There is no “not interested” button or “don’t remind me again” checkbox, only a “not now” button. This implies the pop-up could return. I also couldn’t find anything in the settings to permanently disable VPN features. Perhaps the ad won’t ever return, but it very much looks like a dark pattern and gives the impression Firefox isn’t giving me the choices I want.
Good job, Mozilla! But Edge isn’t the only browser resorting to dark patterns nowadays. Think you might be able to so something about this?
Ok, so let’s say you’re a minor and I get a hold of your hash. Now I’m going to run it through the service every day, whether you log in or not. The day you turn 18 I’m going to know your date of birth.
Online ID should only be legally mandated in cases where KYC (know your customer) laws exist, like financial services.
If you want to protect children, make them use devices that are locked down and block adult content. Online service providers should at most be required to mark such content with metadata.
If you’re interested in that sort of thing, look for a job in “data annotation”.
If like most people they only really need a browser, Linux Mint. If they’re more of a power user, let them try a few DEs (Gnome, KDE, Cinnamon, Cosmic, XFCE) and choose a distro based on which they prefer.
I mean, I get it. The Register does love clickbaity headlines. IMO making fun of that is fair game.
Firefox mobile recently gave me a similarly shitty pop-up ad for their vpn:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superintelligence#Artificial_superintelligence