https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1727907
‘Offline’ is currently the default which is explained in the source code:
“This is the scenario for the “offline” rollout. Firefox Suggest suggestions are enabled by default. Search strings and matching keywords are not included in related telemetry. The onboarding dialog is not shown.”
Switching to ‘online’ would trigger a dialog that comes up when you start the browser. Only clicking ‘Allow suggestions’ on the dialog would opt you into the search query collection.
From your comment on this other post and the downvotes it generated on said post, while this post and your comment get upvoted, I guess neither you nor anybody even checked to see what “offline” means…
If you scrolled down a little from the link you provided, you would have seen that “offline” really means:
- Do NOT show the “opt-in” dialog to the user.
- Silently opt-in user to “suggestions”
So basically “offline” = “opt-out” and not opt-in.
Quoting from source code comment:
Sets the appropriate Firefox Suggest scenario based on the current Nimbus
- rollout (if any) and “hardcoded” rollouts (if any). The possible scenarios
- are:
- history
- This is the scenario when the user is not in any rollouts. Firefox
- Suggest suggestions are disabled.
- offline
- This is the scenario for the “offline” rollout. Firefox Suggest
- suggestions are enabled by default. Search strings and matching keywords
- are not included in related telemetry. The onboarding dialog is not
- shown.
- online
- This is the scenario for the “online” rollout. The onboarding dialog will
- be shown and the user must opt in to enable Firefox Suggest suggestions
- and related telemetry, which will include search strings and matching
- keywords.
Related source code:
async _updateFirefoxSuggestScenarioHelper() { let scenario = this._nimbus.quickSuggestScenario; if (!scenario) { await Region.init(); if ( Region.home == “US” && Services.locale.appLocaleAsBCP47.substring(0, 2) == “en” ) { // offline rollout for en locales in the US region scenario = “offline”; } else { // no rollout scenario = “history”; } }
I think this should be self explanatory.
And how would that support your claim that this post is:
misinformation. No data is sent by default, you have to opt in.
The relevant parts from this code comment about the “offline” mode are:
Firefox Suggest suggestions are enabled by default.
The onboarding dialog is not shown.
Which correspond to the code I’ve already linked to.
case "offline": enabled = true; defaults.setBoolPref("quicksuggest.shouldShowOnboardingDialog", false); defaults.setBoolPref("suggest.quicksuggest", true); defaults.setBoolPref("suggest.quicksuggest.sponsored", true); break;The code you cited just says that users with locale “en-US” are enrolled in the “offline” mode.
Basically:
- locale = “en-US” => “offline” => opt-out
- locale != “en-US” => “opt-in” with all possible dark patterns to trick the user into accepting it: user has to click the small “Not now” text which does not look like a button on the top right corner to disable Suggest.
To summarize, the “offline” / “online” Suggest Scenario have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Firefox sends data to Mozilla or not, it only defines if the Suggest feature is opt-in or opt-out. Is this naming extremely confusing? Absolutely! But at this point it’s clear that Mozilla has done everything possible to mislead users about what their “suggestions” really are.
So please, stop spreading misinformation while claiming that people trying to bring awareness about this awful “feature” are the ones providing false information. A code comment is not proof, your completely wrong interpretation of it even less so. If you don’t agree, please link to the relevant source code which would contradict the one I’ve linked to.
Can you read the below stuff?
This is the scenario for the “offline” rollout. Firefox Suggest suggestions are enabled by default. Search strings and matching keywords are not included in related telemetry. The onboarding dialog is not shown. online This is the scenario for the “online” rollout. The onboarding dialog will be shown and the user must opt in to enable Firefox Suggest suggestions and related telemetry, which will include search strings and matching keywords.
“offline” - Search strings and matching keywords are not included in related telemetry.
“online” - user must opt in to enable Firefox Suggest suggestions and related telemetry, which will include search strings and matching keywords
Telemetry and Suggest are two completely separate things.
- telemetry goes to: https://incoming.telemetry.mozilla.org/submit
- URL bar “keylogging” goes to: https://merino.services.mozilla.com/api/v1/suggest
The only different between “online” and “offline” is that in “offline” mode what you type in your URL bar is not included in the telemetry sent after you have selected a suggestion. But this changes absolutely nothing to what is sent to the Suggest API endpoint when you type in your URL bar.
I’ve repeatedly provided clear evidence of what I said, you just keep mentioning a random code comment and interpreting it in a way which completely contradicts the actual code and what countless people have observed. So at the risk of repeating myself:
- A code comment does not prove anything.
- Your completely wrong interpretation of it even less so.
- Link to code supporting your claims or GTFO.
I linked the code and the comment. You are the one claiming opposite and wrong stuff that I cannot even quote from FF source code. You are the dishonest one here. You GTFO.