FlawlessFox

FlawlessFox is a privacy-hardened Firefox fork built entirely from source. Telemetry, crash reporting, and DRM are removed at compile time — not just toggled off in preferences. Every upstream Firefox release passes through an automated dual-gate audit system that blocks the build until all configuration changes are reviewed. No upstream change can re-enable data collection without explicit approval.

Status

Pre-release. The audit system, CI/CD pipeline, and options registry (393 configure options, all reviewed) are in place. First successful build is in progress.

What's Different

FlawlessFox is not a preference overlay or a user.js distribution. Everything listed below is compiled out — the code paths don't exist in the binary:

Removed at compile time	Enabled at compile time
Telemetry (MOZ_TELEMETRY_REPORTING)	Sandboxing
Crash reporter	Hardened SSL/TLS
DRM / EME	Proxy bypass protection
Normandy (remote experiments)	Disk remnant avoidance
Default browser agent
Updater
Sponsored content

The dual-gate audit system is what makes this sustainable across upstream releases — see Audit System below.

Profiles

Two build profiles with identical security posture:

Profile	Purpose	Branding
FlawlessFox	Primary release (desktop + Android)	browser/branding/flawlessfox
BaseSecure	Hardened base for security-focused distributions	browser/branding/basesecure

BaseSecure is designed to meet the Kicksecure Default Browser Criteria — see the compliance matrix.

Platforms

Platform	Status
Linux x86_64	Primary target
Android ARM64	Secondary target

Audit System

FlawlessFox maintains an options registry — a reviewed catalog of every moz.configure build option — and a dual-gate audit:

Gate	Scope	Catches
Gate 1	Structural — configure options	New flags, removed options, renamed arguments
Gate 2	Behavioral — resolved config	Flipped defaults, changed conditionals, implicit telemetry re-enables

Gate 1 runs on every upstream sync (~30 s). Gate 2 runs after ./mach configure but before compilation, so a block costs minutes — not hours.

Together they guarantee: no upstream change alters the privacy posture without review.

For the full development workflow, CI/CD pipeline, and multi-layer audit roadmap, see WORKFLOW.md.

Building Locally

git clone https://forgejo.franklyflawless.org/FranklyFlawless/FlawlessFox.git
cd FlawlessFox && git checkout flawlessfox
cp flawlessfox/profiles/flawlessfox/mozconfig .mozconfig
./mach bootstrap --application-choice browser
./mach configure
./mach build
./mach package

Requires Debian Trixie (or compatible), 8 GB+ RAM, 30 GB+ disk. See the Firefox build prerequisites.

Repository Structure

All fork-specific files live under flawlessfox/ to minimize upstream merge conflicts:

flawlessfox/
├── config/       Options registry, release calendar, config snapshots
├── profiles/     Build profiles (mozconfigs, compliance criteria)
├── scripts/      CI/CD automation, analysis tools, upstream sync
├── patches/      Source transforms and mozconfig patches
├── exports/      Generated profile summaries
└── reports/      Merge and audit reports

Browser branding lives at browser/branding/flawlessfox/ and browser/branding/basesecure/ (follows upstream convention).

Documentation

Document	Contents
WORKFLOW.md	Development workflow, CI/CD pipeline, audit architecture
CRITERIA.md	BaseSecure — Kicksecure criteria compliance
REGISTRY-GUIDE.md	Options registry format, schema, and audit log
TRUST-MODEL.md	Trust boundary maps in the build pipeline

License

Built on Firefox by Mozilla, licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0. Fork-specific files under flawlessfox/ and .forgejo/workflows/ are also MPL-2.0.