Not just the web. Last time I installed Backdrops on my phone (a nice wallpaper app), you would literally approve hundreds of uses of your data when you press Consent. Even if you choose to manage choices, 200 'legitimate interest' options are enabled by default. Even when you are a paying Pro user. Data used includes location data.

What makes it worse is that a substantial portion of users block web trackers through an adblocker. However on phones, unless you have a rooted phone or use some DNS-based blocker, all these analytics get uploaded without restraint.

Atm I use Firefox with uBlock which blocks the cookie banners, but Firefox's extension model is broken, and every single extension provides 100% access to my websites to whoever controls the extension. I don't like it.

Some browsers (e.g. Vanadium, Vivaldi) have a built-in adblocker, so you have to trust one party less.

How would you implement ability to arbitrarily block any network connection on any website without giving an extension 100% access?

Safari’s extension model could be really good by now, had they not stopped putting effort into it. You are able to define which extensions have access to which websites, and if that applies always or only in non-Private¹ mode. You can also easily allow an extension access for one day on one website.

But there are couple of things I find subpar:

You can’t import/export a list of website permissions. For a couple of extensions I’d like to say “you have access to every website, except this narrow list” and be able to edit that list and share it between extensions.

On iOS, the only way to explicitly deny website access in an extension’s permissions is to first allow it, then change the configuration to deny. This is bonkers. As per the example above, to allow an extension access to everything except a narrow list of websites is to first allow access to all of them.

Finally, these permissions do not sync between macOS and iOS, which increases the maintenance burden.

¹ Private being the equivalent to incognito.

> every single extension provides 100% access to my websites to whoever controls the extension.

But the browser also has 100% access to all of the websites. The browser is software that works for you. You control the browser.

Who but yourself do you imagine controls your extensions?

I had similar frustrations and been maintaining a Firefox fork trying to fill a gap there. The result is Konform Browser and I think it might be relevant to you; please check it out!

https://codeberg.org/konform-browser/source/releases

https://techhub.social/@konform

Shared today on Show HN but seems to be drowning in deluge of LLMs...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47227369

> every single extension provides 100% access to my websites to whoever controls the extension

That feels a like a bit of overstatement and depends on what addons you use and how you install them... CSPs at least make it possible to restrict such things by policy (assuming user has been exposed to it and parsed it...). https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/Web... MV3 introduced further restrictions and controls regarding addon capabilities. While I agree the UI and UX around this could be much better, it's not all hopeless. The underlying pieces are mostly there.

While the fundamental addon execution security model in Konform Browser is inherited from upstream, for core addons like uBO you can improve the supply-chain security situation by loading it under "system scope" and disable addon updates in the browser itself. So while we don't (yet) improve on the runtime aspects you speak of, at least for now we can tighten up the supply-chain side to minimize risk of bad code running in the first place.

Literally `apt-get install webext-ublock-origin-firefox`.

"Enterprise policy files" can be used to change Firefox behavior and tweak security model around addon loading. A little explanation and reference of how it works if you want to do the same in other FF build or for other addons: https://codeberg.org/konform-browser/source#bundled-extensio...

Any particular addon you think is missing from the list there and should also be packaged and easily available? Maybe will be able to improve some of the security-UI/UX here too down the line. I'd be keen to hear your take on how this should be done better!

Regarding what addons can and do leak about you to the outside... I think you may also take interest in FF Bug 1405971. We ship a patch for that which can hopefully be upstreamed Soon (tm).

How would an extension work if it didn't have access to the website you're browsing?

What would a safe extension model look like to you?

At some point, you have to implicitly trust someone unless you audit every line of code (or write it yourself) and build everything from source that you run.