Notice PingSender.exe on Your OS after FireFox

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,634
Telemetry and Big Data is your friend! Yeah. Mozilla is the champion of the little man! Yeah. Now I will tell you the latest FireFox beta we posted on last week is tremendously faster than the previous version, so maybe all the data they are collecting is not going to waste. However, you will want to give this a read and "opt out" by force. Thanks grtitan.


Firefox collects data if telemetry collecting is enabled. The browse transfers the data regularly to Mozilla in intervals. A big chunk of data was sent to Mozilla on the start of the next browsing session up until recently. The issue was that this could mean that Mozilla would get the data hours, days or even weeks after it had been collected by the browser. In short: Pingsender is a separate process that Firefox spawns on shut down to send telemetry data to Mozilla.
 
....I really, really, really do not want to have to start using a new browser.....Thx for the heads-up on this one.
 
shy.gif
 
So the first comment on that page
toolkit.telemetry.shutdownPingSender.enabled

Its already false by default on Waterfox. :)
Click to expand...

Which is confusing, because it says shutdownPingSender so does that mean if it's false that it WONT shutdown pingsender? or false means that it will since it seems the context is the value being false is a good thing.
 
Master_shake_ said:
we'll see if deleting solves that.

just delete it.
Click to expand...
It's also under the Options settings.* I would imagine that actually shuts it down, deleting it will make a double dog dare to them to try to get it to run.

*Hoping there's no "I know what you are thinking reverse psychology thing" going on in the Options settings making true false and false true, you never know though.
 
This was a controversial topic a month or two back when Mozilla brought it up. I'm torn because I understand that they need to collect data to make the browser better. At the same time I know millions of people are installing it and not turning off the feedback settings, so why do they need more?

At least you can turn it off.
 
bigdogchris said:
At the same time I know millions of people are installing it and not turning off the feedback settings, so why do they need more?
Click to expand...

Same could be asked for Windows 10. Microsoft refuses to provide an opt out switch, even though most unsuspecting users wouldn't use it - or even be aware it's there - if they did.

The reality is, the "just crash dump data to make the software better" line is just spin. There's a mega profit motive - selling "customer insight" data and feeding their Big Data scheme.

Undoubtedly Mozilla is up to the same thing - they're desperate for other revenue streams.
 
Last edited:
sfsuphysics said:
So the first comment on that page


Which is confusing, because it says shutdownPingSender so does that mean if it's false that it WONT shutdown pingsender? or false means that it will since it seems the context is the value being false is a good thing.
Click to expand...
It's not shutting pingsender down, it's running it after Firefox is shut down. So, false is the one you want.
 
They're everywhere, in the browsers, credit cards, phones maybe the burritos? I don't know anymore
 
sfsuphysics said:
So the first comment on that page


Which is confusing, because it says shutdownPingSender so does that mean if it's false that it WONT shutdown pingsender? or false means that it will since it seems the context is the value being false is a good thing.
Click to expand...

Hopefully Waterfox has it shut off completely by default & that config flag is set properly.
 
I really don't get the problem with this? They haven't changed the amount of data they collect, or how much it's collected, and it still pops up a message when you first install the browser asking you if you want to enable the telemetry (NOT asking you if you want to disable telemetry). All that's changed is they have a different way to send that data back to their servers that has lower latency, so they can notice things like unexpected slowdowns & crashes quicker so they can fix them sooner.
 
DPI said:
Same could be asked for Windows 10. Microsoft refuses to provide an opt out switch, even though most unsuspecting users wouldn't use it - or even be aware it's there - if they did.

The reality is, the "just crash dump data to make the software better" line is just spin. There's a mega profit motive - selling "customer insight" data and feeding their Big Data scheme.

Undoubtedly Mozilla is up to the same thing - they're desperate for other revenue streams.
Click to expand...


I'm more than happy for my telemetry to tell MS that I don't use any of the crappy apps and I disable as many of those types of features as I can.
 
