Browser De-Slop

# Browser De-Slop Source: [https://www.sacredheartsc.com/blog/browser-de-slop/](https://www.sacredheartsc.com/blog/browser-de-slop/) Modern browsers ship with an insane amount of bloatware\. You can point and click in the browser settings to disable most of it\. Or, you can de\-slop the browser by force using a policy file\. To get started, create a JSON file at the appropriate path for your distribution\. Here’s a few that I’m aware of: Allegedly, these policies are also supported on Windows via Group Policy and MacOS using`plist`files\. I wouldn’t know, since I use a real operating system\. You should[read the docs](https://mozilla.github.io/policy-templates/)for each option to understand what it does\. My configuration here does a few things: ``` { "policies": { "ExtensionSettings": { "[email protected]": { "install_url": "https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/downloads/latest/ublock-origin/latest.xpi", "installation_mode": "force_installed" } }, "3rdparty": { "Extensions": { "[email protected]": { "toOverwrite": { "filterLists": [ "user-filters", "ublock-filters", "ublock-badware", "ublock-privacy", "ublock-quick-fixes", "ublock-unbreak", "easylist", "easyprivacy", "adguard-spyware-url", "urlhaus-1", "plowe-0", "fanboy-cookiemonster", "ublock-cookies-easylist", "fanboy-thirdparty_social", "ublock-annoyances" ] }, "toAdd": { "trustedSiteDirectives": [ "intranet.example.com" ] } } } }, "UserMessaging": { "WhatsNew": false, "ExtensionRecommendations": false, "UrlbarInterventions": false, "SkipOnboarding": true }, "OverridePostUpdatePage": "", "OverrideFirstRunPage": "", "EnableTrackingProtection": { "Value": false, "Cryptomining": false, "Fingerprinting": false, "Locked": false }, "Cookies": { "Behavior": "reject-tracker-and-partition-foreign", "BehaviorPrivateBrowsing": "reject-tracker-and-partition-foreign" }, "NoDefaultBookmarks": true, "DisablePocket": true, "DisableAppUpdate": true, "CaptivePortal": false, "Certificates": { "Install": [ "/usr/local/share/certs/trusted/your-custom-root-ca.crt" ] }, "DisableFeedbackCommands": true, "DisableFirefoxAccounts": true, "DisableFirefoxStudies": true, "DisableTelemetry": true, "DontCheckDefaultBrowser": true, "OfferToSaveLoginsDefault": false, "DNSOverHTTPS": { "Enabled": false }, "SearchSuggestEnabled": false, "Homepage": { "URL": "about:home", "StartPage": "homepage" }, "SearchEngines": { "Add": [ { "Name": "ddg", "URLTemplate": "https://duckduckgo.com/?q={searchTerms}", "Method": "GET", "IconURL": "https://duckduckgo.com/favicon.ico", "Alias": "ddg", "Description": "DuckDuckGo", "SuggestURLTemplate": "https://duckduckgo.com/ac/?q={searchTerms}&type=list" } ], "Default": "ddg" }, "FirefoxHome": { "Search": true, "TopSites": false, "SponsoredTopSites": false, "Highlights": false, "Pocket": false, "SponsoredPocket": false, "Snippets": false }, "AIControls": { "Default": { "Value": "blocked", "Locked": true } }, "ExtensionUpdate": true, "Preferences": { "dom.security.https_only_mode": { "Value": true, "Status": "locked" }, "dom.push.connection.enabled": { "Value": false, "Status": "default" }, "browser.urlbar.suggest.quicksuggest.nonsponsored": { "Value": false, "Status": "locked" }, "browser.urlbar.suggest.quicksuggest.sponsored": { "Value": false, "Status": "locked" }, "browser.toolbars.bookmarks.visibility": { "Value": "newtab", "Status": "default" }, "browser.safebrowsing.malware.enabled": { "Value": false, "Status": "locked" }, "browser