501546 - Location-Aware Browsing should default to disabled

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Core :: DOM: Geolocation, defect)

Description

[stealthcr90]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-GB; rv:1.9.0.11) Gecko/2009060215 Firefox/3.0.11 (.NET CLR 3.5.30729)
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1) Gecko/20090624 Firefox/3.5

Location-Aware Browsing should default to being disabled. Otherwise it is just another infringement on peoples privacy. If you choose to be prompted to have your location tracked you should have to check a tick box to enable the functionality first.

As it stands it is not easy to for unskilled or non savvy people to disable Location-Aware Browsing.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
On by default and no simple/non technical way to disable.

Comment 1

[u88484]

I would think that people that are usually paranoid with privacy issue no how to find their way around preferences in order to make sure nothing fishy is enabled for them.  I'd think they'd be able to easily figure out how to disable geolocation.  I personally don't think there is any issue with being prompted.  The feature is not enabled by default and does not cause any privacy issue in its default state.

Comment 2

[stealthcr90]

Oh yea I can imagine my grandfather having no trouble with this one.

Comment 3

[Sorpigal]

I am paranoid. I installed 3.5, then heard about this location-aware browsing. feature and tried to disable it.

Tools->Options->Privacy has no option to disable this. I looked in the other panels in the configuration dialog and could find no option.

I went to about:config and searched for "location". None of the results allowed em to disable this feature.

I was able to look the option up via Google but I think this is clearly going above and beyond.

A feature with privacy implications ike this should be toggleable (and discoverable) under Privacy, or at least exposed somewhere else in the normal GUI. Being paranoid does not necessarily mean you know about about:config.

Comment 4

[Robert Kaiser]

We are "paranoid" enough by default to not even try to find out your location unless you click the "tell them" button in the notification bar that comes up when a website requests location info. If you click "don't tell them", we don't even contact the geolocation provider to request that info.
So, actually, contacting any server with any info of yours in connection with that feature is not enabled by default, you need to explicitely opt in every time a website asks for the info.

Comment 5

[Doug Turner (:dougt)]

thanks for your interest.  we should add a check box in preferences to disable this feature, i think.

in the FAQ, there are instructions on how to disable this feature (via about:config as you pointed out)

http://en-us.www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/geolocation/

Comment 6

[Bartłomiej Brzozowiec (BartZilla)]

Attachment: disable geolocation by default

Since the title of this bug is "Location-Aware Browsing should default to disabled" and Doug changed status of this bug to "NEW" (see "History" link near the top of the page) I guess the patch disabling Google geolocation (currently enabled by default) is wanted. So here it is!

Comment 7

[Bartłomiej Brzozowiec (BartZilla)]

Comment on attachment 386790 [details] [diff] [review]
disable geolocation by default

Since there is no "Geolocation" sub-module listed here - http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/review.html - I don't know whom to ask for review and super-review :-(. Any hints?

Comment 8

[Bartłomiej Brzozowiec (BartZilla)]

(In reply to comment #7)
> http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firefox/review.html

Oh, I noticed this page says that "This document covers all patches to the mozilla/browser hierarchy.". Well, on http://www.mozilla.org/owners.html there is no geolocation listed either :-/

Comment 9

[Doug Turner (:dougt)]

okay, lets mark this as WONTFIX.  I will file another bug to track what I would like to do per comment 5 (see bug 502316)

If there is a mozilla module for geolocation, now or in the near feature, I will be the geolocation owner.  Of course bits touch browser, fennec, toolkit, and dom which others do own.

Comment 10

[Shawn Wilsher :sdwilsh]

Comment on attachment 386790 [details] [diff] [review]
disable geolocation by default

clearing review request on a closed wontfix bug