From 929bbef985ed1c1ebaa6ddfc8e340517c7d4656e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Baobab Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2022 18:22:15 -0600 Subject: [PATCH] Changed the rating of Waterfox from High -> Medium. See #117 for more information. --- articles/waterfox_classic.html | 52 ++++++++++++++++++---------------- articles/webbrowser.html | 4 +-- 2 files changed, 29 insertions(+), 27 deletions(-) diff --git a/articles/waterfox_classic.html b/articles/waterfox_classic.html index 1eec67a..dc43e78 100644 --- a/articles/waterfox_classic.html +++ b/articles/waterfox_classic.html @@ -1,27 +1,28 @@ - - - - - - - - + + + - Waterfox Classic — Spyware Watchdog - + + + + Waterfox Classic - Spyware Watchdog +
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← Catalog
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+ ← Catalog +
Waterfox Logo

Waterfox Classic

Version tested was 2020.10.

Waterfox is a web browser that is a fork of Firefox. + Note: This article has a few issues. See this for more details.

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Spyware Level: High

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Spyware Level: Medium

Waterfox is a fork of Firefox that claims to be more private and secure than Firefox. However, Waterfox contains telemetry and shares @@ -34,18 +35,6 @@ well as Waterfox's own update service. You can look at a list of these requests here.

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Waterfox offers spyware search engines to its users and uses Bing as its default search engine

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- By default Waterfox is using the spyware search engine Bing. - Why would a privacy-based Web Browser offer this search engine by default? The other offered search engines are not much better- we have the option of searching with Google, - which also logs your internet searches, and Ecosia, which also logs your internet searches (but it gives them to Bing). The developers attitude towards these search engines is concerning: -

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- "Bing is actually quite good for privacy as well (let's not forget Mozilla even suggested them as a more privacy focused search back in 2009)."[2] -

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- It's very clear that while the browser advertises itself as very privacy focused, the actual words and actions of the developers aren't consistent with this claim. -

Waterfox is integrated into the "Firefox Accounts" spyware platform

The "Firefox Accounts" platform allows you to sync a lot of sensitive @@ -62,6 +51,19 @@ where the user can understand what they are giving up when they download the update.

Other known spywares, like Chromium, make use of this method

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Not spyware related, but worth noting

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Anti-privacy search engine by default

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+ By default Waterfox uses the search engine Bing. + Why would a privacy-based Web Browser offer this search engine by default? The other offered search engines are not much better- we have the option of searching with Google, + which also logs your internet searches, and Ecosia, which also logs your internet searches (but it gives them to Bing). The developers attitude towards these search engines is concerning: +

+

+ "Bing is actually quite good for privacy as well (let's not forget Mozilla even suggested them as a more privacy focused search back in 2009)."[2] +

+

+ It's very clear that while the browser advertises itself as very privacy focused, the actual words and actions of the developers aren't consistent with this claim. +

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This article was created prior to 6/2/2018
- This article was last edited on 12/27/2020 + This article was last edited on 2/20/2022

If you want to edit this article, or contribute your own article(s), visit us at the git repo on Codeberg. All contributions must be licensed under the CC0 license to be accepted. diff --git a/articles/webbrowser.html b/articles/webbrowser.html index a1e77c4..112ae00 100644 --- a/articles/webbrowser.html +++ b/articles/webbrowser.html @@ -19,7 +19,7 @@

Web Browser

Web Browser is a browser originally based on Pale Moon.

Spyware Level: Not Spyware

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Web Browser makes no unsolicited requests at all. It is also fully open source.[1] It is a great choice for everyday use and due to it being based on Pale Moon, it has access to all of the XUL plugins available.

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Web Browser makes no unsolicited requests at all. It is also fully open source.[1] Due to it being based on Pale Moon, it has access to all of the XUL plugins available.

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