04-29-2021 , 10:05 PM
https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-crumble...s-privacy/ Vivaldi crumbles cookie dialogs, raises the bar on privacy and design
The new version Vivaldi 3.8 offers relief from annoying cookie dialogs and Google’s FLoC, an invasive privacy technology. Rebuilds its Panels and adds quick bookmarking options.
Published on April 29, 2021 – By Jon von Tetzchner There are browsers, and then there is Vivaldi. We give you plenty of features while protecting your privacy.
In the latest version, there’s a new option to block cookie dialogs and banners that will help save time and unnecessary clicks, so that you can get on with what you came for – browsing.
We continue to tackle privacy issues plaguing the internet such as data collection, user tracking, and profiling including FLoC, Google’s latest privacy-invasive technology.
Vivaldi’s signature Panels are now more customizable with a design overhaul and fresh options that will spice up the look of the browser and how you interact with it. You’ll also find new quicker bookmarking options.
Vivaldi 3.8 is now available for free download on Windows, macOS, and Linux computers. Do cookie dialogs drive you insane? In this new version, we reduce annoying cookie dialogs and banners by miles.
For many of you, incessant cookie dialogs and banners are the new scourge of smooth browsing. While the purpose of the EU’s GDPR to protect users from tracking websites is noble, it has its side effects. Instead of avoiding using trackers and tracking ads, many websites bother users to manage their cookie preferences before allowing access to the content they came to see.
You are often required to click on multiple steps to manage such cookies, including hidden options, a dialog on every single page, or at times no way to deny them at all. Naturally, this makes for a frustrating browsing experience.
This leads to clicking “allow” or “accept” without realizing that you unwittingly just gave permission for trackers to create behavioral profiles about you.
Often, these clicks happen due to the fact that a website may not work without accepting the cookie dialog. We do not believe that this should be considered “consent”, and this tactic should not be allowed at all.
That is why, in this update, we let the cookie dialogs crumble!
How?
Now you do not have to rely on extensions and can block a majority of these pestering dialogs and enjoy faster browsing through an option in our built-in Ad and Tracker Blocker when enabled.
While we evaluate ways to make the Cookie Crumbler available in our user interface and determine if it can be enabled by default, you can give it a try. Go to Vivaldi’s menu — Settings — Privacy — Tracker and Ad blocking — Manage Sources — Ad blocking sources and enable the “Remove cookie warnings” lists.
This will simply block the service that asks for consent, or hide the consent dialog, in the same way as it might remove a tracker or an ad.
This feature is based on the regularly updated third-party block lists — EasyList Cookie List and ‘I Don’t Care About Cookies‘. While Cookie Crumbler works on most of the websites, this is not a perfect solution, as there will be a few websites that use other tactics to obtain cookie consent.
Please note that some sites may not let you in at all and may not work as you expect them to as they actually require cookie consent for some functionality but you can disable Vivaldi’s Ad Blocker on those sites to disable the Cookie Crumbler. Also, note that blocking cookie consent dialogs may not have the same result as rejecting all cookies on some websites.
FLoC no, in Vivaldi. User privacy is paramount
Unlike some browsers that track every step of your online activity, Vivaldi does the opposite. No data collection. No user profiling. Not even tracking of product features that you use in Vivaldi.
In fact, we keep track of technologies that are harmful to user privacy. One such privacy-invasive technology is FLoC by Google, which builds profiles, and tracks you, in the absence of third-party cookies.
As FLoC has privacy risks, we’ve blacklisted the FLoC component in this update onwards. This means it will not be downloaded and will be removed if it has already been downloaded.
In the previous versions of Vivaldi, Google’s FLoC experiment was prevented from working by not setting the hidden settings that it needed in order to run.
Note: You may still see a “FLoC” folder in your profile if you previously used a version where the component was installed, but this folder will not contain any profiling data since the feature never worked in Vivaldi, and it can be safely deleted or ignored.
Panels redesigned. Light, fresh and shiny
New slick icons. No borders. The content now shines through the Panels. Literally.
We’ve rebuilt the Panels.
Adding flair and personal style to a product you use every day is natural and, really, what Vivaldi is about. The design overhaul of Vivaldi’s Panels puts you on top working with essential tools such as Bookmarks, Downloads, Notes, History, Window Panel, and Web Panels.
