Browser Metrics:FAQ

DRAFT

Will data collection be enabled by default?

No. Users will be given the option to enable data collection.

Why are you collecting usage data?

In the past, our ability to evaluate changes to Firefox has been limited to direct end-user feedback, combined with a small number of lab-based usability studies. We would like to enhance our understanding of how changes to both the rendering engine and UI affect users, so we're undertaking this data collection effort.

What kind of data is collected?

For a complete list of what we're collecting, see this page.

As a summary, we're collecting data about browser feature usage and browser performance. We're not collecting the URLs that you visit.

Where is the data going?

Currently the client is not configured to send the data anywhere. We plan to have the details finalized by Bon Echo Alpha 2.

What are you going to do with it?

We're going to provide the data to the Firefox development community, so that they can use it to improve Firefox. We plan to provide aggregate data and anonymized raw data.

What are you doing to protect user privacy?

We're anonymizing the data before making it available, protecting it in transition, and making sure it is stored in a responsible way. At the same time, our goal is to make sure that it's as useful as possible to Mozilla developers.

Why would I want to enable this?

Firefox exists because of all the volunteers that helped develop it. Even if you're not a software developer, you can help make Firefox better by enabling this feature.

Great! I want to help you!

Stay tuned, we'll make an announcement when we have builds ready for testing.

What about.....

We encourage you to post your questions and comments on the dev.apps.firefox newsgroup.