Is the existence of a back door method of updating Firefox preferences something that will be disclosed to users? What about a UI knob to disable it?
It will even be documented for them: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Normandy/PreferenceRollout
> What about a UI knob to disable it?
app.normandy.enabled
> It will even be documented for them:
That sounds like you do not think the concern is warranted. I've used Firefox since the first time it was available, and Netscape starting with the first ever betas. At no point was there a dialog that said "Do you want us to be able to change your browser settings remotely?"
>> What about a UI knob to disable it?
> app.normandy.enabled
That is not a "UI knob" by any stretch of the imagination. Looking in about:config revealed:
app.normandy.logging.level
Is there a way to find out what is being logged and why?
So, the question can be rephrased as "is the fact that Firefox has been logging all users' entire browsing history despite the fact that the user has not chosen to set up a Firefox account going to be disclosed?"
Chill out, this preference only determines what is logged locally (never sent to the server). It's a debugging tool.
Sources: - https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/source/toolkit/compone... - https://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/source/services/common...
1. being completely transparent about all the mechanisms that data or code can be pushed to or pulled by the browser, or pushed from or pulled from the browser; and
2. having a toggle for all of them, yes every single one, in Privacy & Security.