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Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox

#11

Post by baobun »

baobun wrote: post #9

Previous version: https://web.archive.org/web/20250219051713/https://www.mozil... New version: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/ > Firefox also shares information with our marketing partners to measure and improve these campaigns; what information is specifically shared varies (depending on how you discovered Firefox and your operating system) but generally includes how you were referred to our download…

This is also new, and very broad and unqualified:

> We may also be required to process your personal data to comply with applicable laws and protection purposes, such as:

> (...)

> Identifying, investigating and addressing potential fraudulent activities, or other harmful activities such as illegal activities, cyberattacks or intellectual property infringement (including filing or defending legal claims).

> Performing internal compliance and security activities, such as audits and enterprise security management.

---

Being US, how far stretch is it to imagine PII being under scope for some anti-DEI (aka anti-terror) audit? Also you better switch browsers if you'll ever be in a lawsuit with Mozilla I guess...

Re: Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox

#12

Post by lcnPylGDnU4H9OF »

tomwphillips wrote: post #7

>You give Mozilla all rights necessary to operate Firefox, including processing data as we describe in the Firefox Privacy Notice, as well as acting on your behalf to help you navigate the internet. When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you i…

In case anyone is unaware...

https://librewolf.net/

Re: Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox

#13

Post by Lio »

tomwphillips wrote: post #7

>You give Mozilla all rights necessary to operate Firefox, including processing data as we describe in the Firefox Privacy Notice, as well as acting on your behalf to help you navigate the internet. When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you i…

I've read that a few times now and I'm trying to decide what I think they are actually asking for. It's a bit too vague to pin down.

Mozilla does not need a world wide royalty free licence to use anyone's content if the browser is just a pipe through which connect to the web.

So what exactly are they going to use that licence to your content for and how long are they going to retain it?

Mozilla does a lot of talking about creepy behaviour. Maybe it's just the wording of this but so far it feels a bit off to me.

Re: Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox

#14

Post by sunshine-o »

The problem with Firefox is it almost impossible to sell today (compared to 10 or 20 years ago).

- It doesn't have better performance or security.

- If you want better privacy and ad-blocking out of the box, Brave is the way to go.

- The "supporting an independent implementation" argument doesn't really resonate anymore.

I am wondering if the small market share it has left on desktop (especially in Europe and Germany) might be due to governments and corporations installing it on their computers.

Re: Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox

#15

Post by worik »

sunshine-o wrote: post #14

The problem with Firefox is it almost impossible to sell today (compared to 10 or 20 years ago). - It doesn't have better performance or security. - If you want better privacy and ad-blocking out of the box, Brave is the way to go. - The "supporting an independent implementation" argument doesn't really resonate anymore. I am wondering if the small market share it has left on desktop (especially in Europe and Germany…

I'm sorry mate, that does not make sense

I am appalled by this change, but I am not switching to Brave. Mozilla is loosing trust, Brave started with zero.

Re: Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox

#16

Post by foresto »

> Mozilla grants you a personal, non-exclusive license to install and use the “Executable Code" version of the Firefox web browser, which is the ready-to-run version of Firefox from an authorized source that you can open and use right away.

Does this mean these Terms of Use apply only to precompiled binaries downloaded from Mozilla, and not to copies built from source code by linux distributions?

> When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you indicate with your use of Firefox.

Does this mean they're allowed to collect data that we transmit through Firefox to the sites we visit, so long as they can come up with some justification that they're using it to "help" us?

> Every once in a while, Mozilla may decide to update these Terms. We will post the updated Terms online. We will take your continued use of Firefox as acceptance of such changes.

This kind of one-sided nonsense is something I have come to expect from the likes of Google or Facebook.

I don't know how all this will shake out, but my initial impression leaves me with waning respect for Mozilla.

Re: Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox

#17

Post by pabs3 »

bberenberg wrote: post #4

[flagged]

There is no need for a ToS unless your software has privacy issues because you are spying on users without their 100% informed consent. There is a lot of software that does though.

https://wiki.debian.org/PrivacyIssues

Re: Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox

#19

Post by VTimofeenko »

tomwphillips wrote: post #7

>You give Mozilla all rights necessary to operate Firefox, including processing data as we describe in the Firefox Privacy Notice, as well as acting on your behalf to help you navigate the internet. When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you i…

I'll admit to being utterly confused by literally the first part, even before the emphasis. What follows is nitpicky, but I'd imagine every word is there for a reason. What does "operate" really mean in this context?

Mozilla(the corporate entity) is operating(=controlling?) Firefox(the software) on my machine?

Mozilla(the corporate entity) is operating Firefox(whatever corporate subdivision on their side) to further my interests as a user (gather telemetry, error reports, "privacy preserving" data about me)? In that case, does "acting on your behalf" mean that the corporate entity is browsing on my behalf? Can I download all the Metallica mp3s using Firefox and forward all happiness letters to Mozilla since they were acting on my behalf? (I know, I know, "You Are Responsible..." section disagrees with my take)

And that's before approaching the can of worms of granting a license which I may or may not be able to do depending on the original license.

Re: Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox

#20

Post by McDyver »

tomwphillips wrote: post #7

>You give Mozilla all rights necessary to operate Firefox, including processing data as we describe in the Firefox Privacy Notice, as well as acting on your behalf to help you navigate the internet. When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you i…

> Mozilla collects certain data, like technical and settings data, to provide the core functionality of the Firefox browser and associated services, distinguish your device from others [...]

So we are granting them worldwide royalty-free licence to identify us uniquely and transfer that info to others.

Not the best privacy protection or control, and yet they claim "At Mozilla, we believe that privacy is fundamental"

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