Mild privacy concern related to Firefox Send

[Silvia Sánchez]

Hello all,

I'm finishing the article about ffsend and I realised that when I created
an account in Firefox Send it asked for my age.  I don't know if this is a
random question or even if it has any purpose, but I wanted to push it
forward here because some people might be put off by this somewhat
"private"  question.

Kind regards,
Silvia
FAS:  Lailah

[Steven Snow]

It is a bit of a curious question if there is no real reason stated 
supporting the request.

Just my opinion.

Stephen

On 22/04/19 12:48 PM, Silvia Sánchez wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I'm finishing the article about ffsend and I realised that when I created
> an account in Firefox Send it asked for my age.  I don't know if this is a
> random question or even if it has any purpose, but I wanted to push it
> forward here because some people might be put off by this somewhat
> "private"  question.
>
> Kind regards,
> Silvia
> FAS:  Lailah
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[Silvia Sánchez]

Yes, I thought the same, that it was an odd question.  There's a screenshot
in the article, you can check here:
https://fedoramagazine.org/?p=25821&preview=1&_ppp=e7758b9b49

Regards,
Silvia
FAS:  Lailah

On Mon, 22 Apr 2019 at 18:51, Steven Snow  wrote:
> It is a bit of a curious question if there is no real reason stated
> supporting the request.
>
> Just my opinion.
>
> Stephen
>
> On 22/04/19 12:48 PM, Silvia Sánchez wrote:
> > Hello all,
> >
> > I'm finishing the article about ffsend and I realised that when I created
> > an account in Firefox Send it asked for my age.  I don't know if this is
>
> a
> > random question or even if it has any purpose, but I wanted to push it
> > forward here because some people might be put off by this somewhat
> > "private"  question.
> >
> > Kind regards,
> > Silvia
> > FAS:  Lailah
> > _______________________________________________
> > Fedora Magazine mailing list -- [e-mail]
> > To unsubscribe send an email to [e-mail]
> > Fedora Code of Conduct: https://getfedora.org/code-of-conduct.html
> > List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
> > List Archives:
>
> https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[e-mail].o...
> _______________________________________________
> Fedora Magazine mailing list -- [e-mail]
> To unsubscribe send an email to [e-mail]
> Fedora Code of Conduct: https://getfedora.org/code-of-conduct.html
> List Guidelines: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
> List Archives:
> https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/[e-mail].o...

[Ben Cotton]

On Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 12:48 PM Silvia Sánchez  wrote:
> I'm finishing the article about ffsend and I realised that when I created
> an account in Firefox Send it asked for my age.  I don't know if this is a
> random question or even if it has any purpose, but I wanted to push it
> forward here because some people might be put off by this somewhat
> "private"  question.

I would assume it's to comply with the Children's Online Privacy
Protection Act (COPPA)[1]. COPPA is a U.S. law that, in effect,
requires users of online sites to be at least 13 years old (this is a
gross simplification). Mozilla, as a U.S.-based org, needs to be able
to say "yes, we are 'verifying' that our users are at least 13 years
of age".

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act

[Silvia Sánchez]

Hi all,

Ben, thanks for the explanation, that would make sense, but they should
make it clear.  To everyone outside USA, it looks weird.  To me, it looked
like they were gathering information for some marketing purpose. Or that
they would use that number as a security question or something like that
but then I realised there was no mention to it, so I disregarded it.
So... should I mention something or just leave the article as it is and see
how to reply if any questions or concerns arise?

Regards,
Silvia
FAS:  Lailah

On Mon, 22 Apr 2019 at 20:11, Ben Cotton  wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 12:48 PM Silvia Sánchez 
> wrote:
> > I'm finishing the article about ffsend and I realised that when I created
> > an account in Firefox Send it asked for my age.  I don't know if this is
>
> a
> > random question or even if it has any purpose, but I wanted to push it
> > forward here because some people might be put off by this somewhat
> > "private"  question.
>
> I would assume it's to comply with the Children's Online Privacy
> Protection Act (COPPA)[1]. COPPA is a U.S. law that, in effect,
> requires users of online sites to be at least 13 years old (this is a
> gross simplification). Mozilla, as a U.S.-based org, needs to be able
> to say "yes, we are 'verifying' that our users are at least 13 years
> of age".
>
> [1]
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Online_Privacy_Protection_Act
>
> --
> Ben Cotton
> Fedora Program Manager
> TZ=America/Indiana/Indianapolis
> Pronouns: he/him

[Ben Cotton]

On Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 2:32 PM Silvia Sánchez  wrote:
> So... should I mention something or just leave the article as it is and see how to reply if any questions or concerns arise?

I'd leave it in. It's also important to note that if someone is going
to provide a false age, it should be at least 13, otherwise they may
not be able to use the service. Maybe something like

"It also asks for one’s age, in order to comply with the U.S.
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)."

with a link to the Wikipedia page or a U.S. government website?

[Paul Frields]

On Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 4:00 PM Ben Cotton  wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 2:32 PM Silvia Sánchez  wrote:
> > So... should I mention something or just leave the article as it is and see how to reply if any questions or concerns arise?
>
> I'd leave it in. It's also important to note that if someone is going
> to provide a false age, it should be at least 13, otherwise they may
> not be able to use the service. Maybe something like
>
> "It also asks for one’s age, in order to comply with the U.S.
> Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)."
>
> with a link to the Wikipedia page or a U.S. government website?

Agreed with Ben on all counts.

[Steven Snow]

Well that makes sense, clarification on Mozilla's part would go a long way.

Stephen

On 22/04/19 04:05 PM, Paul Frields wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 4:00 PM Ben Cotton  wrote:
> > On Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 2:32 PM Silvia Sánchez  wrote:
> > > So... should I mention something or just leave the article as it is and see how to reply if any questions or concerns arise?
> >
> > I'd leave it in. It's also important to note that if someone is going
> > to provide a false age, it should be at least 13, otherwise they may
> > not be able to use the service. Maybe something like
> >
> > "It also asks for one’s age, in order to comply with the U.S.
> > Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)."
> >
> > with a link to the Wikipedia page or a U.S. government website?
>
> Agreed with Ben on all counts.

[Silvia Sánchez]

Hi all,

I like Ben's suggestion, it makes the question more understandable and less
awkward for non-US users.

Kind regards,
Silvia
FAS:  Lailah

On Mon, 22 Apr 2019 at 21:59, Ben Cotton  wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 22, 2019 at 2:32 PM Silvia Sánchez  wrote:
> > So... should I mention something or just leave the article as it is and
>
> see how to reply if any questions or concerns arise?
> >
>
> I'd leave it in. It's also important to note that if someone is going
> to provide a false age, it should be at least 13, otherwise they may
> not be able to use the service. Maybe something like
>
> "It also asks for one’s age, in order to comply with the U.S.
> Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)."
>
> with a link to the Wikipedia page or a U.S. government website?
>
> --
> Ben Cotton
> Fedora Program Manager
> TZ=America/Indiana/Indianapolis
> Pronouns: he/him