2mo ago

Is there an easy(ier) way to stop a game from phoning home?

Hi all, Sony loves these data collection messages at the beginning of their games. They don’t even give you the option to opt-out. It is mandatory and is either “Full data” or “limited”. I don’t want to give them either. Is there a straight forward way to do this? Thanks in advance.

31 comments

firejail --noprofile --net=none -- wine ...
- The three dots are what? The path to the .exe file? I tried that and it broke the game. It was complaining about some dx12 something. Also, I tried the firetool app, but it doesn't have anywhere that shows the blocked apps/files. You just have to trust it.
  
  yes, ... is path to .exe, and yes I also has similar problems with some games with default wine
  but for gaming I use lutris with proton, and using firejail from lutris has better results for me (almost all games works without issues)
  [SomeGame] > Configure > System options > Command prefix > firejail --noprofile --net=none --
Easier than...?
There are dozens of ways to block that traffic, from DNS to firewall rules to just disconnecting entirely.
- Easier than messing with the terminal. I remember on windows, you set an "outbound" rule for an .exe and you're done. I tried to do that with firejail, but the firetool doesn't have a spot in the app where it shows what you blocked. You just have to trust it. Unless I'm blind. I looked everywhere in the app and the wizard.
  
  Well there are probably GUI firewall rule apps, but it's be faster just to use a command, since the apps are going to take all the same info anyway. Or you could just disconnect entirely.
DNS blocking if their telemetry domains are separate from game domains. They could technically do their own DNS resolution though.
- This was my thought too. Seems easiest to me to DNS block on the firewall side (and be network wide).
  
  Anything attempting to leave the LAN on port 53 or 853 gets redirected to my pihole and logged. It's mostly google stuff, but TV's do it too. A determined enshittifier could implement DoH or DoT.
Turn off internet
- That's one way and guaranteed to work, but it's kind of annoying.
- It is possible to tighten security to the point where the system is unusable. Security and convenience must be balanced. The trick is to create a secure and useful system. ——The Arch Wiki, Security
  Seems OP wants to play online only games, disconnecting might make that impossible.
I use OpenSnitch https://github.com/evilsocket/opensnitch
It prompts me each time a game attempts to make an outbound connection. I can allow or deny the connection from the process or to the host etc and it can set it as a rule with different time frames like once, until reboot, permanently etc.
https://github.com/evilsocket/opensnitch
- That was actually a part of the main question, but then I decided not to include it. Opensnitch shows so many popups that I get confused which is to allow and which to deny. Sometimes things could break and a reboot is necessary.
  Edit: I'm going to install it regardless. Thanks
  
  That will be the case with any firewall, you'll have to block everything and then figure out what is needed for the game to work as expected.
- Fair point, I didn't buy it, it was given to me.
  
  Let me guess, it was the usuall you dont own the game shill?
  In that case, if you want m8, i have more than enough ropes for ya

31 comments