New App: Private Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org 1.0 Released 4u341p

John T. Haller's picture
Submitted by John T. Haller on January 6, 2011 - 11:41pm

logoportableapps.sitesunblocked.org Suite. And it's open source and completely free.

Read on for more details...

portableapps.sitesunblocked.org Platform 2.0 Beta 5 s who already have this app installed, simply click 'Check for Updates' in your PA.c Menu to update to the new version.

Features 5m3f1z

ScreenshotPrivate Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org is an app that works with Mozilla Firefox, Portable Edition. It allows you to launch Firefox with a specialized profile with advanced privacy measures included. This profile has persistent cookies, history, history and other privacy features off. Flashblock is included to block Flash Cookies and other nasties. AdBlock Plus is included with a subscription to the EasyPrivacy list to block tracking scripts and sites. A custom theme and branding is included so you can easily distinguish your private profile from your normal one.

PRIVACY NOTE: As with any network software, your network traffic is still viewable by network s. This just lets you avoid having local tracks on the PC or on your portable device and helps you avoid some internet and advertising tracking.

portableapps.sitesunblocked.org Installer / portableapps.sitesunblocked.org Format 1y1x1j

Private Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org is packaged in a portableapps.sitesunblocked.org Installer so it will automatically detect an existing portableapps.sitesunblocked.org installation when your drive is plugged in. It s upgrades by installing right over an existing copy, preserving all settings. And it's in portableapps.sitesunblocked.org Format, so it automatically works with the portableapps.sitesunblocked.org Suite including the Menu and Backup Utility.

3j2c6h

Private Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org is available for immediate from the Private Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org homepage. Get it today!

Story Topic: 6q3g2y

Comments 19c1v

sweepsnregs's picture

trying to figure out what is this app exactly 393950

this app is an ''in-house'' job (even the ''source app''--vs PA.c PAFing some1 else existing app) ?

is this (app) more than me simply installing Flashblock and ABP myself?

this app only enables Private Browsing only for 1 browser: Firefox? or will it work with other portable browsers also?

is this DL basically a specialized version of Firefox but with this ''Private Browsing'' (I noticed 2MB / 3MB installed which is less than Firefox) ?

(just trying to figure out what is this app exactly--that's all)

PS what's the link for the DEV Test of this app? this is the app's inaugural, official release?

John T. Haller's picture

In House 5u5w23

This is an in-house app, it was in dev test for over a year in the forums (before FF even had private browsing). It's basically the equivalent of if you installed and configured APB with EasyPrivacy, FlashBlock, disabled perm cookies, disabled history, etc and added a custom theme and saved it as a custom profile that you then swapped out with your main Firefox Portable profile so it had its own everything including bookmarks. It uses your existing Firefox Portable install (to save space and cut down on updates) rather than using a separate Firefox install but operates independently in of all your personal data. It even uses a custom icon and window title while running so you always know you're in enhanced private mode. It's basically all the work you'd have to do to custom configure it using the 2ndProfile launcher plus a few added bits like a custom icon so you always know what you're doing with it.

It doesn't work with Opera or Chrome, of course.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

sweepsnregs's picture

OK so I see its advantages/still got it uses 11235q

(haven't install yet) so I imagine if I want PB, then I will click some entry ''PB'' in the PAM/P(latform)...and if I want just a regular non-PB session then just launch the entry Firefox??? Can I have both a PB session and a non-PB session running at the same time?

John T. Haller's picture

Yes and No 3b351q

Yes, you have a separate icon for each. But they can't run at the same time (it's a Firefox thing and it'll prevent full portability).

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

sweepsnregs's picture

so that eliminates me from logging into my 2 diff Yahoo emails? 1b605e

just had to confirm

EDIT: sorry, but these Q's just keep on popping in my noggin:

so if my portable Fx already have ABP, should i uninstall ? disable it? or can i still keep it (for when I am not doing a PB session) ?

John T. Haller's picture

Nope 5bl64

This is an addition. SO you can have your regular FF just like you like it. AND have your secured FF configured as securely as you want. Both independent. You decide which one needs what.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

sweepsnregs's picture

so what if I have diff channels of Firefox Portable? 3k471k

for ex, on 1 USB flash drive, I have 3 installed: 3.6.13, 4.0b8, and Minefield 4.0b9pre ... so this new PB app will always work with the STABLE version? in this case 3.6.13 ?

