this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2025
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AI Summary:

Overview:

  • Mozilla is updating its new Terms of Use for Firefox due to criticism over unclear language about user data.
  • Original terms seemed to give Mozilla broad ownership of user data, causing concern.
  • Updated terms emphasize limited scope of data interaction, stating Mozilla only needs rights necessary to operate Firefox.
  • Mozilla acknowledges confusion and aims to clarify their intent to make Firefox work without owning user content.
  • Company explains they don't make blanket claims of "never selling data" due to evolving legal definitions and obligations.
  • Mozilla collects and shares some data with partners to keep Firefox commercially viable, but ensures data is anonymized or shared in aggregate.
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[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 minutes ago (1 children)

Anyone have a decent Android alternative? Updated my phone last night and this morning got a notification that Firefox had full permissions for accessing my location data. I'd like to move away from Firefox before enshitification is in full swing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 minute ago

Try out Ironfox. It can be installed through F-Droid.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Mozilla collects and shares some data with partners to keep Firefox commercially viable

How hard is it to be specific? People are concerned about this, can they not tell us the exact data they share and with whom, or is doing so going to make people more concerned so they are avoiding telling us?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 25 minutes ago* (last edited 16 minutes ago)

They can’t be specific in the legal note because that would close their options and prevent them from auctioning off every month to the new highest bidder.

They certainly could keep a page of what they’re currently selling to whom, but even if it was innocuous (doubtful) that would again put them in the news every time they changed it.

Tried and true ~~legal~~ PR strategy: say nothing and hope the attention goes away

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

Already uninstalled everywhere. Better luck next time, Mozilla.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

they were effectively owning everything you fo in firefox, how is that nothing

[–] [email protected] 15 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

this is them rolling it back cause of the outcry, they don't want to admit it worked

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

The terms were never actually bad. This is them responding to the backlash, yes, but that's just because everyone freaked out over nothing. They're not "rolling back" anything, and this comment is just more disinformation.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 hour ago

The proof that even techies can confuse « rollback » and « fix ».

[–] [email protected] 24 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

A FOSS browser has and never will require collecting user data.

This should not happen at all.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 hours ago

What do you think a browser does?

[–] [email protected] 39 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Certain features certainly could be considered as doing that, such as:

  • Firefox sync
  • crash reporting
  • add-on store

I certainly want those. And then there are others that I don't want:

  • Pocket
  • telemetry
  • studies
  • AI

My understanding is that this change is primarily motivated by a recent law change in California that has a pretty broad definition of "selling user data" and this is less likely to be a fundamental change in how Mozilla operates. However, let's see what they come back with.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 12 hours ago (4 children)

What's the alternative for Android? Fuck Chrome I want to move off this shit onto something that actually gives half a shit about me.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 hours ago

Boy have i got a treat for you, Ironfox! the continuation of Mull

https://gitlab.com/ironfox-oss/IronFox

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 hours ago

Fennec on F-Droid, which is Firefox fork

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

Tor. Anything short is freely giving your data away. If you're looking for something that isn't based on Gecko or Chromium there is the DuckDuckGo browser, which is WebKit. I can't attest to how good their privacy policy is though as I have no idea.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 hours ago

Tor Browser doesn't include uBo (on Android at least) and their ad blocking is abysmal. Its great that no one can trace your IP but completely useless since it doesn't do anything to block trackers.

Anything short is freely giving your data away.

Misinformation.

[–] [email protected] 40 points 19 hours ago (8 children)

Too late, I switched to Floorp.

Because of privacy stuff? No. Because of repeated drama? Yes.

I don't have time for this stuff. I don't have time to track every minute twist of the knife that Google's funding drives Mozilla to embark on.

I'm bored of using software and watching it go through "death by a thousand minor dramas"

So now I use a web browser that has a name so stupid I don't even recommend it to other people. Brilliant.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Never heard of this one before. too bad it doesn't have a mobile version as well.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

The drama isn't exactly their fault. There are a lot of rich organizations that want them to cease to exist. Most 9f which want track you online and/or shove ads down your throat.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 12 hours ago

A fair amount of drama is exactly their fault. Mozilla chose to increase management pay and fire people, Mozilla chose to flirt with ai, Mozilla bought an ad firm, and so on. It's not like someone was holding a knife to their throat.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago

Truly an outstanding move

[–] [email protected] 13 points 18 hours ago

Floorp isn't recommended for its privacy features anyway, it's recommended by users for the amount of customization you can do. It's got some features that Firefox has that I don't want to do without.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 16 hours ago

Even if the name sounds stupid, you should still recommend it to other people :D

Have been doing so for a few months and haven't had any negative feedback.

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[–] [email protected] 70 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I didn't sell your shit, I collected it and shared it to keep myself comercially viable.

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[–] [email protected] 180 points 1 day ago (20 children)
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[–] [email protected] 224 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's good and I'm genuinely glad they're trying to clarify it, but it proves yet again that their top management is out of touch with reality and their users: somebody (most likely more than one person actually) had to sign off on these changes and the message they sent out - this whole thing could have been avoided if they understood their users better (and/or if they actually cared nore about what users think).

[–] [email protected] 11 points 17 hours ago

Google funding allows them to be big and inefficient, which means a lot of tops paid well and thinking themselves fashionable FOSS leader people or something.

They can live without it. They'll have to cut most of the organization and return to being an open project developing a web browser.

That doesn't sound cool for people not doing useful work. Like me, I'll get to my shit instead of typing comments.

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