Blessed be the PanOpticon and John Young. They have shed light on
everyone and everything. The sunshine they bring is so intense and
overwhelming that it is very challenging to discern the real details of
our virtual reality.
On 5/21/2015 6:20 AM, John Young wrote:
Rule of thumb for browsers, updates, communications security
and national security (or salvation), whether free or paid, especially
free and open:
Benefits the protector and robs the protected.
Operating systems are the worst, except for the systems which
host the operated's systems.
We compare versions collected since 1994 for bloat, crashes,
warnings to upgrade, required extensions, pop-up alarms,
directives to disarm protections and close all programs for
installation, diminishing times for next iteration and increasing
blasts of urgency and assurances from providers, programs,
free!!! services, email, browsers, encryption, anonymizers,
privacy policies, counterterrrorists, counterspies, spies,
ideologues, pols, preachers, insurgents, patriots, MDs,
sharks, architects-engineers, teachers, FOI industry,
anti-war industry, peace and war industries, experts of
endless profusions for and against proliferation of
diseases and ungents, defenders and attackers of
bountifully growing and dying rights and losses -- human,
animal, geologic, climate, soul.
Results of this DIY comparison: pretty much what we have
been taught it has always been and will always be, so
suck it up, get used to it, move along, feed the tip jar
generously.
This vital report is provided free on this freedom
loving mail list among hundreds of cohorts which are
thoroughly sucking 100,000s of subscribers vital data
for the operators' and underwriters' benefit. And who
are these suckers? God knows its DIY lurkers archiving
these innumerable lists, aided and abetted by Archive.org
and manifold searchers, browsers and OSes on self-
reproducing personal devices, us friends.
At 05:26 AM 5/21/2015, you wrote:
Tx for that info about browser. I checked my Firefox and was surprised to see that it allowed 3rd party cookies. I have stopped that. I have also changed over to ublock.
Dougie
-----Original Message-----
From: cryptome-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:cryptome-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of In Harms Way
Sent: 20 May 2015 10:24
To: cryptome@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [cryptome] Your web browser is not your friend
Essential browser extensions
--------------------------------------------------------
Your web browser is not your friend: it allows your behavior to be tracked as you browse the web, often leaks personal information, and is a festering sore of endless security problems.
This is not by accident, but by design. Despite their marketing, the browser companies care more about making advertisers happy than your privacy or security.
For example, there was a huge debate in the 1990s [1] about the privacy implications of third-party cookies, which is why the official cookie technical specification required [2] that these type of "surveillance"
cookies be disabled by default. Guess what? Nearly all browsers ignored this requirement under pressure from ad companies [3]. Fast-forward to
2010: after a Mozilla engineer disabled third-party cookies by default, advertisers became rabid and "coincidentally" Mozilla executives ordered the change reversed immediately [4]. After that, the browser companies quietly issued a new cookie standard which allowed third-party cookies to be enabled by default.
The cookie debacle is just one example. If any of the browser companies gave two shits about your security or privacy, then they would kill off foreign http-referers, Flash, Java applets, and third-party cookies (among many other obvious changes). Google has a very good browser security team, but their hands are tied by policy decisions that keep advertisers happy.
So, basically, we are fucked. Despite that, you can make your web browser experience a little bit better and more secure by following Riseup's handy guide to essential web browser extensions:
https://help.riseup.net/en/better-web-browsing
[1] Shah, R. C., & Kesan, J. P. (2009). Recipes for cookies: how institutions shape communication technologies.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=565041
[2] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2109
[3] Bruner, R. E. (1997, May). Advertisers win one in debate over
“cookies�: Netscape move may settle sites concern over controversial targeting tool http://adage.com/article/news/advertisers-win-debate-cookies/405/
[4] Soghoian, C. (2010). Thoughts on Mozilla and Privacy.
http://paranoia.dubfire.net/2010/12/thoughts-on-mozilla-and-privacy.html
--
We have nothing to hide, but something to protect:
LIBERTY, PRIVACY & FREEDOM
- and the people, whose human rights these are.
-----
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2015.0.5941 / Virus Database: 4347/9817 - Release Date: 05/19/15
