Mozilla will begin signing Mv3 extensions for Firefox next week Mozilla plans to add support for Manifest v3 browser extensions to its online store – addons.mozilla.org – so developers can have them cryptographically signed for distribution. Manifest v3 (Mv3) refers to a set of APIs and capabilities that are intended to become the new standard for browser extensions. It's a software …
I got a bit lost in the detail of some of this, but I can see having more tightly limited permissions being good for extension authors. At the moment pretty much every extension I've tried to install into Chrome has warned it will have access to all my data on all webpages, at which point I hit "Cancel". So I only use a few widely used, and so hopefully more audited extensions. I'll never install some random extension I don't know about because of the amount of access they all require.
If this new manifest format limits how much access they can have, I'm far more likely to try out some unknown but useful looking extension.
> will have access to all my data on all webpages
Didn't downvote you, but this is kind of a non-issue: You just have to trust somebody at some point. Your network administrator has access to all your files and communications, your MD has access to all your embarrassing health issues, and your bank knows all about your life thanks to your credit card payments.
If you stick to extensions of good reputation, you can usually trust the developer to not be trying something untoward. Obviously this isn't true if you routinely install all kind of fly-by-night extensions...
I've been using Firefox since the early releases and when I see what the web looks like when observing others browse with Edge or Chrome, I am determined to keep using Firefox. Saying that ManifestV3 is only about keeping users safe from malicious extensions is partly true, but I suspect it is much more about making it impossible to block Google's tracking and ad-slinging.
All we need now is an extension which automatically clicks "Reject All" on Google sites when they show the "approve cookies" page.
Mv3 when combined with copious amounts of obfuscated WASM (instead of JavaScript) is definitely designed to stop people blocking first-party adverts properly, but it's not designed to thwart anti-tracking measures. The default tracking restrictions in Firefox, Edge, Safari, Brave and many other browsers operates at a lower level and has already crippled Google's ability to track users who aren't willing using Google's services. Even if they could prevent us blocking their tracking, throw in various legal restrictions preventing Google from profiling anyone it can't positively identify as being old enough, and once again, only those who willingly use Google's services (by signing up) can be reliably tracked across the web.
Google is banking on the idea that if the creepy surveillance is taken away that people will roll over and accept seeing adverts again. Somehow I doubt that will ever happen.
Unfortunately PiHole can't handle adverts that are served from legitimate domains that you don't want to block outright. That means adverts in places like YouTube and other streaming services get through just fine. So even with PiHole you still need an adblocker in your browser to catch the ones that slip through.
Use Firefox Nightly, Fennec (a FF rebuild available from F-droid) or Mull (from the Divested Computing Project) and you can also use "unapproved" add-ons/extensions.
BTW: "plugins" are typically content-renderer things like the old Java plugin, the Adobe Reader plugin, etc. Add-ons (Firefox or derivatives) or Extensions (Chrome/Chromium and derivatives) are different.
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