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Mozilla Testing an Opt-Out System For Firefox Telemetry Collection (bleepingcomputer.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the data-choices dept.

An anonymous reader writes: "Mozilla engineers are discussing plans to change the way Firefox collects usage data (telemetry), and the organization is currently preparing to test an opt-out clause so they could collect more data relevant to the browser's usage," reports Bleeping Computer. "In a Google Groups discussion that's been taking place since Monday, Mozilla engineers cite the lack of usable data the Foundation is currently receiving via its data collection program. The problem is that Firefox collects data from a very small fraction of its userbase, and this data may not be representative of the browser's real usage." Mozilla would like to fix this by flipping everyone's telemetry setting to enabled and adding an opt-out clause. Engineers also plan to embed Google's RAPPAR project [1, 2] for anonymous data collection.

6 of 227 comments (clear)

  1. In Other Words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Not enough people were choosing to compromise their privacy, so we're going to do it for them.

    1. Re:In Other Words... by thereitis · · Score: 3, Insightful
      And yet Mozilla criticizes other organizations for their privacy. I guess Mozilla is just behind the curve and finally realizing the "goodies" that can be had simply by compromising their values like everyone else.

      Soon Mozilla will not have anything to differentiate them from everybody else.

      I guess you can tell a company's true character by their actions when hard times come.

  2. Re: If they made it opt in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Huh? Telemetry is currently opt-in, not opt-out, except for beta builds. Your post doesn't make sense, because that is how Firefox is currently configured.

    I don't have a problem with betas collecting telemetry on an opt-out basis. I think it's more reasonable to expect that a developer would want to collect more data from versions that are likely to include new features and are explicitly built for testing purposes.

  3. How did companies survive before extensive spying? by QuietLagoon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It is amazing that we have developed as a civilization in the days before all this privacy-busting data collection.

  4. Re: If they made it opt in by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Huh? Telemetry is currently opt-in, not opt-out, except for beta builds. Your post doesn't make sense, because that is how Firefox is currently configured.

    Because, this is Slashdot, so whatever Mozilla (and many other companies) do is automatically wrong, even when they do the thing we bitched about them not doing previously

  5. Re:Odd PR move in the wake of what's coming by 0123456 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Firefox started losing market share the moment they switched to the 'release every five minutes and don't allow users to stick to old versions' model.

    Then, when people pointed out that it was a disaster for business users, that developer said 'actually, dude, we really don't care about the business market'. That was pretty much the point that all the businesses I'm involved with stopped using Firefox and switched to Chrome. That then led to employees switching to Chrome at home.

    Then they had the SJW debacle, where they forced Eich out of the company, and everyone to the right of Lenin who was still using Firefox started to look for alternatives.

    They have no-one to blame but themselves.