[SOLVED] Need Explanation of FF Tracking

[Wiggam72]

I have FF set to:

Strict Content Blocking

Clear history when Firefox closes

I have cookies saved for DuckDuckGo to keep the search and theme settings I chose. I also have:

DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials

Ublock Origin

CCleaner has a new version. I opened it up and the new feature is Easy Clean. In CCleaner I have FF disabled under Custom Clean > Applications so it won''t damage or break FF. Because of this, I went ahead and cleaned it using the Easy Clean feature. After cleaning it, it wiped out my DuckDuckGo settings. Fortunately I used the DuckDuckGo Cloud Save feature (that needs to be set before losing settings) by entering the password I created to put my settings back. So if anyone here uses customized DuckDuckGo settings you now have a heads up on the use of that feature in CCleaner.

What I need to know is the following. When I tried it, it showed that I had over 1,500 trackers! I was shocked. How is this possible? I thought that between my FF Privacy settings and the add-ons I have, there would be no trackers.

[kerft]

Under "clear history when firefox closes" options, you could set it to automatically clear all cookies on close. Obviously that would be inconvenient at times for staying logged in. There are many more advanced ways of dealing with cookies.

One that might work is, click on hamburger or three lines menu. Pick content blocking. Set to block cookies, and block "third party cookies." Clear your cookies once (you will have to log in to everything on earth again, make sure you know your passwords). Then, in the future you should have many fewer cookies.

There are many other ways, from setting a whitelist to using cookie extensions, to using the shield to the left of websites to allow cookies only in limited cases.

Every anti-malware program will have its own definition of what a tracker is. In this case, most of them are probably cookies or supercookies. Many supercookies can be gone by uninstalling Flash - for most users Flash is not used anymore. Flash will be eliminated for everyone in 2020. The above is the advice for cookies.

[mightyglydd]

I went ahead and cleaned it using the Easy Clean feature.

Bravo !!

@ Not as if you didn't know the pitfalls, surprised it didn't clean out your bank account too. http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... #p14808294

[Wiggam72]

Under "clear history when firefox closes" options, you could set it to automatically clear all cookies on close. Obviously that would be inconvenient at times for staying logged in. There are many more advanced ways of dealing with cookies.

One that might work is, click on hamburger or three lines menu. Pick content blocking. Set to block cookies, and block "third party cookies." Clear your cookies once (you will have to log in to everything on earth again, make sure you know your passwords). Then, in the future you should have many fewer cookies.

There are many other ways, from setting a whitelist to using cookie extensions, to using the shield to the left of websites to allow cookies only in limited cases.

Every anti-malware program will have its own definition of what a tracker is. In this case, most of them are probably cookies or supercookies. Many supercookies can be gone by uninstalling Flash - for most users Flash is not used anymore. Flash will be eliminated for everyone in 2020. The above is the advice for cookies.

I think I did that, or something very similar quite some time ago. I even posted about it. The issue I was having was that if I clear cookies and didn't find the right sequence on making the DuckDuckGo cookies permanent, it would wipe out my settings. It's possible with the new FF version what you've just posted might work. I'll give it a go and let you know if it works.

[Wiggam72]

I went ahead and cleaned it using the Easy Clean feature.

Bravo !!

@ Not as if you didn't know the pitfalls, surprised it didn't clean out your bank account too. http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... #p14808294

I don't do online banking. Too risky. That was a totally different issue and was rectified. All software has bugs etc. Look at the fiasco that just happened recently with the certificates issue in FF. As I stated in the OP, the reason I tried it was because I already had FF disabled in the normal cleaning settings. I didn't think that the DuckDuckGo settings would be recognized as tracking cookies.

Now that I know that, if I decide to use it again, I know that I'll just have to reenable the settings again using DuckDuckGo's Cloud Save feature which only takes 30 seconds to do.

[siffemoz]

If you know how to use Custom Clean effectively, there's no need to ever use Easy Clean.

[Brummelchen]

it showed that I had over 1,500 trackers!

explained it last days here - BS. fact is what firefox show you, not more, not less.
abandon those stupid programs.

[Wiggam72]

Under "clear history when firefox closes" options, you could set it to automatically clear all cookies on close. Obviously that would be inconvenient at times for staying logged in.

The problem with doing that is that it deletes the cookies I need for my DuckDuckGo settings. I wiped out all cookies and tried some of the other things you suggested along with some of my own and I notice that each time I browse the net, it adds more and more in the CCleaner Easy Clean tracking.

For some reason I can't delete all cookies except for the ones for my DuckDuckGo settings.

[Wiggam72]

If you know how to use Custom Clean effectively, there's no need to ever use Easy Clean.

So what settings should I use to do that?

[Wiggam72]

it showed that I had over 1,500 trackers!

explained it last days here - BS. fact is what firefox show you, not more, not less.
abandon those stupid programs.

So what are they showing as trackers? Please explain. I don't understand how that can happen. I did notice that after I cleaned them out, my PC was a tad faster.

[mightyglydd]

Why don't you ask Avast/QuackQuackGo?
A 'tad faster'...sure...

[kerft]

Using content blocking to block third party cookies does not block all cookies. As you visit sites you will get their cookies.

To keep only the duckduckgo cookie, assuming you are ok with letting most sites give you session cookies, do this:
Set everything to not clear cookies. Ccleaner and Firefox.
In cookie options, set Firefox to keep cookies only "until I close firefox."
Go to duckduckgo. Click the icon to the left of its url. Click cookies, set its cookie to "allow"
Now, whenever you close firefox, all cookies except duckduckgo should be removed and your scan should come up clean or with only 1-10 cookies.

This does allow spying during a session. You can use the content blocking settings or an adblocker like ublock origin or noscript to provide additional protection.

[mightyglydd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r-v9GLFTyw

[Brummelchen]

I did notice that after I cleaned them out, my PC was a tad faster.

files without access can not make a system faster when deleted.
it stands - firefox only has valid information about itself, i dont know, what those malicious tools show to pay the fee for it.
if you trust those programs instead the majority experience here - your choice.

[Wiggam72]

Using content blocking to block third party cookies does not block all cookies. As you visit sites you will get their cookies.

To keep only the duckduckgo cookie, assuming you are ok with letting most sites give you session cookies, do this:
Set everything to not clear cookies. Ccleaner and Firefox.
In cookie options, set Firefox to keep cookies only "until I close firefox."
Go to duckduckgo. Click the icon to the left of its url. Click cookies, set its cookie to "allow"
Now, whenever you close firefox, all cookies except duckduckgo should be removed and your scan should come up clean or with only 1-10 cookies.

This does allow spying during a session. You can use the content blocking settings or an adblocker like ublock origin or noscript to provide additional protection.

I checked and those are the settings I have. I guess the only thing left is to do what you said in the last line. I thought those things had everything under control. I don't know how to go about using those tools properly to delete or block the other cookies from staying on the PC after FF closes. It appears CCleaner Easy Clean is giving a false positive for DuckDuckGo cookies because FF in the left of url icon says DuckDuckGo has no tracking cookies which DDG claims is the case.