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Author: Wolfgang Pfeiffer
Date:  
To: Martin Steigerwald
CC: dng
Subject: Re: [DNG] Firefox 128 leaks user data
On Thu, Jul 18, 2024 at 04:25:21PM +0200, Martin Steigerwald wrote:
>Hi Wolfgang. Hi.
>
>Wolfgang Pfeiffer via Dng - 17.07.24, 23:23:07 CEST:
>> Removed ~/.mozilla , ~/cache/mozilla from previous versions.
>> Unpacked, started firefox 128
>>
>> One of the first two tabs that were opened after starting this new
>> firefox was this page - please read it carefully:
>> https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/
>>
>> Big and fat we read:
>> "By default, Mozilla processes your Firefox personal data to:"
>>
>> or
>>
>> "If you use these features, Firefox will share data to provide you
>> functionality and help us improve our products and services:"
>>
>> Immediately any user concerned with his data would search around
>> mozilla help and settings pages .. and find and switch off "features"
>> like that "Allow websites to perform privacy-preserving ad
>> measurement" setting. But is it a Mozilla fault if the user doesn't
>> care? I doubt it ..
>
>That's nonsense.
>
>Most browsers were updated, instead of newly installed.
>
>The feature was activated silently.


For the updated version, yes, it looks like so.

And even on clicking the "What's new" link (in the "About Firefox"
pop-up) I'm shown a more or less cryptic sentence like this:

´
Firefox now supports the experimental Privacy Preserving Attribution
API, which provides an alternative to user tracking for ad
attribution. This experiment is only enabled via origin trial and can
be disabled in the new Website Advertising Preferences section in the
Privacy and Security settings.
`
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/128.0/releasenotes/?utm_source=firefox-browser&utm_medium=firefox-desktop&utm_campaign=about-dialog

And I had to click a link in that snippet above to fully
understand what they're actually talking about.

>
>Do you really expect users to follow Mozilla blogs to know?


Definitely not.

Meantime I think you guys are right: this data collecting thing in
firefox should be disabled by default.

Thanks for the debate, everyone.

--
Wolfgang