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IronFox

Mozilla Patches

These patches disable, remove, or replace unwanted Mozilla-related functionality from the browser. This includes advertising, data collection, promotions, and other services not required for critical functionality.

Patches

Disable Telemetry (Fenix)

Disables data collection and submission mechanisms within Firefox for Android.

Reason
To prevent any usage data, diagnostics, or technical metrics from being sent to Mozilla.
Effect
Prevents unwanted collection and transmission of telemetry data.

Remove about:telemetry

Removes the internal about:telemetry page.

Reason
To improve UX.
Effect
Prevents users from incorrectly believing telemetry is supported/enabled.

Disable Crash Reporting (Android Components)

Disables the collection and submission of crash reports within Mozilla’s Android Components.

Reason
To prevent submitting personal and/or sensitive data to Mozilla.
Effect
Prevents unwanted collection and transmission of crash reports.

Disable Crash Reporting (Fenix)

Disables the collection and submission of crash reports within Firefox for Android.

Reason
To prevent submitting personal and/or sensitive data to Mozilla.
Effect
Prevents unwanted collection and transmission of crash reports.

Disable Crash Reporting (GeckoView)

Disables the collection and submission of crash reports within GeckoView.

Reason
To prevent submitting personal and/or sensitive data to Mozilla.
Effect
Prevents unwanted collection and transmission of crash reports.

Remove Glean (Android Components)

Removes the Glean SDK from Mozilla’s Android Components.

Reason
To prevent any usage data, diagnostics, or technical metrics from being sent to Mozilla, to reduce attack surface, and to reduce unwanted dependencies.
Effect
Prevents unwanted collection and transmission of telemetry data.

Remove Glean (Fenix)

Removes the Glean SDK from Firefox for Android.

Reason
To prevent any usage data, diagnostics, or technical metrics from being sent to Mozilla, to reduce attack surface, and to reduce unwanted dependencies.
Effect
Prevents unwanted collection and transmission of telemetry data.

Disable Nimbus Experimentation (Fenix)

Prevents A/B testing and remote configuration of settings via Nimbus within Firefox for Android.

Reason
To reduce data collection and remove Mozilla’s ability to remotely change browser settings.
Effect
Ensures user configurations remain consistent and are controlled locally.

Disable Nimbus Experimentation (Gecko)

Prevents A/B testing and remote configuration of settings via Nimbus within Gecko.

Reason
To reduce data collection and remove Mozilla’s ability to remotely change browser settings.
Effect
Ensures user configurations remain consistent and are controlled locally.

Disable Nimbus Experimentation (Android Components)

Removes the Nimbus library/service from Android Components.

Reason
To reduce data collection and remove Mozilla’s ability to remotely change browser settings.
Effect
Ensures user configurations remain consistent and are controlled locally, reduces attack surface, and reduces unwanted dependencies.

Disable Firefox Suggest

Disables Firefox Suggest functionality.

Reason
To remove sponsored suggestions, and to prevent sending address bar data to Mozilla.
Effect
Cleaner, more private address bar experience, without web suggestions.

Disable Remote Search Configuration

Disables remote configuration of search engines from Mozilla.

Reason
To reduce unwanted network activity and ensure that users are in control of their search engines/configuration.
Effect
Reduces unwanted network activity and ensures search settings are controlled locally.

Remove ToS and Privacy Policy

Removes unwanted elements related to Mozilla’s terms of service and privacy policy.

Reason
To prevent confusing users and to remove unwanted Mozilla branding.
Effect
Users are provided with a cleaner browsing experience.

Disables the ‘Sent from Firefox’ footer/link sharing feature.

Reason
To prevent automatic inclusion of Firefox branding in shared links.
Effect
Prevents advertising Firefox and disclosing browser information when sharing links.

Disables fetching featured collections, recommendations, and icons from AMO (addons.mozilla.org).

Reason
To prevent Firefox from connecting to services.addons.mozilla.org on every launch and periodically after.
Effect
Reduces unwanted network activity and integration with third party services.

