1147882 - separate user-set site preferences from server-set site preferences in clear history dialog

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Toolkit :: Data Sanitization, enhancement, P3)

Description

[Edward Horvath]

The following is a (possibly non-exhaustive) list of items considered under the category of "Site Preferences":
 - permissions
 - zoom level
 - hsts (HTTP Strict Transport Security)
 - hpkp (Public Key Pinning Extension for HTTP)
 - character encoding (per https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/delete-browsing-search-download-history-firefox#w_what-things-are-included-in-my-history)

The first two are user-set; the second two are server-set. I don't know which category "character encoding" falls into.

These items can be cleared by checking "Site Preferences" in the "Clear Recent History" dialog, or the "Clear history when Firefox closes" dialog.

With the current setup, the dialog does not make a distinction between user-set site preferences and server-set site preferences. This has unfortunate consequences in that it makes it less clear to users what data is retained when they clear their history, and it also gives the user less control of their private data. For example, many users might want to retain preferences they explicitly set themselves, but would prefer not to retain preferences set by the sites they visit, which may be used for tracking purposes and also has a side effect of retaining a partial history of visited sites in files on their computer which those with access can inspect. Most users do not realize that this partial history is retained even if they clear "Browsing & Download History".

I suggest that the "Site Preferences" checkbox be split into two separate checkboxes ... "User-Set Site Preferences" and "Server-Set Site Preferences" (or other names to the same effect).

This issue becomes increasingly relevant as new features like hpkp are added to Firefox. Many of these features are not user-visible, and it's difficult (even for advanced users) to keep track of what data is being stored and how to clear the data, if desired.

Comment 1

[Edward Horvath]

As of Firefox 37, released today, it looks like we can add another item to the list of "Site Preferences" which are server-set:
OE (Opportunistic Encryption)

Reference:
http://bitsup.blogspot.com/2015/03/opportunistic-encryption-for-firefox.html

"This [(server-set)] mapping is saved and used in the future." "You [(the server administrator)] can control some details about how long the Alt-Svc mappings last and some other details."

Comment 2

[Edward Horvath]

It looks like Mozilla intends to add OCSP cache to the category of "Site Preferences" as well, per bug 652002 ... this would fall under the category of "Server-Set Site Preferences"

Mozilla also intends to add Certificate Exceptions to the category of "Site Preferences", per bug 518343 ... this one would fall under the category of "User-Set Site Preferences"

Comment 3

[hawran]

Hi,
I've accidentally stumbled upon this diskussion http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2919581 and I'm just curious what is the actual state of the issue?

(Not to mention I was really surprised there is another "possibly leaking source if my history" here.)

Regards,
hawran

Comment 4

[Dana Keeler (she/her) [:keeler]]

hawran - generally the status of a bugzilla bug gets set to "RESOLVED" when it has been fixed. This bug's status is not "RESOLVED", so it hasn't been fixed.

Comment 5

[Emma Zühlcke [:emz]]

Generally these categories are confusing and should be cleaned up at some point.

Comment 6

[Harshit Sohaney [:hsohaney]]

I am of the opinion that separating these can get confusing, and could lead to more cases for unintentional data leakage for a user trying clear their site preferences. Is this still something we want to work on?

Comment 7

[Emma Zühlcke [:emz]]

Agreed, this will increase complexity of the UI too much and we have opted for not adding an "advanced" tab / mode.