Firefox Users Are Furious About Mozilla’s New Data Sharing Fiasco, And I’m One Of Them
Andy Walker / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Firefox users are furious after Mozilla changed the wording related to data sharing within its documentation.
- Previously, the company definitively stated that it does not sell user data, but the revised privacy policy leaves this possibility wide open.
- Mozilla is also introducing a Terms of Use licence for Firefox.
I’ve been a long-time Mozilla Firefox user on Windows and Android. I love the browser’s adaptability, customizability, and its (formerly) definitive statement about how it processes user data. However, the company’s latest privacy policy changes have users riled up, and I’m one of them.
Reddit users who’ve installed Firefox received a worrying notification on their Android phones this week, highlighting that the app’s data-sharing habits, specifically related to location sharing, have changed. This notification appears to be related to a change in Mozilla Firefox’s data-sharing statement, as detailed in a revised privacy policy FAQ published this week.
The new FAQ document no longer explicitly states that the company doesn’t sell or buy users’ Firefox data. It also confirms that Mozilla may share data with its partners. You can read the change to the FAQ below, including the question, with the original version bolded:
It seems like every company on the web is buying and selling my data. You’re probably no different
Mozilla doesn’t sell data about you (in the way that most people think about “selling data“), and we don’t buy data about you. Since we strive for transparency, and the LEGAL definition of “sale of data“ is extremely broad in some places, we’ve had to step back from making the definitive statements you know and love. We still put a lot of work into making sure that the data that we share with our partners (which we need to do to make Firefox commercially viable) is stripped of any identifying information, or shared only in the aggregate, or is put through our privacy preserving technologies (like OHTTP).
To soften the blow and add more context, the company also included another section to the FAQ, explicitly detailing the data it does collect “by default” in Firefox. It names two types of data: technical data about the browser’s functionality and “interactional data,” which concerns user habits. Mozilla clarifies that the latter data set can include the number of opened tabs, user preferences, browser features (including containers), and even how often the back button is used. It also highlights that this data is “stripped of any identifying information” before passing it to its partners.
From a practical standpoint, the rewritten FAQ appears to clarify any possible ambiguity and remove definitive statements to absolve Mozilla from any potential legal issues. The privacy policy change also comes soon after Mozilla introduced its first Terms of Use document for Firefox earlier this week, which, it claims, would allow it to push ahead with the browser’s development. However you spin it, the changes are terrible optics for a company that explicitly includes “private” in its Android app title.
Firefox users are understandably angry about Mozilla’s altered stance. The GitHub thread that first spotted the FAQ change is filled with furious comments from people who feel Mozilla has forgotten its original data promise. I’m especially partial to 0x0177b11f‘s “I finally have a reason to stop funding Mozilla, you can make money from my private data.” Comments on Firefox’s subreddit aren’t too far behind, highlighting users’ distrust of the company.
As a Firefox user myself, I find Mozilla’s covertly changing its FAQ and privacy policy worrying. Sure, the company has highlighted that users still have the option to opt out of data collection. Still, I’d completely understand if Android smartphone owners are considering an alternative browser or perhaps even returning to Google Chrome. I sure am considering my options.
If you’re unsure about continuing to use Mozilla Firefox on Android, Windows, and beyond, I’d highlight the numerous Firefox forks available that aim to remove telemetry and data collection from the browser. You can also try DuckDuckGo and Brave Browser.
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