3 ms·

This is a false narrative not backed by their actual communication about the feature: https://reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1e43w7v/a_word_about_private_attrib

This is a false narrative not backed by their actual communication about the feature: https://reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1e43w7v/a_word_about_private_attribution_in_firefox/lddsaai/ https://reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/1e43w7v/a_word_about_p... (Note that additionally when this post was written, the feature did not even truly do anything. It was running on an empty allow-list: https://mastodon.social/@jamesh@aus.social/112834742534943109 https://mastodon.social/@jamesh@aus.social/11283474253494310...)

JumpCrisscross 2y ago
> a false narrative not backed by their actual communication about the feature You're correct: Mozilla didn't try to hide this. But they didn't try to talk about it either. This isn't an obscure about:config setting; it's a new revenue source [1]. [1] https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/mozilla-anonym-raising-the-bar-for-privacy-preserving-digital-advertising/ https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/mozilla-anonym-raising-t...
Lio 2y ago
Then where is the setting in the normal privacy preferences to turn it off? Instead it's been sneaked in behind a magic about:config URL and dialogue box saying: > Proceed with Caution > Changing advanced configuration preferences can impact Firefox performance or security. At the very least that is designed to discourage you from opting out.
- neobrain 2y ago
  This is also false. Where are you pulling this from? There is a user-visible setting in the normal preferences. It's grayed out unless you have telemetry enabled. I think the initial version they shipped PPA in had no such option because, again, the feature didn't actually do anything at the time (and I'm not sure they expanded the allow list yet either).
  - Lio 2y ago
    I'm "pulling this from" the settings on my browser. When I look at the check box in preferences it's unchecked and greyed out. I then check about:config and dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled is still set to true. Looking at the Mozilla wiki (https://wiki.mozilla.org/Privacy/Privacy_Task_Force/firefox_about_config_privacy_tweeks https://wiki.mozilla.org/Privacy/Privacy_Task_Force/firefox_...) I don't see any discussion of telemetry as controlling this behaviour. It is not clear to me what is going on or what the state of this feature actually is. Have I opted out or haven't I? After the initial complaints they must have known it was controversial. I stand by my original point, they could have been much more upfront about this.
    - neobrain 2y ago
      > I'm "pulling this from" the settings on my browser. When I look at the check box in preferences it's unchecked and greyed out. > I don't see any discussion of telemetry as controlling this behaviour. As I mentioned: If the check box is greyed out, the feature is implicitly disabled, probably because you don't have telemetry enabled. The setting could be more explicit about this, which I'm sure they will refine in the future once the feature actually does anything. You seem to be looking for a reason to be angry, but apparently Firefox picked the exact default you were looking for.
    - svl 2y ago
      > I'm "pulling this from" the settings on my browser. When I look at the check box in preferences it's unchecked and greyed out. The setting being greyed out indicates that the entire functionality is disabled, and the value of the setting is irrelevant. That's a common pattern in Firefox settings when some other setting invalidates the current one. In this case, it's most likely because you have "Allow Firefox to send technical and interaction data to Mozilla" unchecked.
- panarky 2y ago
  Settings -> Privacy Uncheck the box labeled "Allow websites to perform privacy-preserving ad measurement". Easy peasy.
  - addandsubtract 2y ago
    Ironically, searching for "Website Advertising Preferences" returns 0 results.
  - wkat4242 2y ago
    Yes but this setting is not made available in the mobile app.
    - cpeterso 2y ago
      Because PPA is not enabled in Firefox Android at this time: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1909729 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1909729
      - wkat4242 2y ago
        Ah ok good. I see it is partly because there is no opt out UI. For some reason Mozilla is very sparse with settings and user freedom on the mobile app, for this reason I thought it might have been overlooked. It was also not clarified in the announcements at all. But good riddance. I hope it stays this way.
KingOfCoders 2y ago
I didn't get a pop up during an upgrade.
Timshel 2y ago
No notification on upgrade for an opt-out feature is sneaking in ...
- bugtodiffer 2y ago
  opt-out is sneaking in
afh1 2y ago
It was opt-out without any warning in the browser for users. They sneaked it in. It's that simple.

JumpCrisscross 2y ago

> a false narrative not backed by their actual communication about the feature You're correct: Mozilla didn't try to hide this. But they didn't try to talk about it either. This isn't an obscure about:config setting; it's a new revenue source [1]. [1] https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/mozilla-anonym-raising-the-bar-for-privacy-preserving-digital-advertising/ https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/mozilla-anonym-raising-t...

Lio 2y ago

Then where is the setting in the normal privacy preferences to turn it off? Instead it's been sneaked in behind a magic about:config URL and dialogue box saying: > Proceed with Caution > Changing advanced configuration preferences can impact Firefox performance or security. At the very least that is designed to discourage you from opting out.

neobrain 2y ago
This is also false. Where are you pulling this from? There is a user-visible setting in the normal preferences. It's grayed out unless you have telemetry enabled. I think the initial version they shipped PPA in had no such option because, again, the feature didn't actually do anything at the time (and I'm not sure they expanded the allow list yet either).
- Lio 2y ago
  I'm "pulling this from" the settings on my browser. When I look at the check box in preferences it's unchecked and greyed out. I then check about:config and dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled is still set to true. Looking at the Mozilla wiki (https://wiki.mozilla.org/Privacy/Privacy_Task_Force/firefox_about_config_privacy_tweeks https://wiki.mozilla.org/Privacy/Privacy_Task_Force/firefox_...) I don't see any discussion of telemetry as controlling this behaviour. It is not clear to me what is going on or what the state of this feature actually is. Have I opted out or haven't I? After the initial complaints they must have known it was controversial. I stand by my original point, they could have been much more upfront about this.
  - neobrain 2y ago
    > I'm "pulling this from" the settings on my browser. When I look at the check box in preferences it's unchecked and greyed out. > I don't see any discussion of telemetry as controlling this behaviour. As I mentioned: If the check box is greyed out, the feature is implicitly disabled, probably because you don't have telemetry enabled. The setting could be more explicit about this, which I'm sure they will refine in the future once the feature actually does anything. You seem to be looking for a reason to be angry, but apparently Firefox picked the exact default you were looking for.
  - svl 2y ago
    > I'm "pulling this from" the settings on my browser. When I look at the check box in preferences it's unchecked and greyed out. The setting being greyed out indicates that the entire functionality is disabled, and the value of the setting is irrelevant. That's a common pattern in Firefox settings when some other setting invalidates the current one. In this case, it's most likely because you have "Allow Firefox to send technical and interaction data to Mozilla" unchecked.
panarky 2y ago
Settings -> Privacy Uncheck the box labeled "Allow websites to perform privacy-preserving ad measurement". Easy peasy.
- addandsubtract 2y ago
  Ironically, searching for "Website Advertising Preferences" returns 0 results.
- wkat4242 2y ago
  Yes but this setting is not made available in the mobile app.
  - cpeterso 2y ago
    Because PPA is not enabled in Firefox Android at this time: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1909729 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1909729
    - wkat4242 2y ago
      Ah ok good. I see it is partly because there is no opt out UI. For some reason Mozilla is very sparse with settings and user freedom on the mobile app, for this reason I thought it might have been overlooked. It was also not clarified in the announcements at all. But good riddance. I hope it stays this way.

KingOfCoders 2y ago

I didn't get a pop up during an upgrade.

Timshel 2y ago

No notification on upgrade for an opt-out feature is sneaking in ...

bugtodiffer 2y ago
opt-out is sneaking in

afh1 2y ago

It was opt-out without any warning in the browser for users. They sneaked it in. It's that simple.