Are you aware of Global privacy Control?

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https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/how-to-enable-global-privacy-control/

What tools do you use?

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Sly McNasty, jburk07, 7ProSP1, SB9K, lmacri, Mele20, samak, Alex5723, NaNoNyMouse

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Good news perhaps, Waterfox Current G4.1.2 already has this privacy feature enabled, so users should not have to enable the setting.

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Chrome 102.
GPC with green dot.

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I have GPC on Fx Portable 91.9.0 ESR. I read the articles and I can’t put it on my beloved Basilisk because it doesn’t use Web Extensions. But I got it on Fx and on:

https://globalprivacycontrol.org/

I have the green dot at the top. Plus, it was so easy to add it in about:config advanced options that it was almost scary! But I am rusty on Fx as I have been so enamored of Basilisk for several years now.

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I enabled GPC in my Firefox v98 browser in April 2022 after reading Krusty13’s post Implementing Global Privacy Control – FireFox 95 + in the Norton Tech Outpost.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 *64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1706 * Firefox v100.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2203.5-1.1.19200.5 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.9.198-1.0.1676 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.6758

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Interesting.

When I go to https://globalprivacycontrol.org it says the GPC signal is not detected.

I am using Firefox v91.9.0 ESR, but when I go to about:config and type globalprivacycontrol in order to enable it, the options to do so are not even listed.

Huh??

Do I have to add them manually in order for GPC to become functional? If so, what is the correct procedure and syntax to do so?

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7ProSP1 wrote:

When I go to https://globalprivacycontrol.org it says the GPC signal is not detected. I am using Firefox v91.9.0 ESR, but when I go to about:config and type globalprivacycontrol in order to enable it, the options to do so are not even listed.

Hi 7ProSP1:

Global Privacy Control (GPC) was introduced in Firefox v95. You will have to wait for Firefox ESR v102.x for support for GPC to be added, which should be rolled out to FF ESR users some time between 28-Jun-2022 and 23-Aug-2022 according to https://wiki.mozilla.org/Release_Management/Calendar.

My 06-Apr-2022 post in Krusty13’s Implementing Global Privacy Control – FireFox 95 + in the Norton Tech Outpost notes that changing both privacy.globalprivacycontrol.enabled and privacy.globalprivacycontrol.functionality.enabled to TRUE in the advanced settings (about:config) enabled GPC in my Firefox v98 browser.
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Dell Inspiron 5584 *64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1706 * Firefox v100.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2203.5-1.1.19200.5 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.9.198-1.0.1676 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.6758

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SueW, 7ProSP1

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Thank you for both the clarification and explanation, @lmacri.

@Mele20 mentions in post #2447629 above that he has GPC on Firefox Portable 91.9.0 ESR, so I just assumed I could too enable it on the equivalent non-portable version as well.

I missed it the first time, but upon re-reading this post, I see this is done by utilizing an add-on instead to accomplish this with this version of Firefox.

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Brave in use here – although their search results leave a bit to be desired.

cheers, Paul

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Paul T wrote:

Brave in use here – although their search results leave a bit to be desired.

cheers, Paul

Have you experimented with Presearch? We’ve been using it for many weeks and like it.

Human, who sports only naturally-occurring DNA ~ oneironaut ~ broadcaster

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When I click on https://globalprivacycontrol.org/ I got red on Firefox & Chrome. However, the Privacy Badger extension has send the “Global Privacy Control” and “Do Not Track” signals enabled by default. But upon installation of Privacy Badger to Edge from the Edge extension library, it came up green. So I disabled the conflicting extension in Firefox & Chrome and the test pages turned green. That Firefox recommended extension is Disconnect, free version.

So I can have either Disconnect enabled or Global Privacy Control working with the test page, but not both.

Research References:
https://privacybadger.org/
https://disconnect.me/

Windows 10 22H2 desktops & laptops on Dell, HP, ASUS; No servers, no domain.

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When I enabled GPC, I also installed DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials on Fx 91.9.0 ESR. I’m really impressed with it! Stunned too as I thought I had some of the stuff it has been detecting blocked for some time now! So, not to downplay GPC, and I am very glad I have that turned on, but if you guys don’t also have DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials, you should get it too.

