The 'geo.enable' pref is only about using a Geo Location service to query your location. Websites can still use a reverse DNL S lookup to determine your location although its accuracy may vary depending on your ISP (internet gateway location).

Is your question about possible ads on web pages or about recommendations you see in Firefox? The latter you can probably disable via "Options/Preferences -> General -> Browsing".

No. The problem is using a product that supports privacy while saying it will use my location to provide local content. I don't want local content. I want WORD-WIDE WEB content. FF says it will reduce the Internet to local content.

Again FF says: "Firefox uses your IP address to suggest relevant content based on your country and state." From it's (FFs) Privacy Policy

Keep in mind, it's what FF thinks' is relevant to me, makes what it 'thinks' local as well.

Thius is a trend by many places now, s ends one to something local whne there is (was) a World (NOT "local) WIDE web.

Webnaut said

No. The problem is using a product that supports privacy while saying it will use my location to provide local content.

But it doesn't harm your privacy.

I don't want local content. I want WORD-WIDE WEB content. FF says it will reduce the Internet to local content.

This statement is not about WWW (World Wide Web) content. It's only about “Snippets” (messages from Mozilla), Add-on Recommendations, Top Sites (websites suggested by Mozilla for first-time Firefox users), and Pocket Recommendations.

What you see on a web page is controlled by the website and not by Firefox although if the website wants to use Geo Location to find your location then Firefox will ask for approval and you can deny. Note that some websites might malfunction if you disable Geo location (i.e. geo.enabled = false).

TyDraniu said

Webnaut said

No. The problem is using a product that supports privacy while saying it will use my location to provide local content.

I'm helping 'the quote' function here deal with it's A.I. hemorrhage by adding what and who said it..

TyDraniu >> But it doesn't harm your privacy.

Me >> Well, that turned out to be pointless :)

ME: I don't want local content. I want WORD-WIDE WEB content. FF says it will reduce the Internet to local content.

TyDraniu >> This statement is not about WWW (World Wide Web) content. It's only about “Snippets” (messages from Mozilla), Add-on Recommendations, Top Sites (websites suggested by Mozilla for first-time Firefox users), and Pocket Recommendations.

Newest stuff :) ME: According to FF privacy statement, FF does shrink the net and it is about WWW, and not about 'snippets', add-ons, first time FF users being simpletons, what is going on in a Pocket or what is in our best interest to see.

It's also/plus/in addition to/extra that FF WILL use our location and send it to Google - really!!!

FF policy states it WILL use our geolocation to, as it states, "...sharing your location with a requesting website." I know, supposedly, it will "ask" me - each time. I read it - and that's why I am asking what appears to be, unanswerable question.

There are already 1.5 BILLION web sites telling us what's in our best interest.

Perhaps you might want to go to https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/, scroll down and click "Location" and read it for yourself.

☛ So I'll ask another way: ☚ "is it possible to prevent FF from shoving local content at me and let me browser the World-Wide Web instead of the Local available content."

It's not fun being one of the 4,536,248,808 human commodity. ~w~ p.s. What is YOUR location TyDraniu ;)

Webnaut said

It's also/plus/in addition to/extra that FF WILL use our location and send it to Google - really!!! FF policy states it WILL use our geolocation to, as it states, "...sharing your location with a requesting website." I know, supposedly, it will "ask" me - each time. I read it - and that's why I am asking what appears to be, unanswerable question. There are already 1.5 BILLION web sites telling us what's in our best interest. Perhaps you might want to go to https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/, scroll down and click "Location" and read it for yourself.

Usually a desktop PC doesn't have GPS, so if you approve a site's request to share your precise location, Firefox queries Windows for nearby wi-fi hotspot data and sends that to Google to look up your location coordinates in its database of wi-fi hotspots.

You are not required to share your precise location with any websites; if you decline their request, they'll use a rough approximation based on your IP address to customize content on a geographic basis.

Thank you @jscher2000. Please keep in mind that I am going by FF's own Privacy Policy not what anyone might think it is.

Again, I know how sites using GPS stalkers works. "Tracking" is marketeers way of downgrading the seriousness of Stalking. It's referred to as SMRC, the acronym for Stalk, Monitor, Record, and Control.

I also know that sites use of Google's GPS finger-pointing, will stalk visitors buy reviewing the users history, peeps at users device's GPU, CPU, APU and MoBo M.A.C. addresses, plus record Meta Data, what we see, what we do and from where and for how long, plus our location where the device is/was at access time and date, and add that to our profile. Then we are traded to anyone with the money.

When ads, which we all pay for by the way, are shown to us, we get those from pushers dealing local stuff based on GPS location. FF should have no business ratting-out anything about us at all.

Contrary to corporate gobbledygook, our location IS personal. No one has the right to tell anyone else what is or is not personal. If it were the case, I want the location of the top 10 most powerful people at Mozilla.

With that understood, I will ask again, ❱are we or how are we permitted to disable, prevent, deter, stop, halt, block - Firefox from revealing our location to anyone or anything anywhere? ❰ Human beings, now of any race or color, are the new Trashnet human commodity. No amount of Terms or Privacy policies befuddling legalese can make that acceptable.

I am the one that reads those Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, and other bamboozling cop-outs. Someone has too. ☺

NOTE: I have the greatest love and respect for Mozilla. I remember when Microsoft tried to trounce Netscape with M$ first IE and was heavily fined for trying. I was always on Mozilla's side, even when they sold out to AOL. But this last 1 and a bit year, I should ask, but won't... Who are you now Mozilla and what have you done with the real Firefox - that's a rhetorical statement - not a question.

