[Bug 1629607] [NEW] Privacy settings reset to default on upgrade

[Adam Porter]

Public bug reported:

Ubuntu Trusty 14.04
Firefox 49.0

For some time now I have noticed that every time I upgrade Firefox, my
profile's privacy settings are reset to default.  For a while I didn't
know why they were being reset, so I put a script in a cron job (see
attachment) to monitor them and alert me when they changed.  Since doing
that I have realized that they are reset when I upgrade Firefox.

This is a serious violation of user trust and privacy.  Users may have
their preferences set to not save history, to not save cookies, to
delete them upon exit, etc, but after installing a routine upgrade to
Firefox (which happens every few weeks), their privacy settings will be
reset to "Firefox will: Remember history", and the user will not be
informed of this.

I don't know if the cause lies in Firefox itself or in the Ubuntu
packaging, but this needs to be fixed.

** Affects: firefox (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: privacy

** Attachment added: "Fish script suitable for a cron job to alert the user when cookie settings change from the desired settings (see $lines variable)"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1629607/+attachment/4752589/+files/check-firefox-cookie-settings

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Title:
  Privacy settings reset to default on upgrade

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