One is a Ubuntu GeoIP Provider and the others are scopes.
To list what services are connecting to IP addresses try sudo lsof -n -P -i +c 15
Ubuntu GeoIp Provider
I don't know what the geoip provider connection is for, what it does, or why we've been told we need it. I can find little information about it, and any attempted explanations about what it is for are ambiguous, at best. This is the only rogue connection I have left.
What I do know, is that geoip calls home every time you connect to the internet, and also at seemingly arbitrary times too. In 12.10 these connections increase.
What is the value of this connection? Who knows. Ubuntu, in its infinite wisdom, obviously feels there is a value. Why else would they implement a connection that always calls home, is enabled by default, and does not have an option to disable?
Changing Settings > Time & Date > Automatically from the internet -> Manually
will not stop geoip connections.
For more on ubuntu-geoip-provider read Is ubuntu-geoip geoclue used for tracking. Apparently if you want to disable it you can do so by removing the datetime indicator.
-- update -- I seemed to have stumbled upon a way to disable this connection. * **
- Open your dconf editor:
$ dconf-editor
- Navigate to the
com/ubuntu/geoip
option
- Set the value of
geoip-url
to nothing ""
.
or
$ gsettings set com.ubuntu.geoip geoip-url ""
# check success
$ gsettings list-recursively | grep geoip
com.ubuntu.geoip geoip-url ''
Done. Happy days, no more geoip connections.
* Disclaimer: I don't know if there any negative effects of disabling geoip provider connections in the way described above.
** This may only apply to 12.10
Scopes
A scope is essentially a data provider. Example, open your dash, then click on the video icon (Super+v), then search for a video. If you have a video scope installed, you will see an "Online Videos" section in the results that are displayed. Those results are from your video scope! The video scope has queried its video data provider and returned videos relevant to your search.
You may have other scopes, e.g. music (super+m), photos, amazon, ebay, etc.
A scope is used with a lens.
For more information: What exactly is a lens and What's the difference between a lens & scope.
To check what scopes and lens are currently installed you can use dpkg
with grep
:
- What scopes are installed?
dpkg -l | grep scope
- What lens's are installed?
dpkg -l | grep lens
Example:
$ dpkg -l | grep lens
ii unity-lens-applications 5.12.0-0ubuntu1 Application lens for unity
ii unity-lens-files 5.10.0-0ubuntu1 File lens for unity
To see what scopes and lens you can install search the Software Center for Unity Lens & unity Scope, or use apt-get:
$ apt-get install unity-lens-<Hit Tab Twice For Auto Complete>
unity-lens-applications unity-lens-files
unity-lens-music unity-lens-wikipedia
unity-lens-askubuntu unity-lens-gwibber
unity-lens-video
$ apt-get install unity-scope-<Hit Tab Twice For Auto Complete>
unity-scope-musicstores unity-scope-video-remote
Removing Scopes
You can remove scopes with no problems, after all, they are just data providers.
sudo apt-get remove unity-scope-video
I removed the video scope and I don't have any PID/python
connections anymore. I can't search for online videos from the dash, but I never used that feature anyways.
Scopes in 12.10
12.10 introduces an option to disable network connections when seaching in the dash. To disable go to System Settings > Privacy > Search Results and turn off the option "When searching in Dash: Include online search results."
This does not disable geoip connections, which are not part of the dash.
There's now a legal notice about this data collection. You'll find a link to it in the bottom right of the dash. I figure I'll post the notice here in full for posterity (see notes section) and here's the part I always love best:
Canonical may change this legal notice from time to time, and at
Canonical's sole discretion. Please check this page from time to time
for any changes to this legal notice as we will not be able to notify
you directly.
Notes on updating to 12.10
On updating to 12.10 I found a new scope installed unuty-scope-gdocs
and several new lenses, one of which I guess triggered the introduction of the option to disable connections: unity-lens-shopping
.
$ dpkg -l | grep scope
ii unity-scope-gdocs
$ dpkg -l | grep lens
ii unity-lens-applications ... Application lens for unity
ii unity-lens-files ... File lens for unity
ii unity-lens-gwibber ... Gwibber Lens for unity
ii unity-lens-photos ... Unity Photos Lens
ii unity-lens-shopping ... Shopping lens for unity
You might want to uninstall some these — the shopping lens for a start [rolls eyes].
Searching in the dash - Legal notice - 21 Oct 2012
Searching in the dash - Legal notice
This search function is provided to you by Canonical Group Limited
(Canonical). This legal notice applies to searching in the dash and
incorporates the terms of Canonical's legal
notice (and privacy policy).
Collection and use of data
When you enter a search term into the dash Ubuntu will search your
Ubuntu computer and will record the search terms locally.
Unless you have opted out (see the “Online Search” section below), we
will also send your keystrokes as a search term to
productsearch.ubuntu.com and selected third parties so that we may
complement your search results with online search results from such
third parties including: Facebook, Twitter, BBC and Amazon. Canonical
and these selected third parties will collect your search terms and
use them to provide you with search results while using Ubuntu.
By searching in the dash you consent to:
- the collection and use of your search terms and IP address in this way; and
- the storage of your search terms and IP address by Canonical and such selected third parties (if applicable).
Canonical will only use your search terms and IP address in accordance
with this legal notice and our privacy
policy. Please see our
privacy policy for
further information about how Canonical protects your personal
information. For information on how our selected third parties may use
your information, please see their privacy policies.
Online Search
You may restrict your dash so that we don’t send searches to third
parties and you don't receive online search results. To do this go to
the Privacy panel and toggle the ‘Include online search results’
option to off. The Privacy panel can be found in your System Settings
or via a dash search. For a current list of our selected third
parties, please see www.ubuntu.com/privacypolicy/thirdparties.
Changes
Although most changes are likely to be minor, Canonical may change
this legal notice from time to time, and at Canonical's sole
discretion. Please check this page from time to time for any changes
to this legal notice as we will not be able to notify you directly.
How to contact us
Please submit any questions or comments about searching in the dash or
this legal notice by contacting us at the following address: Canonical
Group Ltd, 5th Floor, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London,
England, SE1 0SU.
Remote Login Service
When LightDM starts it pings uccs.landscape.canonical.com
to make sure the service exists and is usable before prompting the user to interact with it. To disable this feature (and remote login profile storage access in general) you can edit /etc/remote-login-service.conf
and remove the Canonical
entry from the list of servers in the Remote Login Service
group. The original looks like:
[Remote Login Service]
Servers=Canonical
[Server Canonical]
Name=Remote Login
URI=https://uccs.landscape.canonical.com/
The edited version should look like:
[Remote Login Service]
Servers=
[Server Canonical]
Name=Remote Login
URI=https://uccs.landscape.canonical.com/