This page documents one type of data collected by telemetry: what is collected, the problem we seek to solve by collecting the data, and how we minimize any risks to users' privacy in deploying the measurement.

Status:

Problem Statement

Briefly state the problem to be solved by collecting this type of data: a question we have and how the answer can make our users' web experience better. The product or engineering contact should fill this out.

How do the other telemetry measurements vary based on whether or not Firefox is the default browser?

If we collect default browser status, we can segment other measurements into those who have set Firefox as default and those who have not. Other measurements whose values strongly correlate with negative default status may indicate focus points for improving Firefox. For example, if most users of devices with small memory capacity chose another browser as default, we can make more users happy by reducing memory consumption.

The value of collecting this data point is in helping us focus our efforts to make users of Firefox more satisfied with their experience.

Measurement to Collect

Describe what type of measurement will be recorded and transmitted to our servers, and how it will be kept (as unique measurement or in aggregate) on our servers.

This measurement is a boolean (yes or no) describing whether or not the running instance of Firefox is the default browser on its host.

See bug 679938

Privacy Considerations

This section will contain potential privacy risks and measures taken to minimize them.

Consent and Privacy Policy Considerations

This section contains notation of any changes to privacy policies or user opt-in/opt-out consent UX that is updated to include this measurement.

Risk: Currently, the user is asked: "Would you like to help improve Firefox by automatically reporting memory usage, performance, and responsiveness to Mozilla?" This "default status" is not reflected in the opt-in string.

Requirement: Update the opt-in string to include this type of data.

Alignment with Operating Principles

This section briefly describes how the measurement and technique lines up with our operating principles'

Transparency / No Surprises 

Opt-in string does not reflect the type of data proposed for collection. This needs to be updated (see risk above).

Real Choice 

Ok. Opt-in dialog presented before collecting data. User can opt-out at any time.

Sensible Defaults 

Ok. Telemetry is opt-in.

Limited Data 

Ok. This data, when collected, will be used to improve the quality of Firefox.