4 ms·

All the features and technical improvements they might hope to ship in the next several months are irrelevant compared to this single issue. Which "single issu

by gcp 9y ago

All the features and technical improvements they might hope to ship in the next several months are irrelevant compared to this single issue. Which "single issue" is that then? That AMO is using GA (and has been for years)? Or that TP doesn't work correctly for the in-browser UI? I'm going to have to disagree with you there.

ssivark 9y ago
They are both issues. My principal point is that they're all part of the same problem in the bigger picture, which is: Mozilla is breaking its privacy promises to its users. 1. Mozilla casts aspersions on Google/Chrome for not respecting users' privacy. (eg: recent billboard advertizements) 2. Mozilla doesn't respect users privacy because it uses tracking, that too third-party, that too from Google. Pot -> kettle -> etc... Mozilla risks losing credibility. What fundamental principles do they claim to stand for, if they're willing to compromise those for convenience?
- gcp 9y ago
  Siloing the GA data that is obtained from Mozilla (required by the contract Mozilla has with Google) would stop the privacy-breaking aspects (which exist due to aggregating over sites). But this may be a case where even though Mozilla is technically doing the right thing, perceptions will tend the opposite way. Without that statement in that old bug, most people would never know the Mozilla GA data is siloed.
  - michaelt 9y ago
    Siloing, schmiloing. If the user has installed an extension that blocks Google Analytics, and you disable that extension, you're clearly ignoring the user's privacy choices.
    - gcp 9y ago
      WebExtensions are never active on about:* pages, that's a documented design choice not specific to content blockers or GA or whatever. Note that old-style extensions do work and currently still block this.
lucideer 9y ago
The 2nd issue is huge, as are the 3rd and 4th issues: 3. that a part of the browser chrome (which is technically iframing a website, but should still meet user expectation of being a part of the browser) is tracking users who have explicitly opted out of browser telemetry. 4. that in-browser telemetry includes sending user data to 3rd-parties without that being explicitly consented to. Tbh, AMO using GA is something I don't really find acceptable, and would much rather was phased out, but having been aware of it for so long, it'll hardly drive me away. Most importantly, I can block it with an addon (unlike this issue). Really though, the crux of the issue here from a PR perspective is not any individual technical failing, but the really disappointingly dismissive attitude of the Mozilla devs replying to comments on Github and here. If an employee of Mozilla can't see the significance of this, I worry about Mozilla's adherence to it's own stated mission.
jhasse 9y ago
> That AMO is using GA (and has been for years)? They should stop that now after this PR disaster.

by gcp 9y ago

ssivark 9y ago

They are both issues. My principal point is that they're all part of the same problem in the bigger picture, which is: Mozilla is breaking its privacy promises to its users. 1. Mozilla casts aspersions on Google/Chrome for not respecting users' privacy. (eg: recent billboard advertizements) 2. Mozilla doesn't respect users privacy because it uses tracking, that too third-party, that too from Google. Pot -> kettle -> etc... Mozilla risks losing credibility. What fundamental principles do they claim to stand for, if they're willing to compromise those for convenience?

gcp 9y ago
Siloing the GA data that is obtained from Mozilla (required by the contract Mozilla has with Google) would stop the privacy-breaking aspects (which exist due to aggregating over sites). But this may be a case where even though Mozilla is technically doing the right thing, perceptions will tend the opposite way. Without that statement in that old bug, most people would never know the Mozilla GA data is siloed.
- michaelt 9y ago
  Siloing, schmiloing. If the user has installed an extension that blocks Google Analytics, and you disable that extension, you're clearly ignoring the user's privacy choices.
  - gcp 9y ago
    WebExtensions are never active on about:* pages, that's a documented design choice not specific to content blockers or GA or whatever. Note that old-style extensions do work and currently still block this.

lucideer 9y ago

The 2nd issue is huge, as are the 3rd and 4th issues: 3. that a part of the browser chrome (which is technically iframing a website, but should still meet user expectation of being a part of the browser) is tracking users who have explicitly opted out of browser telemetry. 4. that in-browser telemetry includes sending user data to 3rd-parties without that being explicitly consented to. Tbh, AMO using GA is something I don't really find acceptable, and would much rather was phased out, but having been aware of it for so long, it'll hardly drive me away. Most importantly, I can block it with an addon (unlike this issue). Really though, the crux of the issue here from a PR perspective is not any individual technical failing, but the really disappointingly dismissive attitude of the Mozilla devs replying to comments on Github and here. If an employee of Mozilla can't see the significance of this, I worry about Mozilla's adherence to it's own stated mission.

jhasse 9y ago

> That AMO is using GA (and has been for years)? They should stop that now after this PR disaster.