BTW, said 4.0b8 gives me this message whenever i launch it http://img202.imageshack.us/f/firfoxportabletest40b8m.jpg/ ...does this mean that it's corrupted? HOW DO I FIX it withOUT losing my extensions, bookmarks, whatnots for that version??? Everytime I'd clicked NO as the option, did I do the right thing?

RIGHT AFTER clicking NO, I get following message ''Fx Portable can not run directly from a read-only location and will now close'' and I can't never use this Fx channel on said drive. The other Fx and G channels are OK and that's never setting anything on the flash drive

So I can't to 2 Yahoo email s?

John T. Haller's picture

Stable d83r

It uses FirefoxPortable (that directory) so it uses stable. It hasn't been updated for 4.0 yet.

Yes, that does look like file corruption on your stick. Please post in the forums (not comments in a news story) for assistance.

No, you can't use both at the same time unless you use MultipleInstances, just like standard Firefox Portable, which is not fully portable. Nothing changes here. It's just a new way to have a separate pre-configured profile.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

Yes you can 5r1u6j

You "can" run 2 firefox profiles at the same time. It doesn't compromise portability, at least not with the 2nd profile available here.

It's just put "AdditionalParameters=-no-remote" in the ini file.

John T. Haller's picture

It Does 66f

It does compromise it by our definition in that it will leave behind a couple of empty folders, possibly an extension folder and any crash reports (which may contain personal info) if it crashes. This is because the launcher doesn't stick around to clean up.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

truthseeker's picture

Does Private Browsing block 3k4r52

Looks good.

sorry for being an idiot... 6z1a1f

sorry for being an idiot...

i dont get what it says here:
PRIVACY NOTE: As with any network software, your network traffic is still viewable by network s. This just lets you avoid having local tracks on the PC or on your portable device and helps you avoid some internet and advertising tracking.

does it mean that the network s CAN see the pages i go to?
or does it mean that they CANT see it?

John T. Haller's picture

They Can 2i634u

With every browser, they can see the pages you go to. Unless you send it over a private network layer like Tor -- which will be blocked at most places you want to hide things from network s (work and school) -- or forward it via Putty, which is likely similarly blocked.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

ok ive tried Tor and Putty 34445a

ok ive tried Tor and Putty and both are blocked so i guess im Private Enough with Private Browsing By PortableApps Biggrin

"It even has it's own separate set of bookmarks" 1o6c3r

Just a minor point, but the description should read:

"It even has its own separate set of bookmarks"

(no apostrophe in its)

Nick

John T. Haller's picture

Fixed 5nr3p

Fixed. I shouldn't add sentences at 1:45am.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

Hi How come it's not in .xpi 3z6231

Hi

How come it's not in .xpi format?

To the AP, "its' is the correct punctuation"

thanks pa.com

. 4q493c

It's not .xpi cause it's not a extension. Private Browsing is a program separated from Firefox Portable (but still using FFP executables).

Still, I'd like to be able to 71496r

Still, I'd like to be able to use this with my regular firefox at home, even if it's just for the private browsing skin (I've had a couple of times where I forgot I was in private browsing mode, closed firefox and wondered where my session had gone next time I opened it). If there's any scope for making this workable on a local install I'd be eager to know!

John T. Haller's picture

Possibly 6r6y3q

I was going to wait to see if there was interest in the portable version and then consider a local release.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

I say "yes" to a local release for Private Browsing 1m937

I would like for you guys to consider a local release of Private Browsing so that it can be used on standard installs of Firefox besides just Firefox Portable. Granted, making local release software is not your focus, but I think this would be a very rare exception.

John T. Haller's picture

Separate App 2y153x

As mentioned, it's a separate app. As I think 'add-on' was confusing, I've reworded the description. This is kinda new territory, so I figured there would be some confusion.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

when FF not in default? 1610s

can I change something when the FF not in the default position, but folder names are different (as having more then one FF)

Otto Sykora
Basel, Switzerland

John T. Haller's picture

Nope 5bl64

You must have it as FirefoxPortable sitting right next to it in a parent directory. The updater won't work with people moving stuff around either.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

Additions 6f5v48

I suggest the addition of "HTTPS Everywhere" - https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere - to this profile. It is a privacy/security extension developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in collaboration with the Tor Project.

It forces HTTPS by default on a lot of popular web sites that it. It won't prevent network s from seeing the accessed URLs, but it will prevent them from seeing what data is ed to those sites.

It will also prevent man-in-the-middle session hijacking attacks over public wireless networks.

My second suggestion would be replacing FlashBlock with NoScript, which provides the same functionality and a lot more. I can understand, however, why it would be left out. Not all s know/understand how to use it.

