Re: Is Linux Mint Spyware/Prism proof?
Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2013 3:43 pm
MishaSherpa wrote:Hi Violin. Interesting info! They never give up. First it was LSO, now it's dom. Thanks for the about:config
You're welcomesamriggs wrote:Thanks Violin
I don't know much about lightbeam, just thought it was a fun toy to play with, and decided to share with anyone else that wanted to fool around with. I seen it on the video that showed cinnamon 2 on the Linux Action Show and it sounded interesting.
Thanks also for the dom config, I just changed it on mine.
Sam
About Lightbeam, yes, it is interesting and vou should see the difference between DOM storage allowed and disabled, like with cookies...
If you want more about:config edits you could make these, even if not all related to the security and privacy:
Prefetch Control:
about:config Name: network.prefetch-next
Default Value: true
Modified Value: false
By setting network.prefetch-next to false, we are controlling the following:
Link prefetching, is when a web page hints to the browser that certain pages are likely to be visited, so the browser downloads them immediately so they can be displayed immediately when the user request
User Agent Strings:
about:config Name: general.useragent.override
Default Value: as per machine's configuration
The ability to change the useragent string via this about:config preferences option - general.useragent.override - to a more common string, may prove to be useful for some users, as the following example may show:
(If the required Preference Name is non-existent, creating a new entry requires you to Right Mouse Button click in the about:config page, then by using the RMB menu option ->NEW, a new entry can be created.)Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; MSIE 9.0; Windows NT 9.0; en-US)
[url=http://www.useragentstring.com/pages/useragentstring.php/]Here[/url] is a great useragent string reference page from where you can copy & paste.
[url=http://spiralinear.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=183&p=1448#p1448/]Here[/url] is a link to a step by step guide for changing the useragent string.
Changing this setting can be advantageous in certain circumstances;- like being able to access a site that won't let any other browser than I.E. in. Or fooling sites that your computer is a hand-held so that you get a lighter & faster display, for instance.
As far as using it so as not to stand out in the crowd as a Firefox Linux 64bit user with some other uncommon settings & browser additions is concerned;- if you are taking effective privacy precautions that are mentioned in this thread, it really shouldn't make much difference as the trackers don't know you are there anyway.
On the other hand, if you are doing something on a public wireless network where you would prefer to be untraceable then it would certainly be a good idea to modify your useragent string & then modify it back again when you have finished.
Here is a Firefox add-on called User Agent Switcher that can make this job much easier & quicker for you. You will most likely have to search out additional strings that you can add strings to its menu, which is a nice touch too.
Match Accept Headers to your User Agent String:
about:config Name: network.http.accept.default
Default Value: as per machine's configuration
If you want you can then change the accept headers to match the default for whichever useragent string you went with.
[url=http://www.gethifi.com/blog/browser-rest-http-accept-headers/]This link[/url] is informative.
You can also use the Modify Headers add-on.
OR, if you know what you are doing, you can modify the network.http.accept.default key in about:config.
Enable Spell Checking In All Text Fields:
about:config Name: layout.spellcheckDefault
Default Value: 1
Possible Values:
The default spell checking function only checks for multi-line text boxes. You can get it to spell-check for single line text box as well.0 - disable spell checker.
1 - spell check multi-line text boxes only.
2 - enable spell checker for all text boxes.
Which is a great find for me as I'm not a perfect speller.
Open Search Box Results In New Tab:
about:config Name: browser.search.openintab
Default Value: false
Modified Value: true
When you search using the search box at the top right hand corner of the browser, it will display the search results in the current tab. If you don’t want the search to interfere with your current tab, you can tweak the browser.search.openintab to make it open in a new tab.
Speed up your Firefox:
Two tweaks required for this one;-
about:config Name: network.http.pipelining
Default Value: false
Modified Value: true
about:config Name: network.http.proxy.pipelining
Default Value: false
Modified Value: true
This combination works for me.
