1621293 - Data Review Request: default browser telemetry

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Toolkit :: Default Browser Agent, task, P1)

Description

[Rachel Tublitz [:rachel]]

What questions will you answer with this data?

We'd like to better understand the choices of users related to default browsers on Windows.

Why does Mozilla need to answer these questions? Are there benefits for users? Do we need this information to address product or business requirements?

Understanding more about browser preferences will help us to improve Firefox over time; ie - the more we can understand user retention, the more we can work towards making Firefox better for our users.

What alternative methods did you consider to answer these questions? Why were they not sufficient?

There's not really any existing Firefox telemetry that will work, for the basic reason that it all requires running Firefox, and the scenario we're worried about is one in which the default browser has been changed and therefore Firefox no longer runs.

Can current instrumentation answer these questions?

No.

List all proposed measurements and indicate the category of data collection for each measurement, using the Firefox data collection categories found on the Mozilla wiki.

Category 1:

Firefox release channel
Firefox version
Operating system (Windows) version
Operating system locale setting

Category 2:

Current system default browser, represented as one of the strings "firefox", "chrome", "edge", "edge-chrome", "ie", "opera", or "brave".
Previous system default browser, before it was changed to the current one; one of the same set of strings as above.

See the detailed ping schema here for more details.

How long will this data be collected?

Permanently.

What populations will you measure?

All Windows users (other operating systems are excluded).

Which release channels?

All.

Which countries?

All.

Which locales?

All.

Any other filters? Please describe in detail below.

None at this time.

If this data collection is default on, what is the opt-out mechanism for users?

The normal Firefox telemetry opt-out pref is honored, and this patch series adds a new pref defaultagent.enabled which specifically disables the agent's functionality. The telemetry opt-out enterprise policy is also honored, and a new agent-specific policy is added here as well; these policies allow opting out before it is possible that any pings would have been generated.

Please provide a general description of how you will analyze this data.

We will use BigQuery to analyze trends in default browser choices over time.

Where do you intend to share the results of your analysis?

Internally, at Mozilla.

Is there a third-party tool (i.e. not Telemetry) that you are proposing to use for this data collection?

No.

Are you using that on the Mozilla backend? Or going directly to the third-party?

The Mozilla backend.

Comment 1

[Rachel Tublitz [:rachel]]

Hi Chris,

There was no attachment to add here, so I wasn't able to add the data-review? flag as specified here. ni?ing you instead to make sure this is on your (or someone else in the data review team's) radar for a review.

If you need anything else on my end, let me know.

Comment 2

[Chris H-C :chutten|PTO (back March 17)]

Attachment: data review request

I've copied the request to an attachment to ease workflow.

Comment 3

[Chris H-C :chutten|PTO (back March 17)]

Comment on attachment 9132286 [details]
data review request

PRELIMINARY NOTES:
I'm assuming Molly's the responsible person for this permanent collection. (A responsible person wasn't included as required for permanent collections as an answer to Question 6). ni?mhowell to confirm.

In future please provide concrete questions in your answer to Question 1. Questions like "At what rate are users changing default browser preferences in their OS?"

I recommend having an "other" category in the collection to account for if we cannot detect the default browser. (collections like this often benefit from an "other" category) This review is valid for collections with or without a "other" category.

DATA COLLECTION REVIEW RESPONSE:

    Is there or will there be documentation that describes the schema for the ultimate data set available publicly, complete and accurate?

Yes. This collection is (or will be, when the code lands) documented in the ["default-browser" ping in-tree documentation](https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/toolkit/components/telemetry/data/default-browser-ping.html).

    Is there a control mechanism that allows the user to turn the data collection on and off?

Yes. This collection can be controlled through Firefox's Preferences.

    If the request is for permanent data collection, is there someone who will monitor the data over time?

Yes, :mhowell is responsible.

    Using the category system of data types on the Mozilla wiki, what collection type of data do the requested measurements fall under?

Category 2, Interaction.

    Is the data collection request for default-on or default-off?

Default on for all channels.

    Does the instrumentation include the addition of any new identifiers?

No.

    Is the data collection covered by the existing Firefox privacy notice?

Yes.

    Does there need to be a check-in in the future to determine whether to renew the data?

No. This collection is permanent.

---
Result: datareview+, pending Molly's confirmation that she's the responsible one for the collection.

Comment 4

[Molly Howell (she/her) (mostly inactive)]

Yes, I am the responsible person for the permanent collection.

Comment 5

[Chris H-C :chutten|PTO (back March 17)]

Excellent! Then I think we're done here.

Comment 6

[Rachel Tublitz [:rachel]]

(In reply to Chris H-C :chutten from comment #5)

Excellent! Then I think we're done here.

Thanks, Chris for the quick turnaround.