Kudos to this site that scores a B+ for privacy on the DDG app.

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Fred

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@Mele20 :

How were you able to enable GPC on your portable version of Firefox 91.0.9 using about:config  ?

As per @imacri ‘s post #2447675 above:

lmacri wrote:

Global Privacy Control (GPC) was introduced in Firefox v95. You will have to wait for Firefox ESR v102.x for support for GPC to be added, which should be rolled out to FF ESR users some time between 28-Jun-2022 and 23-Aug-2022 according to https://wiki.mozilla.org/Release_Management/Calendar.

To confirm this, I manually inserted the following lines and toggled them to true via about:config in a normal install of Firefox 91.0.9:

privacy.globalprivacycontrol.enabled

privacy.globalprivacycontrol.functionality.enabled

Upon returning to https://globalprivacycontrol.org , it had no effect whatsoever as the website told me the GPC signal was still not detected.  This makes sense if the GRC feature is not yet supported in Firefox 91.0.9 , so how were you able to make it work?

 

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Mele20

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I don’t know how I was able to make it work. That’s embarrassing for me to say! I use Fx SOME everyday but I had been very enamored of Basilisk which is forked off Fx 52.9 ESR and it still is my default browser even though it is no longer developed. (I don’t bank on it though, of course…just browsing). Long way of saying I have not paid close attention to all changes in Fx as the visual aspects of Basilisk are far superior for me than those for Fx.

For instance, I didn’t realize how weird about:config looks now in Fx 91. 9 ESR. It is bare looking! Where are all the columns? I didn’t manually put the preference in about:config. It put itself there. Plus, about:config is shockingly bare bones in Fx 91.9 ESR. I am so used to seeing “normal” about:config in Basilisk.

I am really puzzled now. I’m trying to get away from Basilisk now as it will start eventually having potentially serious security holes as no one bought it when Moonchild offered it for sale around the end of last year.

Ahh…beginning to see why visually I struggle when using Fx but no problems using Basilisk. For example, the reply box here on Basilisk is ONE HALF INCH WIDER than on Fx 91.9 ESR. That half inch makes a big difference in visibility/ease of reading on my 24″ widescreen Dell Ultrasharp monitor. The pull corner (right bottom) on Fx inside the reply box will not widen the reply box but just elongate it. I think this is not this site (other sites are harder to read text too) but Fx doing this…why I have no idea though as I have used Fx (before it Mozilla Suite and originally Netscape not IE as default) since it came out as my default browser until I got Basilisk about 4-5 years ago.

I have Stylus for Fx and Stylem for Basilisk but no styles for AskWoody that would affect this problem. I use the same font on both browsers ….I think this is a problem introduced by Mozilla sometime after Fx 52 that Basilisk is forked off of. It’s probably why I gradually started using Basilisk more and more. When I put this text in the text box for Woody’s on both browsers and then switch back and forth between them, it is very clear how POOR current Fx ESR does for ease of reading compared to Basilisk. So, it is not my imagination! No wonder, I prefer Basilisk and struggle to use Fx 91.9 ESR more frequently. But I can’t put Privacy Badger or Global Privacy Control or DuckDuck Go Privacy Essentials on Basilisk so I really need to use it much less (even just for browsing).

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Looks like I can do better.  What’s that screen shot from?

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Nevermind I see it (duh, didn’t realize that was there)

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Now submitted privacy policy for review.  Let’s see if we can get that grade up

Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher

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Mele20

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I use Waterfox as my main browser and the latest version of Waterfox “Current”: G4.1.2, is said to include GPC, same as Firefox (both are Mozilla and closely related.)

How do you turn on GPC in a Mozilla-related browser, if available in it, and then find out if it is really working?

Although this has been discussed and mentioned repeatedly in this thread, I think that it may be not enough for those less familiar with this topic. So I am putting here what I hope is a clear and complete enough explanation.

For WF and FF:

(1) In the address bar type:  about:config
Hit Return.

(2) In the search field that appears enter:  globalprivacycontrol  (in one word).

(3) Click icon on the extreme right of the GPC line that opens, to enable GPC and “True” will appear in the middle of the line.

