Arkenfox vs Chrisxyz Hardening

TarBall

I use arkenfox user.js but it is breaking the design of too many sites.
Chrisxyz's list doesn't modify that much settings, does it make it less private?

wfoex

/*** [SECTION 0300]: QUIETER FOX ***/
user_pref("_user.js.parrot", "0300 syntax error: the parrot's not pinin' for the fjords!");
/** RECOMMENDATIONS ***/
/* 0320: disable recommendation pane in about:addons (uses Google Analytics) ***/
user_pref("extensions.getAddons.showPane", false); // [HIDDEN PREF]
/* 0321: disable recommendations in about:addons' Extensions and Themes panes [FF68+] ***/
user_pref("extensions.htmlaboutaddons.recommendations.enabled", false);
/* 0322: disable personalized Extension Recommendations in about:addons and AMO [FF65+]
 * [NOTE] This pref has no effect when Health Reports (0331) are disabled
 * [SETTING] Privacy & Security>Firefox Data Collection & Use>Allow Firefox to make personalized extension recommendations
 * [1] https://support.mozilla.org/kb/personalized-extension-recommendations ***/
user_pref("browser.discovery.enabled", false);

/** TELEMETRY ***/
/* 0330: disable new data submission [FF41+]
 * If disabled, no policy is shown or upload takes place, ever
 * [1] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/1195552 ***/
user_pref("datareporting.policy.dataSubmissionEnabled", false);
/* 0331: disable Health Reports
 * [SETTING] Privacy & Security>Firefox Data Collection & Use>Allow Firefox to send technical... data ***/
user_pref("datareporting.healthreport.uploadEnabled", false);
/* 0332: disable telemetry
 * The "unified" pref affects the behavior of the "enabled" pref
 * - If "unified" is false then "enabled" controls the telemetry module
 * - If "unified" is true then "enabled" only controls whether to record extended data
 * [NOTE] "toolkit.telemetry.enabled" is now LOCKED to reflect prerelease (true) or release builds (false) [2]
 * [1] https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/toolkit/components/telemetry/telemetry/internals/preferences.html
 * [2] https://medium.com/georg-fritzsche/data-preference-changes-in-firefox-58-2d5df9c428b5 ***/
user_pref("toolkit.telemetry.unified", false);
user_pref("toolkit.telemetry.enabled", false); // see [NOTE]
user_pref("toolkit.telemetry.server", "data:,");
user_pref("toolkit.telemetry.archive.enabled", false);
user_pref("toolkit.telemetry.newProfilePing.enabled", false); // [FF55+]
user_pref("toolkit.telemetry.shutdownPingSender.enabled", false); // [FF55+]
user_pref("toolkit.telemetry.updatePing.enabled", false); // [FF56+]
user_pref("toolkit.telemetry.bhrPing.enabled", false); // [FF57+] Background Hang Reporter
user_pref("toolkit.telemetry.firstShutdownPing.enabled", false); // [FF57+]
/* 0333: disable Telemetry Coverage
 * [1] https://blog.mozilla.org/data/2018/08/20/effectively-measuring-search-in-firefox/ ***/
user_pref("toolkit.telemetry.coverage.opt-out", true); // [HIDDEN PREF]
user_pref("toolkit.coverage.opt-out", true); // [FF64+] [HIDDEN PREF]
user_pref("toolkit.coverage.endpoint.base", "");
/* 0334: disable PingCentre telemetry (used in several System Add-ons) [FF57+]
 * Defense-in-depth: currently covered by 0331 ***/
user_pref("browser.ping-centre.telemetry", false);

/** STUDIES ***/
/* 0340: disable Studies
 * [SETTING] Privacy & Security>Firefox Data Collection & Use>Allow Firefox to install and run studies ***/
user_pref("app.shield.optoutstudies.enabled", false);
/* 0341: disable Normandy/Shield [FF60+]
 * Shield is a telemetry system that can push and test "recipes"
 * [1] https://mozilla.github.io/normandy/ ***/
user_pref("app.normandy.enabled", false);
user_pref("app.normandy.api_url", "");

/** CRASH REPORTS ***/
/* 0350: disable Crash Reports ***/
user_pref("breakpad.reportURL", "");
user_pref("browser.tabs.crashReporting.sendReport", false); // [FF44+]
   // user_pref("browser.crashReports.unsubmittedCheck.enabled", false); // [FF51+] [DEFAULT: false]
/* 0351: enforce no submission of backlogged Crash Reports [FF58+]
 * [SETTING] Privacy & Security>Firefox Data Collection & Use>Allow Firefox to send backlogged crash reports  ***/
user_pref("browser.crashReports.unsubmittedCheck.autoSubmit2", false); // [DEFAULT: false]

/** OTHER ***/
/* 0360: disable Captive Portal detection
 * [1] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/08/how-captive-portals-interfere-wireless-security-and-privacy ***/
user_pref("captivedetect.canonicalURL", "");
user_pref("network.captive-portal-service.enabled", false); // [FF52+]
/* 0361: disable Network Connectivity checks [FF65+]
 * [1] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/1460537 ***/
user_pref("network.connectivity-service.enabled", false);

enough

TarBall

wfoex WOW. Thanks for the detailed reply!

commander

@TarBall While I can't speak for the user config above, I have personally used arkenfox and Librewolf for the past few months (switched from Brave Browser) and while arkenfox is the gold standard, it can be overkill at times.

Cool thing with arkenfox is that it allows for user preference overriding. This is what I personally use (sorry for lack of documentation)

/*
  Use these extensions:
  * uBlock Origin - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/
  * Smart Referer - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/smart-referer/
  * Skip Redirect - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/skip-redirect/
  * CanvasBlocker - https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/canvasblocker/
 **/

// DRM
user_pref("media.eme.enabled", true); // 2022

// Search
user_pref("keyword.enabled", true); // 0801
user_pref("browser.search.suggest.enabled", true); // 0804
user_pref("browser.urlbar.suggest.searches", true); // 0804

// Canvas
user_pref("webgl.disabled", false); // 4520

// Cross-Origin Referers
// Use Smart Referer in Strict Mode
user_pref("network.http.referer.XOriginPolicy", 0); // 1601

// Remembering last sessions
user_pref("privacy.clearOnShutdown.cache", false); // 2811
user_pref("privacy.clearOnShutdown.downloads", false); // 2811
user_pref("privacy.clearOnShutdown.formdata", false); // 2811
user_pref("privacy.clearOnShutdown.history", false); // 2811

// Letterboxing/ugly aspect ratio
user_pref("privacy.resistFingerprinting.letterboxing", false); // 4504

// Cookies 
user_pref("network.cookie.lifetimePolicy", 0); // 2801

// Allow pinch zooming
user_pref("apz.allow_zooming_out", true);

In addition to this, I wrote a per-site toggle for privacy.resistFingerprinting (rfp) and while it doesn't ensure the same privacy as having it enabled globally, it can make certain sites, such as Yandex image search, work. See Resist Fingerprinting Toggle. Open-source at https://github.com/asger-finding/resistfingerprinting-toggle, licensed under GPLv2.