
Dear Mozilla, please stop spamming - justthisone
https://palant.de/2019/04/03/dear-mozilla-please-stop-spamming/
======
alyandon
In a similar vein, I'd appreciate it if Mozilla would stop using updates to
Firefox as a mechanism to re-enable misfeatures I've explicitly disabled like
Pocket integration and the "recommend X feature|extension while you are
browsing but don't forget we totally respect your privacy!" settings. :-/

~~~
thinkloop
How much money does pocket actually generate? It blows my mind that mozilla
would pull a java and have us install a figurative toolbar.

~~~
baby
pocket is such a useful tool that I have a hard time understanding this
comment.

~~~
mnutt
I eventually disabled Recommended by Pocket on my new tab screen because the
recommendations were typically clickbaity and being on the new tab screen, it
would many times divert me from whatever more important original action I
meant to take.

The creators probably had good intentions, but Recommended by Pocket seems
almost like a dark pattern.

~~~
jnurmine
Since not all of the links are interesting, I'd like Recommended by Pocket to
be able to learn from my input. I want to punish the uninteresting links and
reward the interesting ones, so that I see more of something that I like.

------
hombre_fatal
The fact that there's both optin=bool and optout=bool suggests how it could be
a dumb mistake, like there are competing opt-in mechanisms and the Firefox
Send marketing email reads from optin (new) instead of optout (legacy) or
something like that.

Some of the comments here remind me of when my users think everything is
deliberately implemented and if something doesn't work perfectly, it's because
I'm incompetent/malicious and designed it that way when it's just a bug or
oversight.

~~~
sanxiyn
Sounds plausible. I hope this is fixed as soon as possible.

------
TheChaplain
The screenshot in the post shows also a "optin" property, set to "true".
Perhaps that should be set to "false" instead?

But anyway, "optout" ought to take priority IMHO.

~~~
oliwarner
I would expect this is a GDPR compliance thing, moving to only opt-in for non-
transactional contact (as is required).

But that doesn't explain how or when it was set.

------
klyrs
What a power move on Mozilla's part... "No, YOU'RE spamming US." And then they
add insult to injury, directing you to read about how their server should be
configured... classic

------
farazzz
> A year ago I reported a security issue in Mozilla Basket (not publicly
> accessible). The essence is that subscribing anybody to Mozilla’s
> newsletters is trivial

I don’t see how signing someone up to a newsletter is a security
vulnerability.

~~~
chopin
In some countries, it's not allowed without verification. This could get
Mozilla in hot waters so I would fix it. How hard can it be?

------
Carpetsmoker
So they emailed you about a new service; _shrug_. Of all the "spam" you could
possibly receive this is by far the most useful.

What is it with all Firefox/Mozilla hating as of late? They don't seem to be
able to do anything right in the eyes of some people, and seem to be held to a
ridiculously high standard (far higher than anyone else).

~~~
happytoexplain
When I opt out (or never opted in) and am still sent promotional material, it
is an explicit message that the company disrespects me. Responding to that
with _shrug_ is layering more disrespect on top of it. Disrespect for users is
a cardinal sin, and quickly reaches unforgivable levels if left unchecked. It
is simply incorrect that this is an issue of bias against Mozilla. Other
companies behaving worse doesn't make it acceptable - in fact, Mozilla's image
of being "better" makes these kinds of infractions _worse_.

~~~
Carpetsmoker
You could argue that it's not promotional material, but an announcement, which
is not exactly the same.

~~~
flukus
I'd argue they're merging into the same thing for certain products with
frequent releases. Things like VS code get free marketing every month with
their release announcements hitting the front page of HN, reddit and the like.

------
stockkid
Much as I am a happy user of Mozilla products especially Firefox, incidents
such as this makes me lose respect for the organization.

~~~
_Microft
There's an opt-in flag set in the data on the screenshot.

Something went wrong and the author (that's the ABP-creator, right?) is just
making a mountain out of a molehill.

------
jake_the_third
While your at it Mozilla, stop spamming the new tab page with your podcasts.

------
jszymborski
I also noticed the same, having recently signed up for a firefox account (I'm
a long time user, just signed up for the sync).

~~~
justinclift
Interesting. I've avoided signing up for a Firefox account, as I don't trust
them.

Reports like this spamming thing confirms my lack of trust was on point. :)

------
kbody
If we started posting about each separate case of misused newsletter
subscriptions, that'd would be all we would see :P

------
aphextron
Mozilla is ethically compromised at the highest levels. They’ve made a shift
over the last few years from a scrappy, low-rent, nonprofit dedicated to
helping the web to just another data mining tech company. Just try setting
your Firefox browser to a blank page with no requests on startup and watching
the Wireshark log if you think otherwise.

~~~
Lowkeyloki
What browser would you suggest instead? I feel a bit cornered, especially now
that literally every alternative is based on chromium.

~~~
geowwy
This site suggests IceCat, Ungoogled Chromium, Iridium or Pale Moon:
[https://spyware.neocities.org/articles/browsers.html](https://spyware.neocities.org/articles/browsers.html)

The also have a guide for enhancing privacy in Firefox

~~~
atomical
There's also Brave browser.

~~~
jasonlotito
No. Brave is collecting money on people's behalf without their consent.

~~~
atomical
Most of the BAT being donated is coming directly from the User Growth Pool.

Do you block ads without the publisher's consent? If so, you are in a much
more morally precarious situation.