Disable Contile

Disables integration with Mozilla’s Contile service (sponsored tiles) - https://mozilla-services.github.io/contile/.

Reason
To remove unwanted advertising and unnecessary third-party services.
Effect
Cleaner interface without promotional content.

Disable Pocket

Disables integration with Pocket.

Reason
To remove unnecessary third-party services and sponsored content.
Effect
Cleaner interface without promotional content or third-party integrations.

Remove MARS (Fenix)

Removes the Mozilla Ad Routing Service (MARS) from Firefox for Android.

Reason
To prevent unwanted advertising, to reduce attack surface, and to reduce unwanted dependencies.
Effect
Prevents unwanted advertising.

Disable Firefox Sync

Disables Firefox Sync by default.

Reason
To prevent automatic sync of browser data to Mozilla servers.
Effect
No data is synchronized with Mozilla unless explicitly enabled by user.

Disable Firefox Sync Avatar Fetching

Disables downloading the user’s profile picture from Mozilla if Firefox Sync is enabled.

Reason
To prevent Firefox from connecting to https://profile.accounts.firefox.com/v1/avatar/b every time the user navigates to settings if Firefox Sync is enabled.
Effect
Reduces unwanted network activity and integration with third party services.

Block Remote Settings (Gecko)

Restricts Remote Settings to only download collections specified in preferences.

Reason
To prevent the download/use of unnecessary and undesired Remote Settings from Mozilla (ex. for experimentation).
Effect
Network activity is further limited, less data is shared with Mozilla, and the user is put in control of what specifically they want to download from Remote Settings.

Support add-on installation without mozAddonManager

Adds support for installing add-ons from addons.mozilla.org, without allowing Mozilla to enable, uninstall, and query a list of the user’s installed add-ons (via the privileged mozAddonManager API), in addition to websites specified with the xpinstall.whitelist.add series of prefs.

Reason
To prevent fingerprinting, reduce attack surface, and to improve freedom by allowing users to install add-ons from sites other than AMO if desired (though installing add-ons outside of AMO is of course STRONGLY recommended against).
Effect
Allows users to install add-ons from addons.mozilla.org (via the mozAddonManager API) without compromising their privacy and security, and allows installation from other sites if desired by the user.

Remove privileged add-on signing status

Prevents Mozilla add-ons from returning the ‘PRIVILEGED’ and ‘SYSTEM’ add-on signing states.

Reason
To improve privacy, security, and control for users, by preventing external add-ons developed By Mozilla from utilizing special privileged functionality.
Effect
Users have improved privacy, security, and control over their extensions.

Remove Web Compatibility Reporter (Fenix)

Removes the Web Compatibility Reporter from Firefox for Android.

Reason
To eliminate unwanted dependencies, to declutter the user interface, and to prevent wasting Mozilla’s time.
Effect
Simplifies the browser UI and prevents issue reports from being sent to Mozilla.

Disable Nags

Disables Contextual Feature Recommendations, prompts encouraging users to set the browser as the system default, and other promotional messaging.

Reason
To remove promotional suggestions for Firefox features, and to eliminate unnecessary engagement messages that may interrupt user workflows.
Effect
Provides a cleaner interface without contextual prompts, recommendations, and unwanted nags.

Disable Mozilla Surveys

Disables Mozilla Feedback Surveys (Microsurveys).

Reason
To prevent interruptions from survey prompts.
Effect
Improves user experience by removing survey notifications.

Local Wallpapers

Adds a built-in collection of wallpapers for the browser’s homepage.

Reason
By default, Firefox fetches wallpapers from Mozilla servers on every browser launch. We disable this, due to the associated privacy concerns, and to reduce unwanted network activity.
Effect
Users can personalize the browser and take advantage of wallpapers, without introducing unnecessary/unwanted network activity and dependence on Mozilla services.

Configure GeckoProvider

Configures Firefox’s implementation of GeckoView (GeckoProvider)

Reason
Disables integration with crash reporting and experimentation (Nimbus).
Effect
Prevents unwanted collection and transmission of crash reports, and ensures user configurations remain consistent and are controlled locally.