~w~

Webnaut said

With that understood, I will ask again, ❱are we or how are we permitted to disable, prevent, deter, stop, halt, block - Firefox from revealing our location to anyone or anything anywhere? ❰

Firefox does not share your precise location with websites unless you give site-specific permission. Only then does Firefox look up your location using Google's hotspot data. cor-el already mentioned the preference you can use to completely disable this.

We both already explained that your IP address indicates your general location. You need to use a VPN to visit sites using a different IP address.

I'll try one more time.

FF's privacy policy states:

"Location data: Firefox uses your IP address to suggest relevant content based on your country and state."

Am I permitted to disable that? Yes [ ] No [ ]

The policy says Firefox will provide what it wants me to see (AKA relevant) NOT saying it hands it off to web sites as interpreted by some.

Thank you W

It would be better if someone were to actually read that part of the FF policy before offering up grey interpretations to something that is black and white.

Firefox is not the internet. Firefox is a web browser. Firefox doesn't modify the content that is available to you on the internet, regardless of which feature you enable or disable.

The Firefox Privacy policy only applies to Firefox, the program used to display content. In the privacy policy, the information that is displayed to you by using your IP address is what was mentioned above, Snippets, which locale your Firefox uses, etc. It doesn't modify the internet, or make things less available to you or not.

To @Tyler Downer I have not received ANY response that relates to the Firefox policy that I many times over, copy and pasted for everyone's perusal. It appears that Mr. @jscher2000 understands somewhat, where I am coming from and responds without insults!

QUOTE @Tyler Downer "It [sic] doesn't modify the internet, or make things less available to you or not."

According to you, but the policy says it does. Reading it might help.

Thanks anyway @Tyler Downer. I'm sure you have more important questions from more knowledgeable people than me to deal with so I won't be offended if you never respond again.

~

I think you may be confused about what Firefox actually does. It simply loads the page that a website lets it to. If the website decides to serve you local content, that's not up to Firefox.

Most websites do that by simply tracking your IP address, which is something that Firefox needs to provide in order to be able to connect with the website in the first place. By using your IP address, the website can determine your rough location.

You also seem to be pointing out the privacy policy. If you read above the section that you have quoted, it tells you exactly what Firefox uses the location data for:

Firefox displays content, such as “Snippets” (messages from Mozilla), Add-on Recommendations, Top Sites (websites suggested by Mozilla for first-time Firefox users), and Pocket Recommendations.

That has nothing to do with limiting the content that you are able to view. It's for something as simple as maybe putting a Canada-based article in my Pocket Recommendations instead of something about a France. Or recommending Google.ca as a top site instead of Google.co.uk.

I think perhaps you are misunderstanding what the Mozilla privacy policy is trying to explain.

Some websites may ask for your location, but that's an optional thing that you can easily decline. See Does Firefox share my location with websites?

@all

My OP is/was NOT about "Firefox Privacy Notice Effective October 31, 2019" > "Suggest relevant content" (and "snippets"). It's about scrolling down from "Suggest relevant content" (and "snippets") to "Location" (sans "snippets").

So far, I see no one knows if one is permitted to disable "Location" sharing.

I appreciate the responses that deal with the snippets policy (I read it) but the "Location" policy does not use the word Snippet in any way (I read it). Only "Suggest relevant content" does that. There are 2 sections, one about snippets, the other about location and the 2 do not overlap.

They key phrase in Location policy is "may send this data to Google's geolocation service, which has its own privacy policy'

Frankly, I don't need a machine or browser to tell me what is relevant to me in my country > state > city > or community. Why can't we disable all that extra love and attention?

~w~ If someone needs to be told what is relevant to them where they live, they need a caretaker - not a browser.

Hi Webnaut, you keep rephrasing the same question, and getting the same answers:

[1] They key phrase in Location policy is "may send this data to Google's geolocation service, which has its own privacy policy'

[2] Frankly, I don't need a machine or browser to tell me what is relevant to me in my country > state > city > or community.
Why can't we disable all that extra love and attention?

[1] You already know how to disable using Google for precise location lookups -- it's in your question. If you aren't confident that it will work, modify the Google URL in geo.wifi.uri about:config in a way that will prevent it from connecting.

[2] I am not aware of a way to force Snippets or other new tab page content to show results from a different geographic region, but you can hide the content if you aren't interested and just go on the web and see whatever you like. See: Customize your New Tab page to hide or display content.

Webnaut said

So far, I see no one knows if one is permitted to disable "Location" sharing.

Location sharing is entirely optional and it's granted on a website-to-website basis. You get a message that asks for access to your location and you can allow or reject it.

If you accept it, that's when your location is found using Google's geolocation service.

Please review Does Firefox share my location with websites?

Wesley Branton said

Webnaut said

So far, I see no one knows if one is permitted to disable "Location" sharing.

Wesley Branton said... it's granted on a website-to-website basis. You get a message that asks for access to your location and you can allow or reject it. If you accept it, that's when your location is found using Google's geolocation service.

Thank you @Wesley Branton - it helps. You can tell your boss I said you may have next week off with pay.

Thanks also to @Wesley Branton, @jscher2000, @cor-el and @TyDraniu - you did your best - you all get tomorrow off with pay.

I have it clear now. I will accept what the "Location" part of the privacy policy dictates verbatim, unless one of the authors of the policy posts otherwise. Now to have it say 'No' without asking all the time.

It's a big battle isn't it - fighting to get back our rights to privacy while businesses that think they are in charge of the 'net vie for control of human beings?

Cased Closed with thanks, ~w~