Kim Jong-un Mechanic: Somebody set up us the AOL Mail bomb!
Operator: Main screen turn on. BootMGR is missing Ctrl + Alt + Delete to restart...Harvesting all telemetry data execute all cores terrafarm all cryptocurrency!
CATS: All your base are belong to us.Telemetry and mining is fake news...#Persist!
CATS: You have no chance to survive Google virus adwords injection make you're time! Adblock don't be evil allow some non-intrusive advertising.
Captain: Take off every 'ZIG'. Don't Do Krack it Breaks WPA2 WiFi Protocol!!
Captain: For great justice. #ResistNSAColdWarSpying grab it by the...that word is unavailable it's been trademarked by pussyhats of America would you like to make a purchase? How about a donation to the #OpenSourceGiveItToMeForFreeFoundation
 
Its getting to be too much work to have a computer on the internet without having to go through every goddamn little thing to lock it down and make sure you aren't being spied on by every piece of software (including the OS!) you have installed.
 
While I appreciate people's feelings on these type of data collection issues, I think it's important for everybody to keep two things in mind. 1.) Firefox is free. 2.) Nobody is forcing you to use it.
 
PaulP said:
While I appreciate people's feelings on these type of data collection issues, I think it's important for everybody to keep two things in mind. 1.) Firefox is free. 2.) Nobody is forcing you to use it.
Click to expand...
Too bad Edge sucks, not really another choice but to be forced to use another browser, so you have to use something. When something is free you are the product, or your data is.
 
PaulP said:
1.) Firefox is free. 2.) Nobody is forcing you to use it.
Click to expand...
3). Someone doesn't understand rights can't be taken away at will, even when "free" is used in the marketing literature. Welcome, to being a part of the problem.
 
HoffY said:
3). Someone doesn't understand rights can't be taken away at will, even when "free" is used in the marketing literature. Welcome, to being a part of the problem.
Click to expand...
You obviously don't know what a right is and what a privilege is. You have the right to live, but it is a privilege to use something at no cost to yourself that others have spent much time and effort developing. Oh yes, and you also have the right to make your own damn browser if you don't like what's available.
 
Monkey God said:
Its getting to be too much work to have a computer on the internet without having to go through every goddamn little thing to lock it down and make sure you aren't being spied on by every piece of software (including the OS!) you have installed.
Click to expand...
You think that's bad wait til the AI replaces you puts you out of a job then machine learns how to kill you a few years after.
 
We should absolutely advocate for this sort of thing to be opt-in, but frankly this isn't some new scary thing - is a part of Mozilla's telemetry for Firefox and can easily be turned off. Mozilla has some of the most transparent Telemetry data and in many cases, it is in fact opt-in depending on the version you use. Do I think it should be opt-in in all cases? Of course. However, being upset about this when nearly every other major browser, especially Chrome and those based upon it, has something worse and opaque (as well as being generally controlling, developed by a for-profit advertising company, foisting proprietary services etc ), is not realistic.

Mozilla and Firefox aren't perfect, but if you want to talk privacy, ethics, openness/standards, and other geek-centric stuff, they're one of the best around by far. Do you like customized IceWeasel / WaterFox / PaleMoon etc... or other open-source variants of Firefox instead? That's fine, but realize that if Mozilla and Firefox itself suffer, so too will all of these other programs based upon it. Its good to keep Mozilla on the level with expectations, but frankly changing browser platforms isn't going to help - even with full Telemetry on, Firefox sends less info, in a more transparent way, to an entity less likely to abuse it, than just about anyone else.
 
Last edited:
bigdogchris said:
Mozilla claims they do not sell user data "Firefox doesn’t sell access to your personal information like other companies."

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/
Click to expand...

They don't sell access to the data. However that doesn't mean that they don't charge companies for a flash drive that just so happen to contain your information on it. Or access to a shared system that has the data on it. Or they don't charge people to be part of a special co-op that allows them access to all of their data. There have always been people that get around laws of not being able to charge for something by charging you for something else and giving you whatever it is for free. Like OEM software. that is not supposed to be sold without a piece of equipment, so some of the shady sites used to charge you for a micro chip or resister and "forget" to include that with your cheap software. Or places where a certain item is not legal to sell so you are sold a temporary membership to some club that gives away that item for free. Some adult themed places do stuff like that, you aren't paying for sex or some other thing from a person. You are buying X and in exchange the person just so happens to give you something else in exchange. You can never trust PR people, they will find some way to say something that factually is true in the exact meaning of the words but not in their full meaning.
 
