Firefox installs sponsored extension without user knowledge or consent

[Shypaperbag]

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/16/16784628/mozilla-mr-robot-arg-plugin-firefox-looking-glass

 

Quote

Firefox users noticed a strange new plug-in popping up in their browsers. A new plug-in called Looking Glass found its way into each instance of the new Firefox Quantum browser. It was disabled by default, but users were still alarmed to see a plugin they hadn’t installed. When they checked to see what Looking Glass did, they found a vague and ominous description — “MY REALITY IS JUST DIFFERENT THAN YOURS” — which did little to quiet suspicions.

 

“I did not remember installing this add-on, [and] I would not knowingly install it,” one user wrote in the support forum. “Any explanations welcome because I can't find any reference online.”

As it turned out, Looking Glass was part of Mr. Robot’s long-running alternative reality game, a trail of clues left by writers for fans to discover.

Short version: Mozilla automatically installed a third party extension for a TV series if you agreed to send telemetry to Mozilla (opt-out not opt-in). I'm sure somewhere within all the terms and conditions\EULA it says Mozilla is allowed to do this but I doubt users expected Mozilla to do this, especially considering it has been positioning Firefox as the browser that respects user privacy and control.

[LAwLz]

Really shitty move by Mozilla. They are the one company I feel like I can trust when it comes to having any form of integrity these days. Put the users first, and in control.

This move is easily in the top 10 anime betrayals of all time.

[Doobeedoo]

4 hours ago, huilun02 said:

Vivaldi

Yeah, pretty much what I use along Opera though. 

[TheCherryKing]

5 hours ago, LAwLz said:

Really shitty move by Mozilla. They are the one company I feel like I can trust when it comes to having any form of integrity these days. Put the users first, and in control.

This move is easily in the top 10 anime betrayals of all time.

You are absolutely right! Many people use Mozilla because they don't trust Google. If Mozilla uses telemetry too than what's the point. 

[Crunchy Dragon]

Interesting, I just looked through my add-ons and extensions and didn't see this.

[Murasaki]

The usual.

[Drak3]

8 minutes ago, TheCherryKing said:

You are absolutely right! Many people use Mozilla because they don't trust Google. If Mozilla uses telemetry too than what's the point. 

Google collects a lot more than telemetry.

[ScratchCat]

Random shouting that browser XYZ is better and would not do this. Every browser has done something wrong in the last 5 years.

 

This is unexpected and disappointing .It seems this was not a full rollout / region as none of my Firefox installs received this. Given that the supposed reference was not discovered before seems to show that this game is not well known and therefore could not have been paying Mozilla enough money for it to be worthwhile.

[Matu20]

Firefox was supposed to be the white knight, fuck.

[Memories4K]

Srsly fam, get on the Vivaldi train

[RefresherMan]

Re-installed Chrome, ty. Not supporting that behavior.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

1 hour ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Interesting, I just looked through my add-ons and extensions and didn't see this.

Same here.   According to the OP it only gets installed if you have "agreed to send telemetry to Mozilla (opt-out not opt-in)". 

Turning off the telemetry is one of the first things I do after installing Firefox, so that explains why I never encountered it. 

[Bcat00]

Meh, this is the main reason i switched out of firefox several years ago.

 

They did a test run of this when they were facing financial troubles and started injecting ads without user consent. Guess they are finally taking that trial run into full implementation. 

[linustouchtips]

never saw it in mine but yea chrome is calling me back anyways

[Crunchy Dragon]

14 minutes ago, Captain Chaos said:

Same here.   According to the OP it only gets installed if you have "agreed to send telemetry to Mozilla (opt-out not opt-in)". 

Turning off the telemetry is one of the first things I do after installing Firefox, so that explains why I never encountered it. 

Ah that would do it. I never turn that on

[Thony]

2 hours ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Interesting, I just looked through my add-ons and extensions and didn't see this.

Because u didnt read the entire post. In tldr at the end the poster says it only applies to those who accepted to send telemetry data to Mozzila.

[Master Disaster]

12 minutes ago, Thony said:

Because u didnt read the entire post. In tldr at the end the poster says it only applies to those who accepted to send telemetry data to Mozzila.

No, it's an opt out not an opt in, basically everyone should have it unless they specifically clicked to not send telemetry data.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, RefresherMan said:

Re-installed Chrome, ty. Not supporting that behavior.

oh

[Septimus]

So how does one go about removing this? I just opted out of the data collection, but the plugin remains. Suggestions?

[NumLock21]

I've checked my FF installs on both of my desktop and laptop and  I don't see that "Looking Glass" add-on.

And yes I did read the whole fu*king post from the OP.

[LAwLz]

4 hours ago, TheCherryKing said:

You are absolutely right! Many people use Mozilla because they don't trust Google. If Mozilla uses telemetry too than what's the point. 

Because:

1) They collect far less.

2) They are way more transparent about it.

3) You can opt out of it in Firefox. I am fairly sure they even ask at the first run-time if you want to opt-out.

 

 

2 hours ago, Bcat00 said:

Meh, this is the main reason i switched out of firefox several years ago.

 

They did a test run of this when they were facing financial troubles and started injecting ads without user consent. Guess they are finally taking that trial run into full implementation. 

You say this, and I've seen you say it before, but you have never provided any evidence for it.

Last time you told this FUD you essentially went "well you can't find any evidence for it and I won't post it, but it's true".

 

25 minutes ago, Septimus said:

So how does one go about removing this? I just opted out of the data collection, but the plugin remains. Suggestions?

There should be a remove button right on the plugin page.

If you can't find it (it's in the menu) then type in this in this in your address bar:

about:addons

[Princess Luna]

I have 5 different Windows 10 operating devices at home, all of them have Firefox 57 or Nightly as default browser, none of them have had this extension installed what so ever.

 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Bcat00]

12 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

 

I know you like firefox, and i did too once, but i'm not gonna spend hours skimming through some cache just to prove a point.

And for real, this post says it all whether if there's credibility to my claim.

 

[LAwLz]

24 minutes ago, Bcat00 said:

I know you like firefox, and i did too once, but i'm not gonna spend hours skimming through some cache just to prove a point.

This is not me liking Firefox. This is me disliking bullshit claims that have no evidence to back them up. If you make an outrageous claim then you should have some evidence for it, not just expect other people to believe you, imply that people who don't blindly believe you are fanboys, and then expect others to do your research for you.

 

Me and another person spent quite a bit of time trying to verify your claims and came up empty handed. You can't just go around posting the same FUD over and over in multiple threads and never back it up. In the thread I linked to you said you found an announcement for it. Surely it shouldn't be that hard to find again if Mozilla made an official announcement for these supposed popup ads which it seems nobody but you have experienced. Are you sure it wasn't some malware on your computer? It certainly sounds like it, and this absence of evidence points towards it too.

 

24 minutes ago, Bcat00 said:

And for real, this post says it all whether if there's credibility to my claim.

Except it doesn't... Mozilla installing an addon for some users does not give credibility to your claim that they were pushing out popup ads to users.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

2 hours ago, LAwLz said:

I am fairly sure they even ask at the first run-time if you want to opt-out.

Yup, the first time you open Firefox they'll put a banner at the bottom of the page, with a big button so you can change the settings.