1274598 - Remove reCAPTCHA from MDN if possible

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(developer.mozilla.org Graveyard :: General, defect)

Description

[Kadir Topal [:atopal]]

The use of reCAPTCHA is problematic [0]. We introduced it as a way to curb spam, but we should check whether it's really contributing to the solution of that problem and remove it if not.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReCAPTCHA#Criticism

Comment 1

[John Whitlock [:jwhitlock]]

reCAPTCHA can be disabled in the Django admin by clearing two values in Constance Config:

* RECAPTCHA_PRIVATE_KEY
* RECAPTCHA_PUBLIC_KEY

It can re-enabled by adding them back.  Complete removal of the code will require a PR and production push.

Comment 2

[John Whitlock [:jwhitlock]]

With the improved spam blocking tool (bug 1259776) in place, we can handle the effects if this was what was keeping the spammers out.  I've disable reCAPTCHA in production.  We'll keep the code for quick re-enabling if needed.