John T. Haller's picture

No NoScript 3l2m1o

NoScript won't be included. More and more websites are assuming Javascript will be on and, honestly, it's a safe assumption. This isn't like 10 years ago when corporate firewalls would filter out JavaScript to make things safer and websites had to accommodate that. Everyone has JavaScript enabled except an exceedingly small percentage of s who worry about it. That percentage is small enough that, while many of the very large sites and the geek-centric sites will take it into , most regular websites will not any more. So, the end has to realize when a site isn't working because of JavaScript and enable it for that site or page. That's much too complicated for standard s. While I understand why you use it, you've made the decision that you're willing to put up with thinking about it every time you visit a new website. Regular s are not.

HTTPS Everywhere on the other hand may be a solid add-on to consider. Transparency to the is key. And any interaction with the should be intuitive. That's how Flashblock made the cut.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

John T. Haller's picture

Or Not 5i6b1u

It looks like I spoke too soon on HTTPS Everywhere. It messes up some sites. Even Google doesn't work right when HTTPS is enabled (you lose the Google bar at the top to switch to shopping, images, etc).

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

Yes 242k5k

I used it but dropped it on some pages. I dont need to use https every time I visit Wikipedia for example.

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

Search Engine Security 1os23

Well, that's not because of HTTPS Everywhere, but because Google did it like that. Those services like Shopping etc. don't HTTPS yet. If you access https://www.google.com manually you get the same effect. It's just meant for search for now.

Obviously, HTTPS Everywehere is not a magical extension that can force HTTPS on a website that doesn't it. So, its functionally is limited to how well the target website implemented HTTPS. For example, on Facebook over HTTPS, the chat feature doesn't work. That's a problem for Facebook to solve.

On the other hand, I have another proposal. An extension called Search Engine Security (SES) which protects s from malicious black hat search engine optimization (BHSEO) attacks that take them to scareware pages.

It does this by altering the referer header, because most, if not all, BHSEO sites check to see if the referer is a search engine before taking victims to the attack page.

More about it here: http://research.zscaler.com/2010/07/new-firefox-add-on-to-protect-agains...

Addition 642y1o

Another possible additon might me Ghostery. It might be too "geeky" though...

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

John T. Haller's picture

Geeky 4j583y

Too geeky. And EasyPrivacy will already be blocking many of these.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

truthseeker's picture

Does Private Browsing block 3k4r52

Does Private Browsing block those new "super cookies", the non deletable LSO's?

Flash-cookies (Local Shared Objects, LSO) are pieces of information placed on your computer by a Flash plugin. Those Super-Cookies are placed in central system folders and so protected from deletion. They are frequently used like standard browser cookies. Although their thread potential is much higher as of conventional cookies, only few s began to take notice of them. It is of frequent occurrence that -after a time- hundreds of those Flash-cookies reside in special folders. And they won't be deleted - never and are used by companies to trace our internet activities. CCleaner etc do not delete them, nor does the web browser.

Bugs: Home Pages 152b2o

Hello, just noticed what I would consider a couple of small bugs in "Private Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org" (what a long name [jk])

Bug 1:
[Extension uses wrong homepage]
To reproduce:

  1. Open a "Private Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org" window
  2. Open the Add-ons window (Tools>Add-ons)
  3. Switch to the Extensions Tab
  4. Right Click on the entry for "Private Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org Branding 1.8.2"
  5. Click "Visit Home Page"

Expected Result:
Open a new tab at the Private Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org homepage

What Happens Instead:
Opens a new tab at the portableapps.sitesunblocked.org Home Page

Note: This is an easy fix, just change the URL in the <em:homepageURL> tag in Data\Profile\{bf23285b-1e78-4d44-8493-bd495c5e78f3}\install.rdf (also in App\DefaultData\...)

Bug 2:
[Site missing redirect]
To reproduce:

  1. Open a "Private Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org" window
  2. Open the Add-ons window (Tools>Add-ons)
  3. Switch to the Themes Tab
  4. Right Click on the entry for "Private Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org 1.1"
  5. Click "Visit Home Page"

Expected Result:
Open a new tab at the Private Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org homepage

What Happens Instead:
Opens a new tab at portableapps.sitesunblocked.org/PrivateBrowsing which is a 404 error (page not found)

Note: This is really just a lack of redirect, and considering that portableapps.sitesunblocked.org/PrivateBrowsing is what "Private Browsing by portableapps.sitesunblocked.org" shows in its splash screen and what the appinfo.ini has set for Homepage.

~3D1T0R