(network.prefetch-next helps for this too)
Setting your zoom limit:
If you find that the max/min zoom level is still not sufficient for your viewing, you can change the zoom limit to suit your viewing habits.
about:config Name: zoom.maxPercent
Default Value: 300 (percent)
Modified value: any value higher than 300
about:config Name: zoom.minPercent
Default Value: 30 (percent)
Modified Value: any value
Configure Your Backspace Button:
about:config Name: browser.backspace_action
Default Value: 2 (does nothing)
Modified Value:
Options Are:
0 - go back to previous page
1 - page up
2 - does nothing
In Firefox, you can set your backspace to better use by getting it to either go back to the previous page or act as page up function.
I set this one to 1 , as my mouse gives me previous page.
Disable Delay Time When Installing Add-on:
about:config Name: security.dialog_enable_delay
Default: 2000 (in msec)
Modified value:
Options Are:
Everytime you wanted to install a Firefox add-on, you will have to wait for several seconds before the actual installation starts. If you are tired of waiting, you can turn the function security.dialog_enable_delay off so that the installation will start immediately upon clicking.0 – start installation immediately
any other value (in msec)
Disable Delay Time When Installing Add-on:
about:config Name: security.dialog_enable_delay
Default: 2000 (in msec)
Modified value:
Everytime you wanted to install a Firefox add-on, you will have to wait for several seconds before the actual installation starts. If you are tired of waiting, you can turn the function security.dialog_enable_delay off so that the installation will start immediately upon clicking.Options Are:
0 – start installation immediately
any other value (in msec)
View Source in Your Favorite Editor:
Two modifications required here:
about:config Name: view_source.editor.external
Default Value: false
Modified Value: true (enable view source using external text editor)
about:config Name: view_source.editor.path
Default Value: blank
Modified Value: add the path to your editor here (for instance: /usr/bin/gedit or /usr/bin/kwrite)
This is very useful for developers who are always using the ‘view source‘ function. This tweak allows you to view the source code in your favourite external editor.
Turn off Browser Blink:
about:config Name: browser.blink_allowed
Default Value: true
Modified Value: false
You can see what is this here: [url]http://kb.mozillazine.org/Browser.blink_allowed[/url] (If the required Preference Name is non-existent, creating a new entry requires you to Right Mouse Button click in the about:config page, then by using the RMB menu option ->NEW, a new entry can be created.)
Middle Mouse Button Paste:
about:config Name: middlemouse.paste
Default Value: true
Modified Value: false
Turn on/off Middle Mouse Button Paste from Clipboard: "true" or "false" its your choice, so toggle away.
Also, for improving speed and responsiveness in Firefox you can add:
Some don't already exist, probably "content.notify.backoffcount", "nglayout.initialpaint.delay" and "ui.submenu.delay", so you'll have to create them. For this, just click with the right button of your mouse somewhere in the page and choose "new" then "Numerical value" and fill the fields with the values given above.content.notify.backoffcount, 5
network.dns.disableIPv6, true
nglayout.initialpaint.delay, 0
plugin.expose_full_path, true
ui.submenu.delay, 0
I also use this tweak (but I have 4 GB RAM on my main desktop. With less, this can perhaps not be ideal... Try and see), but just the first part: Relocating only the cache to RAM. You can want to try the others parts too...
Personally, I also set-up "general.warnOnAboutConfig" on false. I know what I do, no need for a warning when I open this page. But it's just me. Make your choice about this...
You could also setup "geo.enabled" to false.
Also you should make these:
After all of that, restart Firefox and enjoy!Think to clear your private data (this keeps the browser from filling up with junk) and in the Privacy tab, for "Cookies" set it to "Until I close Firefox" and check "Clear the history when I close Firefox". You should also click on ""Settings..." and check every box except "Saved passwords".
In the same tab, check "Indicate to sites that I do not wish to be tracked".
In the "Security" tab,uncheck if checked both: "Tell me if the site I am visiting is a suspected attack site" and "Tell me if the site I am visiting is a suspected forgery"' (This will help with Flash and besides, what are these warnings going to do if you are already on the site?)
Remove the check for automatically verify your installed addons (You can manually update addons at a time of your choosing)
Try to keep the number of addons to a minimum, if you have really need of some.