Mozilla is making changes to improve the experience for Firefox extension developers. The company plans to reduce the burden of presenting custom consent dialogs for users when installing extensions.
Reducing Developer Workload
Currently, Mozilla’s Add-on policies require developers to create custom consent dialogs when an extension collects or transmits user data. This ensures that users are informed about what data is being gathered, and they must give their consent. While this is important for protecting privacy, it creates extra work for developers and can be confusing for users, especially when each extension has its own way of handling consent.
Privacy Concerns with Extensions
Extensions have the potential to access sensitive user data during web browsing, which makes it important to monitor their data collection practices. In the past, some extensions have misused this access to violate privacy and steal data. Even today, there are issues with extensions on platforms like the Chrome Web Store. Mozilla has faced similar challenges, blocking certain extensions for malicious behavior.
The Plan for Standardization
Mozilla plans to standardize the consent process for Firefox extensions later this year. By incorporating the consent experience into Firefox’s installation flow, the company aims to make it easier for developers, provide users with a consistent experience, and reduce the need for extensive code reviews.
Instead of developers creating custom consent dialogs, future versions of Firefox will allow developers to specify what data their extensions collect and transmit in the extension manifest file. This data will be shown to users in a uniform manner when they install an extension.
A New Installation Flow for Extensions
When users add an extension to Firefox, the installation prompt will display a list of required data the extension collects, along with the permissions it requests. Users will have the option to opt in or out of providing any optional technical or usage data that the extension asks for.
Extending Data Collection Options
Mozilla also plans to expand the WebExtensions permissions APIs to cover more types of data collection. This information will be available on the Add-ons website (addons.mozilla.org), and developers may be able to provide more details about data practices in their extension listings.
The Road Ahead
This new approach is expected to be first tested in the Nightly version of Firefox for desktop. Mozilla is seeking feedback from developers through a survey to understand how the new process compares to the current system. The aim is to make the experience more efficient and consistent for both developers and users.
