862203 - In-product about:support API

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(mozilla.org Graveyard :: Project Review, task)

Description

[Matt Grimes [:Matt_G]]

Initial Questions:

Project/Feature Name: In-product about:support API 
Tracking  ID:https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=732527
Description:
Looking to get the ball rolling on a privacy review for getting the about:support API baked into the browser. We've been experimenting with this on the SUMO forums using an addon and the results have been amazing. This allows us (with the user's permission of course) to automagically pull the about:support information so they don't have to provide it manually. This helps us to better understand the user's issue and ultimately to help resolve the issue faster. It also provides us with more data for investigating issues. We can make correlations between types of issues and information provided in about:support.

The next phase of this plan is to implement this feature permanently in the product. We would then use a whitelist to restrict access to the data. That way we can use this data on the SUMO forums, Input, and any other sites that may benefit from this info.
Additional Information:

Urgency: 2-4 weeks
Key Initiative: Firefox Desktop
Release Date: 
Project Status: development
Mozilla Data: Yes
New or Change: New
Mozilla Project: General
Mozilla Related: 
Separate Party:

Comment 1

[Matt Grimes [:Matt_G]]

Bug 862204 - Security Review: In-product about:support API
Bug 862205 - Legal Review: In-product about:support API
Bug 862206 - Data Safety Review: In-product about:support API
Bug 862207 - Privacy-Technical Review: In-product about:support API
Bug 862208 - Privacy-Policy Review: In-product about:support API

Comment 2

[Curtis Koenig [:curtisk-use curtis.koenig+bzATgmail.com]]]

unhiding as there is no reason for this to be hidden

Comment 3

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

Just seeing if there's been any updates on review status for this?

Comment 4

[Larissa Co [:lco]]

Attachment: 130906 Wireframes for the Ask a Question page

Reviewed these wireframes with Tyler, mgrimes, and shorlander.

Page 1 shows the current interaction that requests the user install an add-on. Page 2 shows the proposed change. I decided to choose the lowest friction path to sharing the user's browser data because I believe the privacy leak risk is low for the following reasons:

1. We are planning to restrict API access to a limited list of Mozilla sites
2. The data will only be used for troubleshooting *
3. The user has a chance to see what data is being shared before hitting the "Post Question" button

I also added a link to provide more information to users who want to know exactly what data is being collected and how it's going to be used. I think this is a paragraph the SUMO team should work on with the Privacy team.

* One potential thing that might surprise the user:

The user's browser troubleshooting info will be posted alongside the question. It's actually quite hidden, since you have to go through two submenus to look for it (as an example, on https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/970431 go to Question Details > More System Details on the side bar on the right). Thus, I think this might be ok as long as the user is clear that they are posting the information, not just sending it to Mozilla directly.

** Implementation Detail **
In my wireframes, I specify that the "What data is shared?" link should open up a modal box. I didn't specify exactly what type this is because I'm not sure what web components SUMO already uses. I don't want to create a new UI component for this. So whoever is implementing this, please let me know what are options are. I was thinking something like a light box or sheet that keeps the user on the page-- as a backup option we could do a new window or new tab, but I think these would be heavy-handed for a simple 1-paragraph explanation of what data the user is sharing.

Comment 5

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

Another thing we may be able to do if we are concerned about the Question Details section is make it visible only to logged in users. I would have to double-check how feasible that is, but I don't imagine it would be hard.

Comment 6

[Ricky Rosario [:rrosario, :r1cky]]

(In reply to Larissa Co [:lco] from comment #4)
> I was thinking something like a light box or sheet that
> keeps the user on the page-- as a backup option we could do a new window or
> new tab, but I think these would be heavy-handed for a simple 1-paragraph
> explanation of what data the user is sharing.

We should have existing styles/js we can reuse for this.

(In reply to Tyler Downer [:Tyler] from comment #5)
> Another thing we may be able to do if we are concerned about the Question
> Details section is make it visible only to logged in users. I would have to
> double-check how feasible that is, but I don't imagine it would be hard.

That is easy peasy!

Comment 7

[Alice Wyman]

Related discussion: 
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/forums/contributors/710215?&page=2&#post-59571
[Attn: Madalina] What new features would you like to see on the support forum - anything goes!

Comment 8

[Tyler Downer [He/Him]]

New copy for the "What Data is shared" dialog:

What data will Mozilla receive?
You can see the complete set of information that we receive by typing "about:support" into your address bar (without quotes) and pressing Enter.  As a summary, we’ll receive the following:
-	Firefox version, your Operating system, and some other essential hardware information.
-	A list of your Firefox settings that were changed from their defaults.
-	A list of the your installed Firefox extensions 

Generally, there is no personally identifiable information in this type of data set.  We encourage you to look through and remove anything you feel is questionable before sharing with us.

How will the data be used?
Our support community will use this data to better diagnose and troubleshoot your problem.  

The data will be attached to your support forum thread.  Members who are logged into Mozilla Support can view it by going to “Question Details” and then “More System Details” on the right side of the thread.  You can edit or remove this information at anytime by clicking "Question Tools" followed by "Edit This Question".

For more information on our privacy practices, please read our Websites Privacy Notice [http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/websites/]

Comment 9

[BMO Automation]

This bug is no longer being worked on so it is being closed WONTFIX.