(4) Open another tag and there enter the following address:

https://globalprivacycontrol.org/

(4) In the Web page that gets you to, look at the top-center of the screen: if you see a green dot there with the inscription to its immediate right: “GPC signal detected” you have GPC up and running. But if the dot is red, then GPC is either not working or is not available, perhaps because the Mozilla-related browser version is old, or whatever.

If the browser is not FF or Waterfox or some other Mozilla-related one (e.g., Chrome) so “about:config” does not work there, simply enter in the address bar the above URL to connect to the test site. If the dot is green, the browser has GPC up and running; if it is red, it has not. If yours is one of the browsers listed in that globalprivacycontrol.org site (*) and the dot is red, then there has to be some way to turn on in it GPC and get a green dot. You’ll have to find out how to do this by looking around in the Web, or in some other way. Sorry.

(5) Use the browser to do things you usually do with it, to make sure it is still working properly.

(6) If both (4) and (5)  check out, you are done and GPC is working with your browser.

(*) Scroll all the way down in the same page in the GPC site and click on the white button near the bottom that says “Get started.”

See what this looks like in the GPC page (the bottom of the page is not in this picture), where I have encircled the relevant part of the screen with a red oval:

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
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Charlie, Cybertooth, 7ProSP1, Mele20

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FF esr : True is not True.

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I am to dumb to understand this;
can you explain this please?

It seems that GPC is a kind of holygrail right here, and missing the point of Not-being-indexed and Profiled by the big data-collectors in order to make money by advertising and building algorithms.

* _ ... _ *

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Fred wrote:

I am to dumb to understand this;
can you explain this please?

The flag for GPC in FF esr is set to true but the test site says no GPC support.

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Fred wrote:

I am to dumb to understand this; can you explain this please?

Don’t feel bad, this is the first time I’ve heard of this GPC support.

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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Fred

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From reading the article linked by SB and one of the descriptions of what GPC does — a description that is available in several places, for example this one:

https://www.businessinsider.com/global-privacy-control

I get the impression that it is work in progress. Considering nobody has said yet that it killed their computer, I get the impression that GPC might have a benevolent effect — more or less so depending on which country one lives in — and is otherwise probably harmless. So, unless the latter turned out to be untrue once there is more experience with GPC, I think that it is something one might consider turning on, if it is not. And to just let it be, if it is on by default (as it might be, if I read correctly what Alex wrote in a previous comment, in the next version of Chrome (102) that, at the moment, is still being beta-tested).

As to those problems Fred has mentioned and sound nasty, maybe they could be explained some more.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Charlie

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I’d gnot heard of Global Privacy Control. Its name seems a little suspect to me.

But we’ve been using Brave for quite some time. Along with browser nanny-ware from a big company which isn’t US-based. And VPNs. Once is a great while I’ll load up Tor to search something. And before this I used Disconnect on Firefox or Chrome. I bailed out of Firefox years ago when it stopped working with extensions I liked. I use Edge or Chrome as my baseline for “unprotected” searches, when I want reference points on how my searches will be tracked against my desires .

Duck Duck Go has “sold out” to criminally-compromised narratives and is gnow censored. We’d instead begun using the Presearch directory/engine on our devices when I found out about it from a friend, and we’re happy with it.

Human, who sports only naturally-occurring DNA ~ oneironaut ~ broadcaster

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Mr. Austin: Brave comes with GPC in it. If you have this browser up to date, it has it. I gave the link in my comment here ( #2448062 ) to a GPC site where, following the instructions, you can see that Brave is one of the browsers that works with GPC and also how to check if it has GPC turned on.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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OscarCP wrote:

I get the impression that GPC might have a benevolent effect

GPC to replace ‘Do Not Track’ which hasn’t been honored by the majority of sites.

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FWIW my Pale Moon shows the green dot!

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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Cybertooth

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Bottom line – I checked my standard Firefox 100.0.2 using about:config and GPC was there, but not enabled.  Sorry, but I’m still wondering if this GPC is “a work in progress”, and if it’s a good thing to have or not.

Being 20 something in the 70's was so much better than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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Charlie wrote:

I’m still wondering if this GPC is “a work in progress”, and if it’s a good thing to have or not.

