Tired of your phone tracking you? Try a Google alternative (+ win a Volla Phone!)

Oh my god. So much wrong to unpack here... where to start?

Don't compare Firefox to Google: one is a browser, the other is a company. Either Firefox vs. Google Chrome or Mozilla vs. Google
"Chromium is from Google, but it is also FOSS". Firefox is also FOSS. The big difference is that Google pushes the development of Chromium and finally decides what features are added or removed: if your browser is based on Chromium, Google is making the important decisions on the browsing engine. This is not the case on Firefox-based browsers. Period. I guess you might have read about Google's new idea: "Web Environment Integrity", even Vivaldi thinks it's a very bad idea, calling it "a threat to the open web (that) should be pushed back".
By using a Chromium based browser you are giving more power to Google. Google's browsing engine keeps gaining more and more market share. This gives Google the power to push "web standards" that are harmful to the open web, but since most browsers use Google's engine (like Vivaldi), most websites will adapt to Google's backwards standards. If you care for the open web and open standards, I really recommend to stay away from any Chromium-based browser. Doesn't need to be Firefox-based, but unfortunately there doesn't seems to be any alternative nowadays. It would be great to have other browsing engines to chose from.
Yes, technically, one could take Chromium's source code and strip it of problematic features like "Web Environment Integrity". But doing this every time a new version is released is cumbersome and not efficient: no one will do that.
If you carefully read my comment, I didn't specifically recommend Firefox (which is not bad option, in my opinion), but "a Firefox based browser". Same as Vivaldi is based on Chromium; Librewolf, Mull, Fennec... are based on Firefox, and are, in my opinion, better alternatives.
I know that Google is the main sponsor of Mozilla, yes. Mozilla gets money to develop Firefox, Thunderbird and other projects, and in turn Firefox comes with Google as its default browsing engine. Just change it or, as I said, use a Firefox based browser, those usually come with a different default search engine. On top of this, the existence of Firefox is a good excuse for Google to avoid accusations of monopoly in the browser market (something that the existence of Vivaldi doesn't avoid), so Google also wins there. we know that.
There are Google devs working on Firefox. OK, what are they doing? Are they influencing the browsing engine? Are they pushing harmful features like "Web Environment Integrity"? If any of those bad ideas are pushed, are they accepted? Again, Vivaldi uses a browsing engine designed by Google and they don't have a say in how that browsing engine is designed: the influence of Google is bigger.
"Every visit to Mozilla sends data to..." I didn't ask you to visit Mozilla. Just don't visit their website? And anyway, I just tried https://www.mozilla.org/ and uBlock Origin reports that it connected to just 1 domain (mozilla.org). No 3rd party scripts nor 3rd party frames loaded). Where are your claims coming from?

6 comments

Vivaldi is based on Google's Chromium. If you want a Google alternative try a Firefox based browser.
- FF a Google alternative? LOL, it was once in the past, before he made a contract with the devil, now every visit to Mozilla sends data to Alphabet, googletagmanager and googleanalytics. Did you know that there are Google devs working on FF in Mozilla, eg Ben Goodger? That Google is the main sponsor of Mozilla? Chromium is from Google, but it is also FOSS, and with this each company is free to gut it from Google APIs, which Vivaldi does, which also does not depend on external sponsors and even less on Google.
  
  It's not the browser's fault for sending data to Google tag manager... It's a website's fault.
  At least with a non-chrome browser you can install uBlock and protect your self more than a chrome browser could.
  Why take the chance?
  
  Oh my god. So much wrong to unpack here... where to start?
  Don't compare Firefox to Google: one is a browser, the other is a company. Either Firefox vs. Google Chrome or Mozilla vs. Google
  "Chromium is from Google, but it is also FOSS". Firefox is also FOSS. The big difference is that Google pushes the development of Chromium and finally decides what features are added or removed: if your browser is based on Chromium, Google is making the important decisions on the browsing engine. This is not the case on Firefox-based browsers. Period. I guess you might have read about Google's new idea: "Web Environment Integrity", even Vivaldi thinks it's a very bad idea, calling it "a threat to the open web (that) should be pushed back".
  By using a Chromium based browser you are giving more power to Google. Google's browsing engine keeps gaining more and more market share. This gives Google the power to push "web standards" that are harmful to the open web, but since most browsers use Google's engine (like Vivaldi), most websites will adapt to Google's backwards standards. If you care for the open web and open standards, I really recommend to stay away from any Chromium-based browser. Doesn't need to be Firefox-based, but unfortunately there doesn't seems to be any alternative nowadays. It would be great to have other browsing engines to chose from.
  Yes, technically, one could take Chromium's source code and strip it of problematic features like "Web Environment Integrity". But doing this every time a new version is released is cumbersome and not efficient: no one will do that.
  If you carefully read my comment, I didn't specifically recommend Firefox (which is not bad option, in my opinion), but "a Firefox based browser". Same as Vivaldi is based on Chromium; Librewolf, Mull, Fennec... are based on Firefox, and are, in my opinion, better alternatives.
  I know that Google is the main sponsor of Mozilla, yes. Mozilla gets money to develop Firefox, Thunderbird and other projects, and in turn Firefox comes with Google as its default browsing engine. Just change it or, as I said, use a Firefox based browser, those usually come with a different default search engine. On top of this, the existence of Firefox is a good excuse for Google to avoid accusations of monopoly in the browser market (something that the existence of Vivaldi doesn't avoid), so Google also wins there. we know that.
  There are Google devs working on Firefox. OK, what are they doing? Are they influencing the browsing engine? Are they pushing harmful features like "Web Environment Integrity"? If any of those bad ideas are pushed, are they accepted? Again, Vivaldi uses a browsing engine designed by Google and they don't have a say in how that browsing engine is designed: the influence of Google is bigger.
  "Every visit to Mozilla sends data to..." I didn't ask you to visit Mozilla. Just don't visit their website? And anyway, I just tried https://www.mozilla.org/ and uBlock Origin reports that it connected to just 1 domain (mozilla.org). No 3rd party scripts nor 3rd party frames loaded). Where are your claims coming from?