Allowing permissions for a website that I previously limited in Firefox

Technically this is Firefox/Mac question.
A couple months ago I accidentally blocked Camera And Mic permissions
for a medical wed site. Ever since I have not been able to dig out and reset the configuration.
I have cleared Firefox history, and set “Allow”, for the website, in the permissions settings in
Firefox > Preferences > Privacy&Security

it’s a No-Go
And now on one of a related Medical website where I can actually render
the permission from the URL bar, allowing Camera still will not elicit function of
the Camera

I think I must be missing a deeper setting somewhere for reconfigureing the permission

Any Thoughts?

There also is a setting in System Preferences.

Under Security & Privacy : Privacy : Camera

Does it happen with Safari as well as Firefox? If “yes”, it is likely in the macOS settings as suggested by Chik.

On one level it seems like a Firefox issue.
I have not had problems engaging camera and mic with the Safari browser.
However, I have not had to correct any setting issue in Safari, being careful not
to choose any options incorrectly.
All I know is that I cannot fix the Firefox bug.

I’ve never had this specific problem, but similar glitches have happened with other apps now and then. When I was unable to correct it otherwise, what sometimes helped was deleting/uninstalling the problematic app and its related files completely (CleanMyMac does this well) and reinstalling it.

Turns out Firefox app does populate the pane in Security & Privacy : Privacy :Camera
but is not checked.
I’ll try the website next time with the box checked

Now there’s an idea for nice, tiny, focused utility. Show me all the apps that have registered for various permissions, and the current state of those requests (granted/not granted). As far as I can tell, when an app attempts to use a service (e.g., camera) for which explicit permission is required, its name goes into the queue for that permission, and a result code is returned to the app. It is up to the app to inform the user that explicit permission is required, and good apps will be equally explicit in terms of how the user goes about doing that. However, more than once I’ve either not noticed the prompt from the app, or did not get one, and was left wondering “Why can’t app X do function Y?”.

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Does the default preference panel (Security & Privacy → Privacy) do what you need, or do you want something beyond this?

This should show you all of the macOS-level permission requests and their status.

Of course, apps (like Firefox) may have their own separate set of permissions, layered over the macOS permissions.

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At times I’d be interested in seeing the reverse. List by apps and for each app show services requested and services granted.

In my case Security & Privacy : Privacy :Camera had only Firefox in the queue, with the box unchecked which suggests,perhaps, that Firefox browser preferences cannot override the System preferences, even when trying to reconfigure it in the web browser settings.

I won’t really know more until I have an opportunity to utilize the features, again, at the particular website I was having trouble with.

Firefox’s preferences absolutely can not override the system preferences. It would be a pretty bad security model if apps could grant themselves access to something you have blocked in the system.

The presence of Firefox on that list means Firefox has requested access at some point. But you need to confirm the access.

Most of the time, apps will inform you of this (at least the first time) and tell you to go to the preference panel in order to grant it access. If Firefox didn’t do this, then they might have a bug (not asking you). Or you may have told macOS to deny it access, not realizing that it was a system-wide access request.

Either way, yes, you must check this box to allow Firefox access to the camera. Once you do, you will also have to use Firefox’s configuration to grant access to specific web sites.

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Haha. Re-reading my initial comment, it does sound like a spec for the Security/Privacy panel, doesn’t it? Refining my wish, I’d like a single window with the ability to show either all apps and their requested permissions, or all permissions and the apps that have requested them. Either way, each permission should show as granted or not, and most importantly, each permission should show a date requested and a date granted (if applicable). One use case might be “I want to see all the permissions requested by apps within the last week that are ungranted.” Another might be “App X is not behaving as expected. What permissions does it have, and has it asked for any recently that have not been granted?”.

So I may be reading a misunderstanding into your comment where none exists; if so, I apologize. However, it sounds like you may be misinterpreting the meaning of the checkbox. The first time an app attempts a function that requires a user-granted permission, macOS inserts the name of that app in the Security & Privacy → Privacy section under the category for the required permission (in the case under discussion, Camera). The initial listing is unchecked (i.e., the permission is not granted). The app should then inform the user they need to go to this category and check the box. Only the OS can put an app’s name in the category. Only the user can check/uncheck the box.

To clarify, sort of…
My main problem started when at some point I accidentally denied camera permission for Firefox at a particular health website that facilitates some online health services for work.
Subsequently, I could never repair that permission by using settings configuration in Firefox > Prefs > Privacy&Security.
Plus I never checked the Mac OS system preferences (until recently) and so it appears that any attempts to correct the permission via the Firefox browser settings was always trumped by the Mac OS System setting.
While I have now corrected that setting, I will still have to wait for an opportunity to see if Firefox can now access camera at the website

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