox/searchplugins/zu/amazondotcom.xml
/usr/share/linuxmint/mintinstall/icons/gnome-gamazons.png
/usr/share/linuxmint/mintinstall/installed/gnome-gamazons.png
/usr/share/media-player-info/amazon_kindle.mpi

Part of the solution can be done from Firefox. You have a search bar in the top right of the browser with a tiny down carrot to the left of the search engine name. When you click it you will see a menu item for managing search engines. Delete the ones you don't use.

Another spot to look at is from the firefox>tools>addons: extensions list. I have disabled all of the ones that were originally present at install. Look at your plugins too.

For most, the browser is a primary window for interaction with the internet... and the primary privacy leak. A browser can be locked down to minimize the exposure. Take a look at [url]http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/66645/priviledge-separation-for-firefox-aka-how-to-secure-webbrowsing[/url]. Skip the first part and jump in at the subheader"Flash."

What has my browser been leaking? What do those addons do?

The theory is, having a search-enhanced browser improves the user experience.

I prefer to op-out and live with the obscurity that inheres in anonymity. I deliberately take actions to lock-down my browser. When a website cannot present me with content using my restrictivly configured browser, I usually just go somewhere else. If an internet search does not present me with regionaly focused search results, I am not upset. Many (perhaps most) folks won't tolerate this loss of functionality.

Firefox users aren't necessarily being spied on in a pejorative way. Some would say that using the defaults in browsers takes advantage of a information-focusing enhancement. Perhaps most people prefer not have any special privacy controls that could distract from functionality.

Overnumerousness wrote:What has my browser been leaking? What do those addons do?

I think those are carryovers from the Unity desktop in Ubuntu. Mark Shuttleworth's explanation is at http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/1182

I don't believe they're active in any DE except Unity, but I would certainly rather have them removed than just left dormant.

How do I get rid of them all then? I looked in my firefox addons and there is no mention of anything related to amazon.com. Can I just use rm (I think that's the command) and remove the directories?

So new development. I looked up some bash commands and did this.

locate amazon > cat amazon.txt (This created a file called cat, to my surprise, but it had all the data.
rm -r $(<cat) This attempted to remove each of the files on the list recursively.

For each file it said file not found. I found that surprising, so I manually went to the directories where locate amazon said that the files were. and could not find them. I typed locate amazon again, and the same list popped up, showing that they were still there. Any idea what's going on?

Backup your home folder.

Downloaded Firefox from the Mozzila site and get the instructions for installation on Linux from the site as well.

You can backup your Firefox profile and get your bookmarks and passwords back later if you wish.

Completely remove Firefox using synaptic. (remember... use the completely remove option)

After removing, check that the amazon, etc, files are no longer there. I they are, move them to the trash (don't delete yet). Later, if a program you want to use becomes disfunctional, you can reinstall it.

Install the downloaded mozilla Firefox.

As an alternative, use the entire method described in the link provided in my previous post. Remember that doing this may make your browsing experience less functional in some ways.

The author of that link is using Scientific Linux, a locked-down distribution that is used by CERN.

Another alternative is to use Debian (as offered from debian.org). They are rigorously opposed to imbeding any of this stuff on behalf of the user.