PaulP said:
You obviously don't know what a right is and what a privilege is.
Click to expand...

You clearly miss the point. keep parroting the same irrelevant line. It doesn't make their actions right no matter how you wish to justify it to yourself.

It isn't free if they are harvesting personal information, especially without knowledge or consent. The data is not their right to take. NO matter how many free browser's there are, whether i want to develop one, or whether one chooses to use a different browser.. these are irrelevant points.

So no, i clearly know what a right is and more importantly, what a right is not. And it is NOT their right to harvest data and especially not without consent or notice.
 
Last edited:
Exavior said:
They don't sell access to the data. However that doesn't mean that they don't charge companies for a flash drive that just so happen to contain your information on it. Or access to a shared system that has the data on it. Or they don't charge people to be part of a special co-op that allows them access to all of their data. There have always been people that get around laws of not being able to charge for something by charging you for something else and giving you whatever it is for free. Like OEM software. that is not supposed to be sold without a piece of equipment, so some of the shady sites used to charge you for a micro chip or resister and "forget" to include that with your cheap software. Or places where a certain item is not legal to sell so you are sold a temporary membership to some club that gives away that item for free. Some adult themed places do stuff like that, you aren't paying for sex or some other thing from a person. You are buying X and in exchange the person just so happens to give you something else in exchange. You can never trust PR people, they will find some way to say something that factually is true in the exact meaning of the words but not in their full meaning.
Click to expand...

All of that about how most companies evade responsibility is true, but until we actually see real evidence of Mozilla acting that way, they more than most others have earned a benefit of the doubt. First of all, they are NOT a for profit company, but instead a non-profit foundation (different than most of the unscrupulous non-profits out there in organization in a number of ways) ; this means they are not beholden exclusively to profit, with ethics being a core element of their charter. Some may point out that there is a Mozilla Corporation, which is true, but it is a wholly owned private subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, not a shell , public traded, or separate dumping ground.

Besides, Firefox and Mozilla as a whole, even if you ignore their Free Software community ethos, have privacy and respect for the user as an intangible product. You can see it in their advertisements, their partnerships with the EFF and others, the issues they support etc.. If they were to act the same as Google or anyone else, they'd be outmoded. When Google was enticing people away from Firefox with their Google products and Chrome ecosystem, Mozilla was saying "Hey look we know they have some advantages, but it comes at a cost. We're the only guy in town that respects your privacy and freedom, and designs the browser for the user". Frankly, they've gotten shafted for doing the right thing - fighting against the EME for instance, not wanting to support the way Google did things (ie PPAPI flash vs NPAPI flash back a few years), and others.

They realized that most people wanted privacy, but those who would put it over features - especially common competitor features - were few and far between. Mozilla has to provide a comparable experience to for-profit, not-always-ethical competitors that do exactly the kind of thing you mention, with many fewer resources; not an easy thing to do. Still they're the best in the business and occupy a place of success that few others can do so so, much less with ethics and Free Software. They're not always perfect and sometimes make decisions that I don't like, but they're really one of the few putting the resources into the good fight and they bank on that - an the appearance thereof - so if they were just as shifty as everyone else it would mean the end.
 
At least if you enter 'about:telemetry' in the address bar you can see exactly what is being sent - More than I can say about Windows 10. When the actual OS is spying on you, that's bad.

As far as I can tell, no personal data is being sent to Mozilla, it's all telemetry based around the browser and it's configuration/addons/reliability.

CaLALBch.png
 
knowom said:
You think that's bad wait til the AI replaces you puts you out of a job then machine learns how to kill you a few years after.
Click to expand...

General AI is many decades away and might even be impossible. We shall see. If we as a species can make a new species that is smarter than ourselves, than that just goes to show how stupid we are and we deserved to be replaced.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top