Firefox

17815 readers

53 users here now

A place to discuss the news and latest developments on the open-source browser Firefox

founded 4 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

Removed (blank.com)

submitted 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] -5 points 3 years ago (4 children)

Quoting from source code comment:

Sets the appropriate Firefox Suggest scenario based on the current Nimbus

rollout (if any) and "hardcoded" rollouts (if any). The possible scenarios
are:
history
This is the scenario when the user is not in any rollouts. Firefox
Suggest suggestions are disabled.
offline
This is the scenario for the "offline" rollout. Firefox Suggest
suggestions are enabled by default. Search strings and matching keywords
are not included in related telemetry. The onboarding dialog is not
shown.
online
This is the scenario for the "online" rollout. The onboarding dialog will
be shown and the user must opt in to enable Firefox Suggest suggestions
and related telemetry, which will include search strings and matching
keywords.

Related source code:

async _updateFirefoxSuggestScenarioHelper() { let scenario = this._nimbus.quickSuggestScenario; if (!scenario) { await Region.init(); if ( Region.home == "US" && Services.locale.appLocaleAsBCP47.substring(0, 2) == "en" ) { // offline rollout for en locales in the US region scenario = "offline"; } else { // no rollout scenario = "history"; } }

I think this should be self explanatory.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 years ago (3 children)

And how would that support your claim that this post is:

misinformation. No data is sent by default, you have to opt in.

The relevant parts from this code comment about the "offline" mode are:

Firefox Suggest suggestions are enabled by default.

The onboarding dialog is not shown.

Which correspond to the code I've already linked to.

      case "offline":
        enabled = true;
        defaults.setBoolPref("quicksuggest.shouldShowOnboardingDialog", false);
        defaults.setBoolPref("suggest.quicksuggest", true);
        defaults.setBoolPref("suggest.quicksuggest.sponsored", true);
        break;

The code you cited just says that users with locale "en-US" are enrolled in the "offline" mode.

Basically:

locale = "en-US" => "offline" => opt-out
locale != "en-US" => "opt-in" with all possible dark patterns to trick the user into accepting it: user has to click the small "Not now" text which does not look like a button on the top right corner to disable Suggest.

To summarize, the "offline" / "online" Suggest Scenario have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Firefox sends data to Mozilla or not, it only defines if the Suggest feature is opt-in or opt-out. Is this naming extremely confusing? Absolutely! But at this point it's clear that Mozilla has done everything possible to mislead users about what their "suggestions" really are.

So please, stop spreading misinformation while claiming that people trying to bring awareness about this awful "feature" are the ones providing false information. A code comment is not proof, your completely wrong interpretation of it even less so. If you don't agree, please link to the relevant source code which would contradict the one I've linked to.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 3 years ago (2 children)

Can you read the below stuff?

This is the scenario for the “offline” rollout. Firefox Suggest suggestions are enabled by default. Search strings and matching keywords are not included in related telemetry. The onboarding dialog is not shown. online This is the scenario for the “online” rollout. The onboarding dialog will be shown and the user must opt in to enable Firefox Suggest suggestions and related telemetry, which will include search strings and matching keywords.

"offline" - Search strings and matching keywords are not included in related telemetry.

"online" - user must opt in to enable Firefox Suggest suggestions and related telemetry, which will include search strings and matching keywords

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 years ago (1 children)

Telemetry and Suggest are two completely separate things.

telemetry goes to: https://incoming.telemetry.mozilla.org/submit
URL bar "keylogging" goes to: https://merino.services.mozilla.com/api/v1/suggest

The only different between "online" and "offline" is that in "offline" mode what you type in your URL bar is not included in the telemetry sent after you have selected a suggestion. But this changes absolutely nothing to what is sent to the Suggest API endpoint when you type in your URL bar.

I've repeatedly provided clear evidence of what I said, you just keep mentioning a random code comment and interpreting it in a way which completely contradicts the actual code and what countless people have observed. So at the risk of repeating myself:

A code comment does not prove anything.
Your completely wrong interpretation of it even less so.
Link to code supporting your claims or GTFO.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 years ago

I linked the code and the comment. You are the one claiming opposite and wrong stuff that I cannot even quote from FF source code. You are the dishonest one here. You GTFO.