this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2023
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Privacy

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I am new to Librewolf and downloaded Multi Account Containers addon along with libredirect, skip redirect and ublock origin. I am currently signed in a container with a Google account and set the URL to always open in that container. However I do not want to allow any Google-affiliated redirecting links to automatically open within that container and sign me in with that account, letting Google know what I had been browsing or searching for even when I would not want them to. This issue is restricting me from making Librewolf my default browser.

How do I make it so that all these links, whether clicked on from somewhere within the browser or an external application, open in a separate container or without a container or in a private window, if possible?

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

One of these might help

Or if you want to instead keep a mapping of special account containers for allowed sites i'd suggest you take a look at

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I would suggest using two different browsers.

Make your default browser one that has no history, no cookies, no login information.

And then use your current Libra wolf browser with your container setup.

Then you can copy and paste the link from the default browser to the container browser intentionally, and only do the container you explicitly want. This will prevent accidental clicking from opening things and revealing your information

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

no history, no cookies, no login information

If your concern is online tracking then it doesn't really matter, browser fingerprint + your exit public IP are enough to identify you uniquely pretty thoroughly even without any persistent information (cookies, local storage etc.) And yes, LibreWolf includes anti-fingerprinting protection, but it's not fullproof and it cannot be without ruining most JavaScript functionality. Do the EFF test to see.

If your concern is privacy from people using your computer then I suggest using multiple OS accounts and a screen lock.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Using two separate browsers solves the fingerprint problem. If they only log in to their services using their LibraFox container then that will be a distinct fingerprint than they're logged out browser

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're thinking about canvas fingerprinting, but there are APIs which cannot be faked without messing with functionality, and there are enough of them to obtain a unique fingerprint even if you omit the canvas. Which advertisers can easily do if they figure out you're faking your canvas.

A lower entropy fingerprint plus the IP can still identify you across browsers. If you compare the results of the EFF test in the two browsers you'll see that most of the values will be the same.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm sorry. I must have misunderstood. You just said that different browsers from the same IP address can be linked to the same person.

I find that difficult to believe, here's a counter example, a VPN endpoint. There's many different people with that originating IP address using different browsers. Being able to identify two that an individual is using would be very difficult.

Browser fingerprinting fingerprints a browser, not a user, not a computer. A browser. I would love to see data contradicting that, but I am not aware of that data

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Browser fingerprinting fingerprints a browser, not a user, not a computer.

But how much of the fingerprint data comes from stuff that's common across browsers? Do the EFF test in a completely different browser and see how much will be the same in Chrome vs Firefox vs Librewolf for example.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That's a good point and it's always worth testing any setup you have.

My mullvad browser passes the fingerprint.com test with flying colors, it doesn't share system fonts and the like. That plus a VPN would make it really hard to say the librewolf browser and tbe mullvsd browser belong to the same person.

I still think there's value in using separate browsers for the scenario the original poster outlayed

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just to be clear, what do you mean by Google-affiliated links, anything *.google.com ?

Is your default container the one with the Google cookies? Or is your default one not signed and you have a separate one you have to manually open to access the Google account?

Regardless, I would do the following:

  • Default container (not signed in to Google)
  • Special container for Google account

Therefore, any link you click on will go to the default container, and is isolated from the Google containers. If you do want to, say, go to Gmail, then just open a new tab in the special Google container manually. This is easier to set up than the inverse where you have to filter by links. Or, if you only use Gmail signed in, but say, not YouTube, then add a auto redirect rule so that Gmail always open in the special Google container.

Also look into Temporary containers if you don't care about cookies and want more isolation on top of the default container.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

anything *.google.com ?

Yeah, pretty much it.

Is your default container the one with the Google cookies?

I personally haven't found a way to make a container default. I just have a separate container for my Google accounts and other accounts connected to it.

Thankfully I found the solution to my problem by using Temporary Containers