The new design upgrade makes the whole Panel transparent on top of the background image of your choice. It includes new options that make the browser visually stunning:
Opacity for the Panel background: Once the opacity setting is enabled, the image is shown through the Start Page Background. This setting also affects the Speed Dial Title background.
Frosted look: Enable or disable blurring of the Panel background to get that “frosted” look.
Transparent Tab Bar: When enabled, the colored area behind the tabs can be completely removed. This allows the background image to show through here as well, completely covering the browser window. The Tab Bar area is also affected by the Blur setting.
If you prefer to stick to the way Panels were before, simply set the opacity to 100% and disable the Transparent Bar.
We’ve also moved the Start Page Background settings to the Themes category. Now it is easier to find a good image that fits your current theme, and the best possible matching settings (colors, images, and opacity)
Rediscover the magic of Bookmarks
In Vivaldi 3.8, we’ve added a more powerful and quick way to add your bookmarks. Now when you press CTRL/CMD + D to bookmark, we add it instantly, without the need to open the dialog at all. Easy.
If you do want to open the dialog (by clicking the Bookmark button in the Address Bar), you’ll notice a lot of new choices:
Quickly filter between regular bookmark folders and speed dials folders.
Search for an existing bookmark folder or create a new one directly in the dialog.
A complete tree-view, with all folders available to expand and collapse
Other new bits in Vivaldi 3.8
Disable Mouse Gestures: Just like Keyboard Shortcuts, Mouse Gestures can now be turned on and off in Quick Commands.
Add ‘Extensions’ to Quick Commands: The previous version bolded the keyword when searched for in Quick Commands. From now on, users can now open extension pop-ups through Quick Commands by just typing in the extension’s name
Show menus for extensions through Quick Commands: This lets you show menus for extensions you have installed via quick commands. You could already do this without quick commands. So it adds power to QC.
Open tabs outside of stacks with Quick Commands: This is just being able to assign a new keyboard shortcut (or gesture or use quick commands) to open tabs outside of stacks when you are in a stack.
Vivaldi 3.8 is ready. Download now
If you want it to work in a certain way – and it’s something we can reasonably do – we tend to do it. This helps us focus on privacy, productivity, and the way you interact with your browser.
We’d love to hear from you about our new version, and also how can we improve the new additions in Vivaldi. For now, we’d be happy if you’d crumble the cookie dialogs and browse smoothly. Dig in more details in the changelog below.
The new version Vivaldi 3.8 offers relief from annoying cookie dialogs and Google’s FLoC, an invasive privacy technology. Rebuilds its Panels and adds quick bookmarking options.
Published on April 29, 2021 – By Jon von Tetzchner There are browsers, and then there is Vivaldi. We give you plenty of features while protecting your privacy.
In the latest version, there’s a new option to block cookie dialogs and banners that will help save time and unnecessary clicks, so that you can get on with what you came for – browsing.
We continue to tackle privacy issues plaguing the internet such as data collection, user tracking, and profiling including FLoC, Google’s latest privacy-invasive technology.
Vivaldi’s signature Panels are now more customizable with a design overhaul and fresh options that will spice up the look of the browser and how you interact with it. You’ll also find new quicker bookmarking options.
Vivaldi 3.8 is now available for free download on Windows, macOS, and Linux computers. Do cookie dialogs drive you insane? In this new version, we reduce annoying cookie dialogs and banners by miles.
For many of you, incessant cookie dialogs and banners are the new scourge of smooth browsing. While the purpose of the EU’s GDPR to protect users from tracking websites is noble, it has its side effects. Instead of avoiding using trackers and tracking ads, many websites bother users to manage their cookie preferences before allowing access to the content they came to see.
You are often required to click on multiple steps to manage such cookies, including hidden options, a dialog on every single page, or at times no way to deny them at all. Naturally, this makes for a frustrating browsing experience.
This leads to clicking “allow” or “accept” without realizing that you unwittingly just gave permission for trackers to create behavioral profiles about you.
Often, these clicks happen due to the fact that a website may not work without accepting the cookie dialog. We do not believe that this should be considered “consent”, and this tactic should not be allowed at all.
That is why, in this update, we let the cookie dialogs crumble!
How?
Now you do not have to rely on extensions and can block a majority of these pestering dialogs and enjoy faster browsing through an option in our built-in Ad and Tracker Blocker when enabled.
While we evaluate ways to make the Cookie Crumbler available in our user interface and determine if it can be enabled by default, you can give it a try. Go to Vivaldi’s menu — Settings — Privacy — Tracker and Ad blocking — Manage Sources — Ad blocking sources and enable the “Remove cookie warnings” lists.
