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submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by ultra@kbin.social to c/technology@lemmy.world

Mozilla:

This dashboard tracks technical issues in major software platforms which disadvantage Firefox relative to the first-party browser. We consider aspects like security, stability, performance, and functionality, and propose changes to create a more level playing field.

Further discussion on the live issues can be found in our platform-tilt issue tracker.

Announcement:

Browsers are the principal gateway connecting people to the open Internet, acting as their agent and shaping their experience. The central role of browsers has long motivated us to build and improve Firefox in order to offer people an independent choice. However, this centrality also creates a strong incentive for dominant players to control the browser that people use. The right way to win users is to build a better product, but shortcuts can be irresistible — and there’s a long history of companies leveraging their control of devices and operating systems to tilt the playing field in favor of their own browser.

This tilt manifests in a variety of ways. For example: making it harder for a user to download and use a different browser, ignoring or resetting a user’s default browser preference, restricting capabilities to the first-party browser, or requiring the use of the first-party browser engine for third-party browsers.

For years, Mozilla has engaged in dialog with platform vendors in an effort to address these issues. With renewed public attention and an evolving regulatory environment, we think it’s time to publish these concerns using the same transparent process and tools we use to develop positions on emerging technical standards. So today we’re publishing a new issue tracker where we intend to document the ways in which platforms put Firefox at a disadvantage and engage with the vendors of those platforms to resolve them.

This tracker captures the issues we experience developing Firefox, but we believe in an even playing field for everyone, not just us. We encourage other browser vendors to publish their concerns in a similar fashion, and welcome the engagement and contributions of other non-browser groups interested in these issues. We’re particularly appreciative of the efforts of Open Web Advocacy in articulating the case for a level playing field and for documenting self-preferencing.

People deserve choice, and choice requires the existence of viable alternatives. Alternatives and competition are good for everyone, but they can only flourish if the playing field is fair. It’s not today, but it’s also not hard to fix if the platform vendors wish to do so.

We call on Apple, Google, and Microsoft to engage with us in this new forum to speedily resolve these concerns.

[-] ultra@kbin.social 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

A compromise is this OpenBoard fork by Helium314 which is able to use Google's proprietary gesture typing library, which can be downloaded and loaded manually if you want to enable it. It's still a privacy improvement over using Gboard.

[-] ultra@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Walmart has a $20 Android TV streaming device that makes a good substitute. The Verge gave it an 8/10. Works great for Stremio and other Android TV apps.

[-] ultra@kbin.social 71 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is an easy one.

The entire privacy policy of Aegis:

Aegis Authenticator does not collect any data from your device.

  • Camera access is only used for scanning QR codes.

If you believe this policy has been violated, please let us know.

Relevant parts of Authy's privacy policy:

We use that phone number to identify you, to provide you 2FA services, and to maintain logs for security and anti-fraud purposes.

We may also send notices about Twilio products or events to you, but you may click on the unsubscribe link that will appear at the bottom of any of our marketing emails or you can contact customer support to opt out.

Device Information. When you download and open the Authy desktop or mobile app, we automatically collect information about the type of device you have downloaded the app on and your device identifier.

Login History and Authy Account History. When you use an Authy token to log into an account, whether the token was generated on the app or one sent to you via your phone number, we collect and keep information associated with your login activity including information like your IP address, what application you logged in to, that you logged in, and when. If you change your phone number or email associated with your Authy account, we will also keep a log of that.

Geolocation information. If you have location services turned on, we collect your location based on your IP address.

How we share personal data. In general, Authy shares personal data in the same way Twilio does (see How Twilio shares personal data for more).

From "How Twilio shares personal data": However, we do need to share it in some circumstances. These may be to provide you services (e.g., to route a call or send an email), or when necessary for our suppliers to provide services to us, or for another reason listed here, or share personal data for cross-context behavioral advertising.

However, Authy users should be aware that an application that integrates with the Authy 2-Factor API can access your phone number, email address, and user name. It will also be able to access your primary device type and information associated with your login activity to that application. It may also retain this information on its own servers. We may also share other information related to your account with that application to help them and us detect suspicious or fraudulent activity on your account.

[-] ultra@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Looking forward to the day Artemis becomes free and open source. That's when I'll be sure to try it out!

ultra

joined 1 year ago