Hi Chariie:

I’ve had the privacy setting in my Firefox browser at Tools | Settings | Privacy & Security | Enhanced Tracking Protection | Send Websites a “Do Not Track” Signal That You Don’t Want to be Tracked set to “Always” for several years even though the Mozilla support article How Do I Turn on the Do Not Track Feature? states that “Honoring this setting is voluntary — individual websites are not required to respect it“.

Global Privacy Control (GPC) will likely become the new international standard that allows users to automatically opt out of websites selling or sharing their personal information, and the home page at https://globalprivacycontrol.org/ notes that GPC is already required under the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) and Europe’s Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GPC already has broad industry support and more and more websites will be honouring the GPC signal so I can’t see the harm in enabling it now and getting ahead of the curve.
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Charlie

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Since some people have been quoting me repeatedly with an incomplete quote, here is the complete paragraph that came from, for the sake of clarity in this discussion and in case someone has not seen it before:

“Considering nobody has said yet that it killed their computer, I get the impression that GPC might have a benevolent effect — more or less so depending on which country one lives in — and is otherwise probably harmless.”

Based on information widely available on the Web, of which I have also provided a link to an article in Business Insider. (See my previous comment.)

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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I decided to install the OptMeowt add-on for Firefox to confirm the GPC signal would now be sent when tested at https://globalprivacycontrol.org using my installed version of Firefox 91.9.1 ESR.

As promised, the green dot appeared and I was now informed the GPC signal was indeed detected.

Deciding to take this one step further, I next clicked on the ‘test against the reference server’ link at https://global-privacy-control.glitch.me found underneath the green light and was greeted with the following information:

Server-side detection – Header present
Client-side detection – DOM signal present
.well-known/gpc.json – present

As soon as enabling the GPC feature natively in Firefox ESR becomes available, I’ll uninstall the OptMeowt add-on only because it will no longer be necessary to perform this function, not because of anything against OptMeowt (which does not collect any data or information itself and is 100% open source and non-commercial).

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I tested Pale Moon 31.0.0 (my main browser on this computer) and it gets the green dot on that GPC website.

For what it’s worth, the only privacy-related add-on installed on PM is uBlock Origin.

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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Cybertooth wrote:

I tested Pale Moon 31.0.0 (my main browser on this computer) and it gets the green dot on that GPC website.

From the 10-May-2022 release notes for Palemoon v31.0.0 at https://www.palemoon.org/releasenotes.shtml:

Implemented Global Privacy Control, taking the place of the unenforceable “DNT” (Do Not Track) signal. Through GPC, you indicate to websites that you do not want them to share or sell your data.

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Dell Inspiron 5584 *64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1706 * Firefox v100.0.2

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Cybertooth

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This, from a company making a product some of us here trust to offer added security to our browsing:

https://privacybadger.org/#What-is-a-third-party-tracker

Excerpt:

“Global Privacy Control (GPC) is a new specification that allows users to tell companies they’d like to opt out of having their data shared or sold. By default, Privacy Badger sends the GPC signal to every company you interact with alongside the Do Not Track (DNT) signal.”

….

“When DNT was developed, many websites simply ignored users’ requests not to be tracked. That’s why Privacy Badger has to act as an enforcer: trackers that don’t want to comply with your wishes get blocked. Today, users in many jurisdictions have the legal right to opt out of some kinds of tracking. That’s where GPC comes in.”

….

“At present, Privacy Badger primarily protects you against tracking by third party sites. As far as privacy protections for “first party” sites (sites that you visit directly), Privacy Badger removes outgoing link click tracking on Facebook and Google. We plan on adding more first party privacy protections in the future.“

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Cybertooth

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In my Mac, I have Privacy Badger installed in one of my browsers, Waterfox, that is a fork of FF, and also have turned on the GPC feature on the browser itself not knowing this other application already sends GPC messages to the Web sites I browse.

Is there some known risk of a conflict before that application and this browser because, it would seem, both are doing the same thing? And if so, should I turn off GPC in the browser? If someone here knows the answers to these two questions, please let me know what they are.

Thanks.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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