This will simply block the service that asks for consent, or hide the consent dialog, in the same way as it might remove a tracker or an ad.
This feature is based on the regularly updated third-party block lists — EasyList Cookie List and ‘I Don’t Care About Cookies‘. While Cookie Crumbler works on most of the websites, this is not a perfect solution, as there will be a few websites that use other tactics to obtain cookie consent.
Please note that some sites may not let you in at all and may not work as you expect them to as they actually require cookie consent for some functionality but you can disable Vivaldi’s Ad Blocker on those sites to disable the Cookie Crumbler. Also, note that blocking cookie consent dialogs may not have the same result as rejecting all cookies on some websites.
FLoC no, in Vivaldi. User privacy is paramount
Unlike some browsers that track every step of your online activity, Vivaldi does the opposite. No data collection. No user profiling. Not even tracking of product features that you use in Vivaldi.
In fact, we keep track of technologies that are harmful to user privacy. One such privacy-invasive technology is FLoC by Google, which builds profiles, and tracks you, in the absence of third-party cookies.
As FLoC has privacy risks, we’ve blacklisted the FLoC component in this update onwards. This means it will not be downloaded and will be removed if it has already been downloaded.
In the previous versions of Vivaldi, Google’s FLoC experiment was prevented from working by not setting the hidden settings that it needed in order to run.
Note: You may still see a “FLoC” folder in your profile if you previously used a version where the component was installed, but this folder will not contain any profiling data since the feature never worked in Vivaldi, and it can be safely deleted or ignored.
Panels redesigned. Light, fresh and shiny
New slick icons. No borders. The content now shines through the Panels. Literally.
We’ve rebuilt the Panels.
Adding flair and personal style to a product you use every day is natural and, really, what Vivaldi is about. The design overhaul of Vivaldi’s Panels puts you on top working with essential tools such as Bookmarks, Downloads, Notes, History, Window Panel, and Web Panels.
The new design upgrade makes the whole Panel transparent on top of the background image of your choice. It includes new options that make the browser visually stunning:
Opacity for the Panel background: Once the opacity setting is enabled, the image is shown through the Start Page Background. This setting also affects the Speed Dial Title background.
Frosted look: Enable or disable blurring of the Panel background to get that “frosted” look.
Transparent Tab Bar: When enabled, the colored area behind the tabs can be completely removed. This allows the background image to show through here as well, completely covering the browser window. The Tab Bar area is also affected by the Blur setting.
If you prefer to stick to the way Panels were before, simply set the opacity to 100% and disable the Transparent Bar.
We’ve also moved the Start Page Background settings to the Themes category. Now it is easier to find a good image that fits your current theme, and the best possible matching settings (colors, images, and opacity)
Rediscover the magic of Bookmarks
In Vivaldi 3.8, we’ve added a more powerful and quick way to add your bookmarks. Now when you press CTRL/CMD + D to bookmark, we add it instantly, without the need to open the dialog at all. Easy.
If you do want to open the dialog (by clicking the Bookmark button in the Address Bar), you’ll notice a lot of new choices:
Quickly filter between regular bookmark folders and speed dials folders.
Search for an existing bookmark folder or create a new one directly in the dialog.
A complete tree-view, with all folders available to expand and collapse
Other new bits in Vivaldi 3.8
Disable Mouse Gestures: Just like Keyboard Shortcuts, Mouse Gestures can now be turned on and off in Quick Commands.
Add ‘Extensions’ to Quick Commands: The previous version bolded the keyword when searched for in Quick Commands. From now on, users can now open extension pop-ups through Quick Commands by just typing in the extension’s name
Show menus for extensions through Quick Commands: This lets you show menus for extensions you have installed via quick commands. You could already do this without quick commands. So it adds power to QC.
Open tabs outside of stacks with Quick Commands: This is just being able to assign a new keyboard shortcut (or gesture or use quick commands) to open tabs outside of stacks when you are in a stack.
Vivaldi 3.8 is ready. Download now
If you want it to work in a certain way – and it’s something we can reasonably do – we tend to do it. This helps us focus on privacy, productivity, and the way you interact with your browser.
We’d love to hear from you about our new version, and also how can we improve the new additions in Vivaldi. For now, we’d be happy if you’d crumble the cookie dialogs and browse smoothly. Dig in more details in the changelog below.