1728110 - Add a checkbox to ETP Custom that allows users to disable all automated webcompat heuristics

Status: NEW

(Core :: Privacy: Anti-Tracking, enhancement, P3)

Description

[Emma Zühlcke [:emz]]

The pref changes landed in Bug 1683165. This bug is concerned with the UI portion, the checkbox in about:preferences.

+++ This bug was initially created as a clone of Bug #1683165 +++

We often face a tradeoff between uncompromising privacy features and web compatibility. To get sites working under stricter defaults, we've landed on the general approach of trying to detect the user's intent and automatically relaxing protections when we think the user is trying to achieve something that tracking protection would otherwise break.

This is great for most users, but there are certainly powerusers that would prefer Firefox to never unblock tracking without their explicit approval. It would be great to give these users a checkbox

Here are examples:

• The cookie blocking heuristics
• The 5 automatic grants when requestStorageAccess is called.
• dFPI's automatic grants (not documented yet)
• Content blocking script shimming's automatic relaxation of Facebook script blocking when a user interacts with a Facebook login button

Ideally all of these get tied to a single pref that's then controlled by a checkbox in the Custom mode of ETP. The checkbox should be default-on.

Comment 1

[Emma Zühlcke [:emz]]

Attachment: Bug 1728110 - UI for the anti-tracking webcompat pref in about:preferences#privacy. r=johannh,timhuang

Comment 2

[Emma Zühlcke [:emz]]

After some discussion with :johannh, we've decided to put this on hold for now. The way the ETP preferences section is structured currently doesn't really allow for adding such a non content-blocking pref. Also, it's very tricky to communicate all the implications of this technically complex setting.

Developers and power-users can access the preference via about:config: privacy.antitracking.enableWebcompat.
Additionally, we are considering adding a checkbox to devtools.