General Discussion • Re: Firefox 150 comes with a Free VPN

Like... yes, it's one thing if users happen to use a VPN or an adblocker, but promoting those kind of uses suggests a certain vibe of explicitly appealing to people who don't like to pay for things and use privacy as an excuse.

Concerning "privacy", you have one way to look at it, but I have a different way of looking at it. I'll explain by using an example.

Many people, including me, do not like having tracking cookies put on their computers by websites which are affiliated with other websites in the form of "buttons" when one does not have an account with said company. One example is Facebook (Meta).

Facebook (Meta) places tracking cookies on the computers and devices of people who do not have a Facebook account. This tracking occurs through the extensive network of "Like" buttons, "Share" buttons, embedded content, and the Meta Pixel (formerly Facebook Pixel) present on millions of non-Facebook websites.

When a user visits a site with Facebook integrations, their browser sends a request to Facebook’s servers. Even without an account, a two-year tracking cookie is installed to identify the browser.

Facebook (Meta) records the IP address, browser type, operating system, and the specific website being visited. By collecting this data over time; Facebook (Meta) can build a profile of a user's browsing habits, interests, and location even if they never sign up for an account. This data is used to analyze web traffic, improve security, and show ads encouraging non-users to join the platform.

While logged-out users can sometimes opt-out of ad targeting, non-users generally "cannot opt-out" of the data collection itself. In 2026, Meta is attempting to reduce data sharing for EU users to comply with stricter GDPR regulations, but this tracking remains widespread globally.

On all three of my linux browsers which are Pale Moon, Waterfox and Firefox, I block all cookies from these intrusive websites where I do not have an account, to keep them from following me around when I am on the internet. But I also go one step further.

Again; using Facebook (Meta) as an example, I have every address for Facebook (Meta) known to me from searches which includes mobile addresses, put into my Hosts file in both of the two linux distros I am now using at the time of this posting which are MX Linux and Debian. This way, no one can reach Facebook (Meta) if they are using my computer in any of my three linux browsers. Hence, no tracking cookies.

Since Facebook (Meta) thinks of me as a non user "shadow account", I treat Facebook (and other websites) who use this method as "pariahs", in my opinion, when it comes to privacy (shadow accounts).