Re: How does GMail know I use Firebug extension in Iceweasel?

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

On 11/28/07 19:26, Raj Kiran Grandhi wrote:
Ron Johnson wrote:

On 11/28/07 18:17, Raj Kiran Grandhi wrote:
Recently gmail has begun displaying the following notice when I login to
its web interface:

"Firebug is known to make Gmail slow unless it is configured correctly."

It offers a couple of option to disable/configure it. However what I
find disturbing is how gmail 'knows' what extensions I have installed on
my machine. Is there a bug in iceweasel/firefox that leaks out some
information on extensions to the remote servers?

JavaScript?

I do use the javascript version gmail instead of the plain html one.
However it is a surprise to me that remote sites are able to figure out
what extensions I have installed using javascript. Does that not have
privacy implications?

Java & JS are supposed to live in a sandbox. Still, I don't let FF
store my passwords.

Disabling javascript renders most sites pretty
useless. I have played around with noscript for a couple of months
before turning it off.

Why? Noscript is great...

Extensions like webdeveloper and firebug are very useful in working
around some of those "user friendly" features of some websites (like
disabling the text entry field, so that users can enjoy the
non-cross-platform shiny calender widget to enter a date)

Websites basing their content (and bugs) based on the user-agent is bad
enough as it is. Add extensions to that list and it makes me want to
weep :(

Is there some way to keep javascript enabled while limiting the amount
of information the remote site can "see"?

Be careful what you store in your web browser.

- --
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson LA USA

%SYSTEM-F-FISH, my hovercraft is full of eels
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)

iD8DBQFHTjaoS9HxQb37XmcRAuevAJ0V+LQVa93kFVcFaOpOORwkOwMdEwCgyn2g
mSok9aieVCDjVtI11zD9eF8=
=hsu7
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----


--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Relevant Pages

  • Re: How does GMail know I use Firebug extension in Iceweasel?
    ... "Firebug is known to make Gmail slow unless it is configured correctly." ... find disturbing is how gmail 'knows' what extensions I have installed on ... I do use the javascript version gmail instead of the plain html one. ... Disabling javascript renders most sites pretty useless. ...
    (Debian-User)
  • Re: [SLE] Proposals for SUSE list managers
    ... On Fri, 2005-07-29 at 22:12 +0200, roach wrote: ... >> And with more and more people using a web interface to their email the ... > This is a bug in gmail, it should be fixed there - not broken here. ... because they are to lazy to start a new thread. ...
    (SuSE)
  • Re: [PATCH] itmtouch: fix inverted flag to indicate touch location correctly
    ... if you use SMTP to gmail instead of the web interface. ... The web interface isn't decent for sending patches. ...
    (Linux-Kernel)
  • Re: [SLE] OT GMail, Problems with email downloading
    ... their web interface. ... I use my ISP mail for time critical stuff, ... GMail for other stuff. ... Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org ...
    (SuSE)
  • Re: OT: Gmail and reading this list
    ... >> There would be no problem if I read from the web interface, but I hate reading ... > point of Gmail is "read anywhere, search your email easily, never ... That was the point of IMAP when it was invented long ago. ...
    (Fedora)