Private Browsing not private from Google
I have the "flash cookie remover" installed. I recently rebooted my router, giving me a new IP address. Then I opened Firefox in Private Browsing mode. When I searched youtube for "replace radiator" it auto-suggested "jeep cherokee" (my car) and "honda civic" (my parents car, which I occasionally work on).
Private Browsing isn't private! How do I protect myself from being uniquely identified by companies?
الحل المُختار
You should send all feedback and/or feature requests to input.mozilla.org/feedback.
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Private browsing only reduces the amount of information stored on your own computer. There is a Do Not Track option you could try, but that only partly addresses the problem.
Also remember advertising etc. pays for many sites and services. You my find these links to articles useful
- Private Browsing - Use Firefox without saving history
- Third-party cookies and Firefox tracking protection
- Settings for privacy, browsing history and do-not-track
Other more advanced methods and discussions of privacy issues are probably outside the scope of this forum.
Also note Google itself allows you to change some settings. Look at the following page and follow links from there
Maybe there is a plugin that reduces the amount of information that my browser gives to websites? For example, I noticed when I posted this message that your website knew all of my browser plugin information. There is no need to let websites know that I have flashblock installed, for example. Maybe Google is able to uniquely identify me from that information? They certainly don't use cookies anymore, judging by how they immediately ID's me with a new IP and cookies wiped.
The page I linked to links to other articles giving information abut some of their methods and also about how you can change or remove some of that information.
- https://www.google.com/settings/ads
- https://www.google.com/settings/ads/plugin (requires cookies enabled)
- https://support.google.com/ads/?hl=en
Flash cookie remove presumably only deals specifically with Flash cookies. Some cookies will be useful and probably even necessary to use features of some sites.
Firefox addons search listings from
That lists over1000 addons.
Some general articles that may be of interest
Do Not Track has nothing to do with storing data on the computer. It merely makes Firefox send a special DNT=1 header to the server and it is up to the server to act upon that.
Flash cookies are entirely controlled by the Flash plugin and not by Firefox.
Note that saved form data from a regular session is still available in Private Browsing mode, but the opposite that you keep data from a PB mode session in normal mode shouldn't happen.
Perhaps I can word this in the form of a feature request...
It's my understanding that Firefox gives information on the versions of plugins and the like. The idea is that this information isn't personally identifying (like, my age and address would be). But nowadays, so much information is given that it is often unique, and thus can be (and is) used to personally identify me. This is unnecessary.
My feature request: greatly reduce the amount of this kind of information given.
الحل المُختار
You should send all feedback and/or feature requests to input.mozilla.org/feedback.
Hi M_Bison, there has been some research on using plugin information and other information for "fingerprinting" your browser. For example: https://panopticlick.eff.org/
You can reduce the universe of information available by switching Java to click-to-play ("Ask to Activate" on the Plugins list on the Add-ons page), and by disabling plugins you don't actually use ("Never Activate" on the Plugins list on the Add-ons page). Actually, just making frequent changes between sessions might complicate a site's ability to determine who you are.
Note that FlashBlock is an extension, and the only site I know that can enumerate your extensions is this site, if you agree to install the Troubleshooting extension. That said, an extension which modifies web pages often has a detectable pattern, which is why you may now see "anti-Adblock" messages on websites if you use Adblock Plus or similar extensions.
Hey guys, thanks for your thoughts! I do think that it is important for my browser to not send personally identifying information, if possible, so I followed the "feature request" link and left feedback. I also went to the panopticlick website, and I really believe in their cause (they are currently in a lawsuit with the NSA over privacy issues in the U.S.).
Should I mark this solved? The underlying issue isn't solved (Google still IDs me without my sending them any information), but I had a feature request and you told me where to send it.
jscher2000 said:
Hi M_Bison, there has been some research on using plugin information and other information for "fingerprinting" your browser. For example: https://panopticlick.eff.org/ You can reduce the universe of information available by switching Java to click-to-play ("Ask to Activate" on the Plugins list on the Add-ons page), and by disabling plugins you don't actually use ("Never Activate" on the Plugins list on the Add-ons page). Actually, just making frequent changes between sessions might complicate a site's ability to determine who you are. Note that FlashBlock is an extension, and the only site I know that can enumerate your extensions is this site, if you agree to install the Troubleshooting extension. That said, an extension which modifies web pages often has a detectable pattern, which is why you may now see "anti-Adblock" messages on websites if you use Adblock Plus or similar extensions.
If you have acknowledged that and sent in a feature request, then yes you can mark this as solved but if you want to wait for any other suggestion, feel free to.