Plans to deploy a PC version of Freedome?

creative_think

Päivi,

 

I'm loving the new desktop beta! It won't work on my enterprise network at work but they're probably blocking it somehow. However, it works just fine on my Windows 8.1 installation on one of my personal computers.

 

I do have some concerns though... I noticed in my Web browser that i'm still receiving cookies. I thought that Freedome desktop was supposed to block cookies just like the Andriod app? Correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe you can explain how the technology works somehow. That might clear up some of my misunderstandings.

 

Thanks for the great Freedome desktop beta product. I'm loving it so far with the exception of the above concerns.

 

Regards,

 

ct

nightfrogs

Hi,

 

Thanks for adding me to the list of beta testers!

 

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to work with my home network configuration.

I disabled OpenDNS but i suspect that due to the fact my PC is connected to my network via a Devolo  dLan wired/wireless extender, this may cause issues.

 

 Any suggestions or answers?

 

Thank you!

[Deleted User]

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@creative_think wrote:

 

I do have some concerns though... I noticed in my Web browser that i'm still receiving cookies. I thought that Freedome desktop was supposed to block cookies just like the Andriod app? Correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe you can explain how the technology works somehow. That might clear up some of my misunderstandings.

 

---

Freedome does not block *all* cookies, for two main reasons:

 

- Some of your web browsing happens over https / TLS / SSL, in which case all the communication between your web browser and the web server are encrypted. For example, when you visit your online bank service, Freedome cannot decrypt the communications and remove the cookies. It would, in fact, be a bit frightening if it could. 

 

- A lot of web sites would totally break if *all* cookies were blocked. Login functionality to various services would fail (including, for example, this community forum site), since the login session information is usually stored in cookies. Once you've successfully entered your username and password on this site, the site gives your browser a magic cookie which lets you continue browsing the site for a while without logging in immediately again.

 

Freedome blocks cookies given by 3rd-party advertisement and tracking services. We have a rather large database of advertisement networks and analytics services, and for those, we can either block requests completely, or in the case of advertisements, we can remove the cookies, so that the advertisement service is not able to generate a profile of your browsing habits (which sites you visit).

creative_think

HessuH,

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my question. This helps me understand how the technology works a lot better. Now that you mentioned it, it seems obvious you can't decrypt cookies sent over https.

 

However, I have a followup question. What happens if one logs into amazon.com for instance (which is over https), are the advertisements in such a session also passed via https or are they http? Or what about any other site I visit without logging in via https, are those ads passed via https or http? Do you just block cookies by origin since you can't decrypt https cookies?

 

Maybe F-secure could consider making a brochure and answering technical or frequently asked questions like this?

 

Regards,

 

ct

[Deleted User]

Currently Freedome does not do anything about https connections, they're not blocked at all. Later on, we should be able to block some servers completely.

 

We have answered some of these questions in the knowledge base articles for Freedome.

 

Anti-tracking explained

Does Freedome intercept SSL/TLS traffic

kklemett

I was interested to know if you would have any update on the plans of the Mac version of Freedome.

[Deleted User]

Hello,

 

I'm sorry, but no news to share at this point.

 

I'll make a post here as soon as we start inviting external beta testers.

 

Best,

Päivi

Blomkvist

Just received the new update , version 1.0.617.0. What is new, except Private Search? Love it, I use it as my new homepage.

[Deleted User]

Glad to hear that you are happy with Private search.

 

In addition to the search, the new version includes:

 

• Lot of bug fixes
• Tray notifications about changes in connection state (you can see when Freedome is ON and OFF)
• More aggressive reconnecting so Freedome should be OFF much less often
• “Invite Friends” feature (not working yet fully as the product is not publicly available and friends cannot download)

All the best,

Päivi

creative_think

Päivi,

 

Thanks for the impromptu change log. Is there anyway the change logs could be incorporated into the Freedome client? That would be great because I like knowing what changes are made to each update.

 

I also like the addition of the private search feature as well, however, I use Duck Duck Go instead as I beleive it is more versatile; to each their own though. A great feature for suitable users nonetheless.

 

Oh! And you forgot to mention the addition of the US VPN locations which are super awesome. Huge thanks to the dev team for that.

 

Regards,

 

ct

[Deleted User]

Hello,

 

Good that you reminded us. The change log will be added to the first update after we release the product officially this week.

 

The update on Friday included updates to the subscription and 'Invite friends' views and fixes to some connection problems.

 

I forward your greetings to the development team.

 

Best,

Päivi