question about Web Push notifications
In the support article about notifications: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/push-notifications-firefox it states: Sites can also use Push to update data in the background even without showing you a notification.
What data does this include?
I'm reluctant to use these notifications at all until I know what they could change without telling me.
Chosen solution
The service workers are scoped to a particular site, so they cannot reach beyond that site's data into the data of other sites or change Firefox settings that web pages can't change.
Read this answer in context 👍 0All Replies (5)
..Go to Settings. Click on the Settings icon at the right of your browser window and choose “Options.”
..Choose Content. At the left of the page, choose “Content.”
..Enable or disable notifications. If you want to disable notifications, click “Do not disturb me,” thus, no notifications will appear until you restart Firefox.
Hi xizzix22, sites you grant permission to show notifications can register "service workers," which are mini-applications running in the browser. These can continue to run even after you leave a site and close all its tabs. To see what service workers are currently registered, you can type or paste about:serviceworkers in the address bar and press Return to load it. "Push" is the method used by these mini-applications to exchange data with their origin sites. What all are they doing? I'm sure that varies among the sites but for example, new email or forum message notifications can be alerted to you to entice you back to the site.
@jscher2000 It's the "What all are they doing?" part that I'm concerned about. You only gave examples of new messages, but the support article implies that they can also change existing data.
My main concerns are: What data do they have access to? and What parts of that data can they alter? For example: Are there restrictions in place that they can only see and/or alter data that their specific site added?
@AKASH kUMAR I think you misinterpreted my question. That aside, I don't even see a "Content" category on the left side of my preferences page, nor any "Do not disturb me" option in the Notifications section of the Privacy&Security category. I think you must be using a different OS than I am.
I guess I should have mentioned at the start, I am using the Mac OS version of Firefox.
Chosen Solution
The service workers are scoped to a particular site, so they cannot reach beyond that site's data into the data of other sites or change Firefox settings that web pages can't change.