ungoogled-chromium is Google Chromium, sans dependency on Google web services. It also features some tweaks to enhance privacy, control, and transparency (almost all of which require manual activation or enabling).
ungoogled-chromium retains the default Chromium experience as closely as possible. Unlike other Chromium forks that have their own visions of a web browser, ungoogled-chromium is essentially a drop-in replacement for Chromium.
In light of the previous post, if you really do need to use Chromium for whatever reason, forego Microsoft ‘coupon clipper‘ Edge, the closed-source Vivaldi, or the cryptoscammy Brave – and opt for ungoogled-chromium instead.
There’s also a package for it on Flathub which makes it easy to replace the default
--filesystem=homepermissions with something more locked down (eg.--filesystem=xdg-download) using Flatseal.https://flathub.org/apps/details/com.github.Eloston.UngoogledChromium
(I actually went further and gave Firefox, Ungoogled Chromium, Deluge, Thunderbird, Tor Browser, etc. their own separate downloads folders. I just wish Flatpak+Flatseal supported a one-click network filter so I could also deny access to non-routable and/or local subnet IPs for things which only need access to the public Internet.)
And for most people the first thing to do with such web browser is to use Google search and Google mail? You can take some of Google out of a web browser. But it is much harder to take Google out of the web you are connecting to with such web browser.
Agree with you Geck. It is hard to ignore Google. My Google Mail is my last step to ungoogle myself. But that step is very hard.
De-Googling yourself isn’t easy, even for those who honestly want to do it. Even if you overcome the convenience of their products & services, you can’t really escape the spying & tracking that infests all areas of your life. GMail is just a drop in a bucket. That being said, I weened myself off of GMail for anything personal but do still use it for disposable email. I also know it’d be naive to think that has gained me much in the way of privacy or protection.
Or just use Firefox and support an organization that has privacy and the advancement of a truly open source web browser at the heart of its mission.
Does Firefox still have privacy at the heart of their mission? There is stuff that has to be removed after a fresh install, and settings that have to be changed…
And then those settings get changed back with nearly every update. I’ve turned off studies, highlights, and pocket only to see them turned back on after updating. It’s annoying as hell and a sore point for me with Mozilla, but as Thom pointed out there really are no viable alternatives if you’re trying to stay with open source.
Either Mozilla needs to stop with the dark pattern crap, or someone needs to come along and make a better Firefox. That used to be Waterfox but even it has been sold to an advertising company and is no longer trustworthy.
Have you tried locking the preferences involved?
It’s a mechanism meant for enterprise deployments, so they’re unlikely to get shenanigan-y with it.
That’s fine for Windows but I use Firefox on macOS, various Linux distros, OpenBSD, and Android. I’m not about to jump through hoops looking for a workaround on every platform I use just because Mozilla really, REALLY wants me to give in to their data collection methods.
If I had the talent and knowledge I’d fork Firefox for my own purposes and strip out all the junk, but that would end up being a full time job and I already have two of those.
Then just drop a user.js in your profile (
~/.mozilla/firefox/whatever/user.js) with lines like these:user_pref(“browser.pocket.enabled”, false);
user_pref(“extensions.pocket.api”, “”);
user_pref(“extensions.pocket.site”, “”);
user_pref(“extensions.pocket.oAuthConsumerKey”, “”);
It’ll reset any changes whenever you start/restart the browser.
Locking is only necessary when you need to go beyond that and reject attempts to change after the browser has started. (eg. Historically, non-enterprise users might use it to tell Firefox to ignore attempts by extensions to change settings.)
How are you updating? I haven’t had to turn off any of that stuff after updating for years…
Then again I’m using the Developer Edition so maybe that has something to do with it…
On Windows and macOS: Firefox’s built in updater. On Linux and OpenBSD: the OS’s package manager. On Android: FFUpdater (via F-Droid).
The Developer Edition forces data collection and telemetry, which is exactly what I want to avoid:
Well, they have tracking protection and social media fences built into the defaults, so I’d say a definite yes.
The only thing I remember having to remove/disable is Pocket integration, but it’s been years since I’ve had to do that – as far as I can tell it respects the settings after updates. Disclaimer though: I switched to using the Developer Edition about a year ago.
I recently installed the /e/ version of Android on my phone, that aims to completely remove Google from the OS. It’s been an interesting bug good experience!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//e/_(operating_system)
I’m also in the process of transitioning away from Gmail to ProtonMail. I plan to keep my Google account, but eventually want to be able to remain logged out it for most of the time.
I’ve got a Fairphone 3, but I’m a bit worried about this list. and how ‘fast’ it gets resolved What has your experience been like ?:
https://gitlab.e.foundation/groups/e/-/boards/12?scope=all&utf8=%E2%9C%93&state=opened&label_name%5B%5D=FP3%2FFP3%2B
Oh wow, that’s a lot of issues! I have a Pixel 4a and my experience has been very pleasant. I honestly can’t really even tell the difference, since I’m using the same launcher and most of the same apps as I was using with stock Android.
Bear in mind, I don’t really do anything fancy. I don’t use the fingerprint reader. Probably the most “important” app I have is my banking app, which works fine. Root works great, and I have adblock and a firewall installed. I haven’t noticed any crashes or strange behaviors, but I guess I’m also not very picky. XD
What makes Brave ‘cryptoscammy’, aside from using a blockchain as part of the implementation of one of it’s core features and point of difference?
Do you know something I don’t know?
Do you understand how brave rewards works and why it’s core to their vision of fixing the internets broken as f**k ad model?
Or are you just being triggered by the word crypto just because they use blockchain tech (and tbh why wouldn’t they for this purpose, what would suit better?)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_(web_browser)#Controversies
They have addressed most of these issues, but for me personally it’s a “once bitten, twice shy” thing. The fact that they thought they could get away with it and only fixed it once it blew up in the media tells me everything I need to know about the company behind Brave. They lost my trust from the very beginning.
Ahh, was not aware. Thanks for the heads up.