.safebrowsing.phishing.enabled": { "Value": false, "Status": "locked" }, "browser.safebrowsing.downloads.enabled": { "Value": false, "Status": "locked" }, "browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.feeds.section.topstories": { "Value": false, "Status": "locked" }, "browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.showSponsoredCheckboxes": { "Value": false, "Status": "locked" }, "browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.widgets.system.weather.enabled": { "Value": false, "Status": "default" }, "browser.urlbar.suggest.quicksuggest.all": { "Value": false, "Status": "locked" }, "browser.tabs.groups.smart.userEnabled": { "Value": false, "Status": "default" }, "signon.management.page.breach-alerts.enabled": { "Value": false, "Status": "locked" }, "privacy.fingerprintingProtection.pbmode": { "Value": false, "Status": "default" }, "signon.firefoxRelay.feature": { "Value": "disabled", "Status": "locked" } } } } ``` You should[read the docs](https://chromeenterprise.google/intl/en_us/policies/)for these settings to make sure they’re right for you\. My configuration here does a few things: Unfortunately, Chrome does not support adding custom certificate authorities via the policy file anymore \(I resorted to some[hacky automation](https://github.com/cullumsmith/infrastructure/blob/master/files/usr/local/libexec/nss-trust-root-ca.common)that adds the certificate to the user’s`~/\.pki/nssdb`on first login\)\. ``` { "AdvancedProtectionAllowed": false, "AlternateErrorPagesEnabled": false, "AutofillCreditCardEnabled": false, "BackgroundModeEnabled": false, "BlockThirdPartyCookies": true, "BrowserGuestModeEnabled": false, "BrowserLabsEnabled": false, "BrowserNetworkTimeQueriesEnabled": false, "BrowserSignin": 0, "CloudPrintProxyEnabled": false, "CloudReportingEnabled": false, "DefaultBrowserSettingEnabled": false, "DefaultCookiesSetting": 1, "DnsOverHttpsMode": "off", "EnableAuthNegotiatePort": true, "EnableMediaRouter": false, "MetricsReportingEnabled": false, "NetworkPredictionOptions": 2, "PasswordManagerEnabled": false, "PaymentMethodQueryEnabled": false, "PrivacySandboxAdMeasurementEnabled": false, "PrivacySandboxAdTopicsEnabled": false, "PrivacySandboxPromptEnabled": false, "PrivacySandboxSiteEnabledAdsEnabled": false, "PromotionalTabsEnabled": false, "SafeBrowsingProtectionLevel": 0, "SearchSuggestEnabled": false, "SyncDisabled": true, "TranslateEnabled": false, "UrlKeyedAnonymizedDataCollectionEnabled": false, "DefaultSearchProviderEnabled": true, "DefaultSearchProviderName": "DuckDuckGo", "DefaultSearchProviderImageURL": "https://duckduckgo.com/favicon.ico", "DefaultSearchProviderEncodings": ["UTF-8"], "DefaultSearchProviderSearchURL": "https://duckduckgo.com/?q={searchTerms}", "DefaultSearchProviderSuggestURL": "https://duckduckgo.com/ac/?q={searchTerms}&type=list", "DefaultSearchProviderNewTabURL": "https://duckduckgo.com/chrome_newtab", "ExtensionSettings": { "ddkjiahejlhfcafbddmgiahcphecmpfh": { "installation_mode": "force_installed", "update_url": "https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx" } }, "3rdparty": { "extensions": { "ddkjiahejlhfcafbddmgiahcphecmpfh": { "disableFirstRunPage": true, "defaultFiltering": "complete", "noFiltering": [ "intranet.example.com" ], "rulesets": [ "+default", "+annoyances-cookies", "+annoyances-notifications", "+annoyances-others", "+annoyances-overlays", "+annoyances-social", "+annoyances-widgets", "+adguard-spyware-url" ] } } } } ```