privacytests.org benchmark results of Vivaldi
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Hello to everyone,
I just intercepted a few of users posts on out Twitter channel related a site just know I am aware of www.privacytests.org.
The results of Vivaldi, any platform, are generating a lot of noise and I'd like to write down technically about.
Thanks.
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@sev7en can be hard for an user being objective; also not sure it block fingerprints with scripts enabled:
Btw, the part about tracking content is false because should be green on vivaldi. The private review is probably closer to the real situation: https://privacytests.org/private.html
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Unfortunately nobody can really interprete how these tests were made with which settings.
Author of the site works for Brave and promotes browser tests. Can you imagine why Brave is the #1 on list?
Already discussed what the site measures and what not: ⇒ https://forum.vivaldi.net/topic/68059/vivaldi-browser-privacy-review/
https://forum.vivaldi.net/post/530047
https://vivaldi.com/de/security/common-questions/#privacytests -
@DoctorG Hello I guess Vivaldi should move on that as it is generating and making misunderstanding and fake information.
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This site will come back to haunt us until hell freezes over...
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There is also a statement from Jon here https://youtu.be/fMTTUAlC14k
(short clip from the main interview https://youtu.be/TvIKMl1Ldi0) -
@sev7en, it is too easy, for whatever reason, to put a comparison list on the net to show off a certain browser, which is suspiciously in the first column of the comparison without any red x, and put others with worse or much worse results of this supposed test that does not mention even in what conditions and configurations it has been carried out.
The only thing I can claim is that, instead of trusting this obvious propaganda, to use a real time test in real conditions, such as Browserleaks or Cover your Tracks, to see the protection it has and adjust the configuration and possible extensions in this regard,
In any case, no browser, not even Brave and not even TOR can offer 100% privacy, not even 70% privacy without encountering half of the web pages with a black screen.
Adjusting the privacy of a browser is always a compromise and knowing how to differentiate between technical data that can and should be readable by many pages in order to be displayed correctly and that also have nothing to do with privacy (screen resolution, OS, country by public IP to correctly display the language (only can be spoofed by an VPN), etc), and private and personal data that must be hidden, the latter is done by Vivaldi quite well.
All other is covered with an Tin foil hat. -
Hi everyone -- I'm the author of privacytests.org. I have been working on browser privacy since 2014. I built the site before working for Brave, and I run the site independently of Brave: they don't tell me what to do, and my goal is not to promote Brave but to test browsers objectively in a fair comparison. The project's code is open source so it can be independently verified.
I discuss Vivaldi's earlier statement, here: https://privacytests.org/vivaldi.html. Also I recently had a conversation with Techlore which gives a bit more about my background and my thinking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygvhCa9-0L4
I want privacytests.org to help all browser teams (including the Vivaldi development team) to monitor and improve the privacy of their browsers. We may disagree at times but I hope we can have a friendly discussion. I'm happy to answer any questions here.
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@privacytests Do you think averaage users can know how you tested? I do not think so.
I do not want to defend Vivaldi browser as very-private (it is not), but your tests need more transparency. -
@DoctorG Thanks for the good question. I test all browsers by default, and therefore it says "default settings" on the main page and explains that in the About page. I also try to give a helpful explanation for every test. Privacy testing of browsers is highly technical, however, so I don't expect all users to understand the details of testing.
I'm open to suggestions about how to improve transparency, etc.
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@privacytests OK, in case of Vivaldi default could mean f.ex.: no 3rdparty cookies blocked, ads/tracker blocker not enabled. Yes, that can cause bad results with automated test scripts. Sad.
//EDIT:
And under most circumstances too much blocking/asking for permission decreases average user's usability and experience, and can break sites.//EDIT2: Hmm, as i read on Github repo of privacytests, we can not test on Linux your testsuite.
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@DoctorG Default settings are critical to test, in my view, because a large number of users stay with the defaults. I hope Vivaldi will enable more privacy protections by default.
Yes, it's true that there can be tradeoffs between usability and privacy. However it's important to note that a number of relatively popular browsers (Brave, Firefox, Safari) pass many privacy tests, which suggests that the usability problems can be overcome with careful work.
I have been developing support for running PrivacyTests on Linux. It's not as well maintained as on Mac, because I normally run the tests on Mac. If you run into problems on Linux, please let me know and I will try to help debug them.
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Anyway, with my current settings Imade a test in Browserleaks and apart of secundary leaks like Country, Screen resolution, etc., not even the OS is correctly shown (Windows 32bits, WTF) and other are with an n/d or wrong. Fingerprints are randomized by Trace, the only privacy extension I use, apart of this only the own ad/trackerblocker of Vivaldi. In the setting activate none of the Google services, apart of the Chrome Store.
Same in Do not Track, apart that it say that I have a unique Fingerprint (but se above, every time another one) The other confirming a "Strong privacy protection"
That's enough for me. By definition, it's absurd that the privacy test shows better results as Vivaldi in Browsers where is known that they track and spy the user, Like Chrome, Edge and above all, Opera, which even share userdata with Facebook and Amazon, among others, something that Vivaldi don't do. This shows at least that this test is based on a mistaken concept of privacy.
>Laptop ACER, AMD Ryzen, GPU AMD Radeon RAM 16GB, SSD 512GB -Win11 Home 64 v24H2| Vivaldi last stable|
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@Catweazle Thanks for your comments.
A point I would like to clarify is that PrivacyTests does not show Vivaldi is worse than Chrome, Edge or Opera. In fact the results are all very similar for all four browsers for the things I test. Edge blocks a few extra cookies in normal mode but fewer in Incognito mode.
You are also right that understanding telemetry would be very valuable and it's something I hope to be testing in the future. Right now PrivacyTests focuses on privacy protections against tracking by websites and third-party trackers.
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@privacytests Does Vivaldi have a mail client?
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@luetage Yes, but I'm only testing web browser functionality. Why do you ask?
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@privacytests Thank you for clarifying. I wasn’t sure. The mail client is not a default, therefore I didn’t feel comfortable acknowledging it.
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Impement fixes as outlined on the website to make Vivaldi more Secure and Privacy oriented Browser !!
Open-source tests of web browser privacy
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how accurate this website?
