Firefox迎来Lightbeam附加组件 可图形化分析网站追踪行为

2013-10-25   Mozilla已经为自家Firefox浏览器发布了一款名为Lightbeam的附加组件(add-on)，提供可视化的历史记录和分析功能，以便知晓哪些应用在追踪或监视你的在线信息、并且是如何连接的。该公司此前还为Firefox发布过一款名为Collusion的附加组件，旨在让使用者了解第一方网站工具是如何追踪数据、并且为访客的体验"塑形"的。更多详情和图片见：
http://digi.163.com/13/1025/16/9C21Q4G700162OUT.html

AMO还是有collusion啊

貌似就是collusion的下一代。
XPI的文件名是 collusion-1.0.2-fx.xpi

Q. How does Lightbeam work?

A. After you download and install the Lightbeam add-on to Firefox, it creates a real-time visualization of the websites a user visits and all the third parties that are also active on those sites. As the user browses from site to site, the visualization grows and highlights third parties which track you across the Web. The add-on provides additional visualizations, filters and controls for the user to further explore and shape these interactions. In this way, Lightbeam educates users about what how the web works, shining a light on interactions that take place outside a user's general awareness.

Q. How does this fit in with the broader mission and goals of the Mozilla Foundation?

A. Mozilla's mission is to make sure users are informed and educated, and to keep the web open. Lightbeam is primarily an educational tool about privacy, which is a fundamental element of an open web. Lightbeam further advances Mozilla's mission by offering the option to share data to create a big picture view of data connections on the web. This crowd-sourced data will allow us to build better versions of Firefox and help with policy work. Any attempt to alter privacy on the web must be a combination of education, technology and policy, and Lightbeam approaches the issue from all three angles.

Q. Why is this needed?

A. Many people don't understand all of the ways the web works --- or all of the pieces of the web or interactions that aren't immediately visible. Lightbeam helps us educate users, by shining a light on what we couldn't otherwise see. Remember: not all tracking is bad. Many services rely on user data to provide relevant content and enhance your online experience. But tracking can happen without the user’s knowledge. That’s not okay for some. It should be the user who decides when, how and if they want their browsing data to be shared. We recognize the importance of transparency and the need to educate users --- and our mission is all about empowering users, both with tools and information.

Q. Is it easy to use?

A. Yes. Simply download and run the Lightbeam add-on in your Firefox browser. Lightbeam will create a visualization of events for every site you visit and every third party site that is stored locally on your browser. Lightbeam visually graphs these events to highlight the interactions between sites you intentionally visit and the third parties. Lightbeam will continue to add to your graph as you browse the Web. You can stop Lightbeam at any time by disabling it or uninstalling the add-on. Your Lightbeam data can be easily saved or deleted.

Q. How will it help?
 
A. At Mozilla, we believe that everyone should have the tools to make their own decisions about their online privacy and who collects data on them. With the Lightbeam add-on and database server, we are providing a valuable (and open) community research platform that aims to raise awareness, promote analysis and, ultimately, affect policy change in the areas of tracking and privacy. Lightbeam is one step in a larger, concerted effort by Mozilla and its partners to provide Web users with greater control and transparency of their personal data.

Q. What are third parties? Does Lightbeam know what the relationship between these parties is?
 
A. Third parties are companies that are integrated into the core functionality and behavior of first party websites or apps. Third parties may be providing online ads, web site usage analytics, shopping carts and social media sharing. By virtue of being integrated into a first party site, third party services have the ability to interact with users, set cookies, etc.

We don't identify what relationships exist between the 3rd parties, we just help visualize that these relationships exist