Firefox and 1P8 - Mandatory browser history and non private browsing

JulienLB
JulienLB
Community Member
in 1Password in the Browser

Hello, I'm using 1P 8.9.8 on Windows 10, with the full app and the browser extension installed. The version 8 made me enable browser history and disable private browsing. This doesn't suit me at all, both for privacy and security reasons. I would like being able to delete all items my history whenever I'm closing Firefox, without losing 1P8 functionality. Please explain how I should proceed.

1Password Version: 8.9.8
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Windows 10 22H2
Browser:_ Firefox 102.5.0esr
Referrer: forum-search:history

Comments

  • steph.giles
    steph.giles

    Hey @JulienLB,

    I can understand where you're coming from when it comes to personal security online these days, and I applaud you for taking it so seriously. I'll give you some context on how 1Password works, in case it's helpful for you:

    When you install 1Password in the browser and log into your account, a connection is created (called an IDB database connection), and that connection data is stored locally on your device. This database connection serves as an integral function to using 1Password in the browser, and allows you to do thing like sync your encrypted data with our server (so your account data can be access on other devices in real time), and authorize your login session. Because of the way that Firefox handles this connection data storage locally, if 'Never remember history' or 'Private Browsing' mode is turned on, the IDB database connection data can't be stored properly, and issues arise.

    However, there is a workaround that not remember your browsing history, and still allow the use of 1Password in Firefox:

    1. Click the Firefox menu at the top right of your browser toolbar and click Add-ons.
    2. Click the three dots next to the 1Password and choose Manage.
    3. Make sure that "Run in Private Windows" is set to Allow.
    4. Click on Firefox Preferences at the bottom left of the screen and choose Privacy & Security.
    5. Under "History" make sure "Firefox will" is set to Remember History.
    6. Now you can open a Private Window in Firefox, and 1Password will be available, but the browsing history won't be stored.

    I hope this helps, let us know if you have any questions.

    ref: dev/core/core#10783

  • JulienLB
    JulienLB
    Community Member

    Hello @steph.giles , thank you for your detailed answer. I have two questions left.

    1. If I understood correctly, the workaround is to open a Private Window in Firefox each time I want to use it, e.g. use the CRTL+MAJ+P keyboard shortcut, is that correct? This comes with a difficulty, since the "open and fill" command in 1Password doesn't open a private window by default.
    2. If the workaround is to open a private window manually, why not allow us users to check the box "always use private browsing"? I used previous versions of 1Password with history disabled and private browsing enabled, without any problem. These new requirements complicate things seriously for the privacy-minded user, IMHO.
  • steph.giles
    steph.giles

    Thanks for getting back to me @JulienLB.

    1. Yes this is correct, I'm sorry that this isn't ideal. We do have an internal feature request to be able to Open and fill into a private browser window so I will add your feedback here.
    2. I totally agree with everything you are saying here but unfortunately it is a browser limitation, When you have both "Private Browsing" and "Never remember history" enabled, 1Password cannot connect to your web account. Doing so would require us to store your credentials locally, which for security purposes is not something we do.

    Thank you for your feedback.

    ref: IDEA-I-1109

This discussion has been closed.