4 ms·

@tofumatt's responses sound pragmatic but very tone-deaf given Mozilla's privacy stance. I feel like the only right answer here is to tie all of this into the t

@tofumatt's responses sound pragmatic but very tone-deaf given Mozilla's privacy stance. I feel like the only right answer here is to tie all of this into the telemetry opt-in and don't load GA if the user hasn't opted in.

lucideer 9y ago
The problem with that approach is that, many technically literate Firefox users will deliberately opt-in to Telemetry as a component of their support for a pro-privacy product. Telemetry actively benefits development of Firefox, and a pro-privacy user will want to strategically share their data with entities they trust in order to row back against the tide of entities that they do not trust. Frankly, Mozilla are shooting themselves in the foot by sending any data from any of their products or web properties to their primary competitor.
- gcp 9y ago
  The problem here is that GA is quite frankly Telemetry For Websites. Frankly, Mozilla are shooting themselves in the foot by sending any data from any of their products or web properties to their primary competitor. This ship sailed a long time ago. Mozilla negotiated stricter privacy in their contracts with Google, and Mozilla Legal clearly believes Google will uphold those agreements despite it being a competitor.
  - microwavecamera 9y ago
    But it begs the obvious question, why use Google Analytics at all? If it's just about gathering statistics there's several non-invasive ways to acquire that data.
    - gcp 9y ago
      Apparently it's an awesome product. I stopped using it myself because I didn't want to deal with EU cookie notices, which is why I'm surprised to see claims here they are compatible with EU cookie laws.
  - lucideer 9y ago
    > This ship sailed a long time ago You may be right, but I hope not. The fact Mozilla negotiated stricter privacy in their contracts is a step in the right direction, so this shows some desire to improve. It needn't be the final step. Beyond that, there are other areas where there's been similar change. The Mozilla Stumbler project, for example, is explicitly designed to improve user choice in a privacy-sensitive area dominated by a Google service; a service that was embedded in Safari, Firefox and Opera 12 (Presto) for a long time without users being aware their browser was phoning home to Google. I would hope this GA fiasco could someday be similarly resolved with enough user pressure.

lucideer 9y ago

The problem with that approach is that, many technically literate Firefox users will deliberately opt-in to Telemetry as a component of their support for a pro-privacy product. Telemetry actively benefits development of Firefox, and a pro-privacy user will want to strategically share their data with entities they trust in order to row back against the tide of entities that they do not trust. Frankly, Mozilla are shooting themselves in the foot by sending any data from any of their products or web properties to their primary competitor.

gcp 9y ago
The problem here is that GA is quite frankly Telemetry For Websites. Frankly, Mozilla are shooting themselves in the foot by sending any data from any of their products or web properties to their primary competitor. This ship sailed a long time ago. Mozilla negotiated stricter privacy in their contracts with Google, and Mozilla Legal clearly believes Google will uphold those agreements despite it being a competitor.
- microwavecamera 9y ago
  But it begs the obvious question, why use Google Analytics at all? If it's just about gathering statistics there's several non-invasive ways to acquire that data.
  - gcp 9y ago
    Apparently it's an awesome product. I stopped using it myself because I didn't want to deal with EU cookie notices, which is why I'm surprised to see claims here they are compatible with EU cookie laws.
- lucideer 9y ago
  > This ship sailed a long time ago You may be right, but I hope not. The fact Mozilla negotiated stricter privacy in their contracts is a step in the right direction, so this shows some desire to improve. It needn't be the final step. Beyond that, there are other areas where there's been similar change. The Mozilla Stumbler project, for example, is explicitly designed to improve user choice in a privacy-sensitive area dominated by a Google service; a service that was embedded in Safari, Firefox and Opera 12 (Presto) for a long time without users being aware their browser was phoning home to Google. I would hope this GA fiasco could someday be similarly resolved with enough user pressure.