Unexpected property "data_collection_permissions" for any Firefox version below 140

[AeGhBrA]

Prerequisites

• I verified that this is not a filter list issue. Report any issues with filter lists or broken website functionality in the uAssets issue tracker.
• This is NOT a YouTube, Facebook or Twitch report. These sites MUST be reported by clicking their respective links.
• This is not a support issue or a question. For support, questions, or help, visit /r/uBlockOrigin.
• I performed a cursory search of the issue tracker to avoid opening a duplicate issue.
• The issue is not present after disabling uBO in the browser.
• I checked the documentation to understand that the issue I am reporting is not normal behavior.

I tried to reproduce the issue when...

• uBO is the only extension.
• uBO uses default lists and settings.
• using a new, unmodified browser profile.

Description

As of version 1.68, the manifest.json uses "data_collection_permissions" because it's suddenly required for new addons (NOT old addons and their updates, which this is), and this makes the addon impossible to update or install for any browser version that did not have that specific property; in short: anything under v140 will result in this message (in about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox, since trying normally only results in a generic "this extension is corrupt" message)

There was an error during the temporary add-on installation.
Error details

Extension is invalid

Reading manifest: Error processing browser_specific_settings.gecko: Unexpected property "data_collection_permissions"

Since the version on github is exactly like the version on AMO, the only way to install an update is to download it, manually remove that line from the manifest, and then drag it in, resulting in a permanent yellow banner with "uBlock Origin could not be verified for use in Firefox. Proceed with caution."

A specific URL where the issue occurs.

-

Steps to Reproduce

1. click on update in the extension page OR click on xpi link in github OR try to download from AMO OR try to drag the newest xpi manually into the list
2. fail

Expected behavior

Expected to update as usual, or be installed normally.

Actual behavior

notification popup saying

about:addons
This add-on could not be installed because it appears to be corrupt.

uBO version

1.68.0

Browser name and version

Firefox 115.20.0esr (64-bit)

Operating System and version

Windows 10 Pro

[stephenhawk8054]

• uBo above release 1.67.1.4 will not be compatible with Firefox 115.13-115.30 ESR #3878

• https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/do-older-firefox-versions-ignore-data-collection-permissions/145985/2

Could be already fixed in ESR version 115.31.0 RC1 although I haven't tested yet.

[AeGhBrA]

OK, it seems like 115.31.0 just released yesterday (9. Dec).
Just tested and it works fine, no errors installing manually, and I imagine it's fine for auto-updates as well,
This info is very much appreciated, thank you.

[Amaroq64]

Waterfox G6.0.20 is subject to this issue as well. It's the last version of Waterfox that's compatible with Windows 7. Therefore Windows 7 Waterfox users can't use uBlock Origin merely because of the browser being picky parsing the manifest.

Removing the field allows installing and using the newest version of uBlock Origin (1.71.0) just fine with no issues other than the warning.

[u-RraaLL]

Report to browser devs.