Browser Configuration Assignment
For this assignment, you will install and configure three different Web browsers: Mozilla Firefox, LibreWolf, and Brave. Each of these three choices requires making different tradeoffs between privacy, performance, and compatibility with random websites.
Assignment Information
The application area for this assignment is in the computing sciences. Although this assignment is primarily intended for computer science, information systems, and information technology majors, anyone with an interest is welcome to choose it (regardless of major).
Prerequisites
- You will need a computer running Linux, macOS, or Windows. A Chromebook or Android/iOS tablet will NOT work for this assignment.
- You will need administrative rights to be able to install software on the above computer.
- You should be familiar with the process of downloading and installing software on the above computer.
- You should be comfortable changing application settings.
- You should be able to perform Internet searches to find solutions to issues and locate instructions for completing some of the steps.
- You should be able to record a video screencast presentation containing a demonstration of the configured browsers with audio narration.
- You should be able to edit the recorded video and upload the result to Moodle.
Background
Since the Web browser is perhaps the most commonly used piece of software on your computer, it is a good starting point for improving your privacy. Unfortunately, there is no single, perfect solution that mitigates all privacy concerns. In addition, there is no one browser that provides privacy while remaining fully compatible with all websites and online services. For practical reasons, it is generally necessary to use multiple browsers.
As of early 2023, there are basically three browser engines in widespread use. These are:
- The Blink engine, which is the most widely deployed browser engine. Blink is developed by Google’s Chromium project and is the underlying engine for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera, and a number of other desktop browsers. It is also the engine behind Chrome, Bromite, and most other Android-based browsers. This engine was forked from WebKit, upon which it was originally based.
- WebKit, which is developed by Apple and is used by the Safari browser on the desktop and by every browser on iOS. WebKit was originally forked from KHTML, which was the engine for the Konqueror browser for KDE on Linux.
- Gecko, which is developed by the Mozilla Foundation and provides the foundation for the Firefox browser. Other browsers built from Firefox, such as LibreWolf, also use this engine.
For day-to-day general use, I recommend the Gecko-based browsers, as the engine has more privacy capabilities (generally speaking) and uses less RAM. However, there are some websites created by developers who only test with Blink engines (typically Chrome or Edge) or who use some of the APIs that haven’t been implemented in Gecko. For these sites, a Blink-based browser is needed.
The canonical browser using the Gecko engine is Mozilla Firefox. I have prepared some detailed instructions for Configuring Mozilla Firefox, including turning off telemetry and adjusting other privacy-related settings. These steps are unfortunately necessary, as the Mozilla Foundation has a habit of adding questionable non-features to this browser. In some respects, the foundation is working like a for-profit company and looking for ways to monetize browser features (ostensibly to fund its development).
A faster path to a private browser can be found in the form of LibreWolf, which is a custom compilation of Firefox with some of the questionable non-features, like telemetry and Pocket, completely removed. LibreWolf’s default settings also enable some features from the Tor Browser, such as fingerprinting resistance. These settings can break some websites and may not work with sites that use fingerprinting in a misguided effort to try to improve security (such as banking websites).
For sites that do not fully work with the Gecko engine, such as some of Microsoft’s Office365 products (which arguably don’t work that well in any browser), we need a Blink-based browser. As of early 2023, the least bad choice that works on all 3 desktop platforms (Linux, macOS, and Windows) appears to be Brave. This browser is not without significant problems of its own. In particular, Brave contains a lot of built-in crytocurrency-related rubbish that needs to be disabled. Some of its default settings need to be overridden to improve privacy and reduce clutter. However, among the Blink-based browsers, Brave has the greatest level of enabled privacy features out of the box.
Requirements
To complete this assignment, you will first need to download and install all 3 browsers:
- Mozilla Firefox
- LibreWolf
- Brave
I have provided some instructions (see the Background section, above) for configuring Firefox. You can adapt these instructions to LibreWolf, although the default settings with LibreWolf are significantly better and therefore require less manual tweaking. For Brave, you will need to do your own research to determine what features to disable and what user interface elements to adjust. Since some of Brave’s features and claims are controversial, you will find conflicting advice on privacy-oriented websites.
Once you have the browsers installed and configured, prepare a narrated video demonstration that covers the following:
- Demonstrate that you have installed Mozilla Firefox and have configured the settings as shown in my tutorial above.
- Demonstrate that you have installed LibreWolf, and explain which settings you have changed to make the browser useful to you.
- Demonstrate that you have installed Brave, and explain which settings you changed to disable telemetry, the built-in cryptocurrency non-features, and any other privacy-concerning default setting.
IMPORTANT: You must record this presentation as a live demonstration that you narrate. Screenshots are NOT acceptable and will not receive credit. If your computer is unable to record a screencast, use your cell phone to record the demonstration.
There are no hard and fast requirements for the minimum and maximum lengths of the video. As a rule of thumb, you should be able to cover all the configuration settings for all 3 browsers within about 15 minutes or so. If your video is running especially short, consider whether or not you have actually configured everything, particularly in the LibreWolf and Brave browsers.
Grading
Please review the Browser Configuration Rubric prior to uploading your video presentation. This rubric explains how this assignment option will be graded and can be used as a checklist to ensure that you have completed all the required parts of the assignment.
