In previous articles we shared here on the blog, we were talking about the news that Mozilla released the decision to implement the mandatory use of two-factor authentications for plugin developer accounts, this with the purpose of that when connecting to addons.mozilla.org, the verification code generated by a separate application will be additionally requested.
And now in this new article, we share the news that It was announced a few days ago that Mozilla removed four Avast plugins from the plugin catalog Firefox, among which Avast Online Security, AVG Online Security, Avast SafePrice and AVG SafePrice were withdrawn.
Decision by Mozilla to remove these add-ons It is due to the organization of the leakage of users' personal data. While Google has not yet responded to the incident and the add-ons remain in the Chrome App Store directory.
Since spying on your users is clearly a violation of the terms that both Google and Mozilla make extension developers sign.
When the Avast Online Security extension is active, it will ask for information about the websites visited from an Avast server. In the process, it will transmit data that will allow you to reconstruct your entire web browsing history and much of your surfing behavior. The amount of data that is sent goes far beyond what is necessary for the extension to work, especially when compared to competitive solutions such as Google Safe Browsing.
In the code of additions, inserts are identified to load user profiles and detailed information about the history of opening pages to the site uib.ff.avast.com. Externally, much more data was transferred than necessary to implement the declared functionality of plugins to verify security (warning about opening malicious sites) and to provide assistance with online purchases (price comparison, coupons, etc.).
For example, data was sent about the URLs that are opened (with request parameters), operating system, user ID, regional settings, page access method, reference, etc. Interestingly, the Avast-owned Jumpshot website explicitly advertised the sale of user activity data suitable for analyzing your preferences when searching and selecting products.
Single site navigation
Moreover, the Mozilla developers released that after adding support to work in internet kiosk mode in Firefox 71 they have planned for the next version of Firefox 73 add the ability to open links using the "Site Specific Browser" concept (SSB).
Moment this new function will be included within the Nightly compilations of Firefox, on the basis of which the test characteristics will be included at the base of the launch of the stable version of the browser.
As for the new mode, this Its main function is to restrict the opening in the window of only links to pages of the site current (external links open in a separate browser window) and also hides the menu, address bar and other elements of the browser interface.
Unlike the kiosk mode added above, the work is not done in full screen mode, but in a normal window, but without Firefox-specific interface elements.
With the new feature, it is intended to work so that you can organize your work with a web application as with a normal desktop program.
To open the link in SSB mode, the command line prompt «–ssb» is proposed, which can be used when creating shortcuts for web applications, and the button «Launch site-specific browser», located in the menu of the page (opens via ellipsis to the right of the address bar).
Finally if you want to know more about it About this new implementation that Mozilla developers have planned, you can check the details in the following link.