SuperAntiSpyware picking up loads of Mozilla adware cookies after latest update

[kes]

After the latest update of Firefox to 64.0 (x64 bit, Win10) I am
getting lorryloads of tracking cookies reported by SuperAntiSpyware in
the cookies.sqlite folder under Roaming/Mozilla/Firefox.
These include recognised tracking adware sites like doubleclick.net,
pubmatic.com, mookie1.com etc.

Is Mozilla going to the dark side of the Force? Should I ditch it again,
like I did a few years ago when it went to bed with Google Chrome?

Any advice welcome.

[WaltS48]

What are your settings for Options > Privacy & Security?

The user has some control over what is allowed.

<https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/tracking-protection>

<https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/storage>

--
OS: Linux Mint 19.1 - Cinnamon Desktop
https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/get-involved/
Rex called Don lazy and dumb as a rock in a much nicer way.

[kes]

On 29/12/2018 15:54, WaltS48 wrote:
> On 12/29/18 5:23 AM, kes wrote:
>> After the latest update of Firefox to 64.0  (x64 bit, Win10) I am
>> getting lorryloads of tracking cookies reported by SuperAntiSpyware in
>> the cookies.sqlite folder under Roaming/Mozilla/Firefox.
>> These include recognised tracking adware sites like doubleclick.net,
>> pubmatic.com, mookie1.com etc.
>>
>> Is Mozilla going to the dark side of the Force? Should I ditch it again,
>> like I did a few years ago when it went to bed with Google Chrome?
>>
>> Any advice welcome.
>>
>
> What are your settings for Options > Privacy & Security?
>
> The user has some control over what is allowed.
>
> <https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/tracking-protection>
>
> <https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/storage>
>

Thanks for those links.

"Starting in Firefox version 63, the functionality of Tracking
Protection is included in a new set of features called Content Blocking.
Now, you can get the same tracking protection by selecting the setting
to block all detected trackers. "

When the name of a service changes, time to take a second look. The new
'Content Blocking' options (defaults) are pretty lax, and that may have
been the problem.

[Andy Burns]

kes wrote:

> After the latest update of Firefox to 64.0 (x64 bit, Win10) I am
> getting lorryloads of tracking cookies reported by SuperAntiSpyware

Anti-malware generally exists to generate a worryingly long report of
supposed bad things (such as cookies) to justify its own existence.

> in the cookies.sqlite folder under Roaming/Mozilla/Firefox. These
> include recognised tracking adware sites like doubleclick.net,
> pubmatic.com, mookie1.com etc.

Have you configured firefox *not* to store cookies? If not, it will
cheerfully store them.

> Is Mozilla going to the dark side of the Force? Should I ditch it again,
> like I did a few years ago when it went to bed with Google Chrome?

My tactic is to never accept 3rd party cookies, always accept other
cookies as session cookies, so they get deleted every time I quit
firefox (apart from a tiny list of whitelisted sites).

[kes]

I accept all you say, however I have been using SuperAntiSpyware as long
as I have FF. I would have noticed this before, if something had not
changed recently. My guess is default cookie settings (best case) or
increase in the number of tracker cookies smuggled in by FF (worse case).