Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox • Hacker News Board

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

#31

Post by tmottabr » Thu, Feb 27, 2025, 1:55 PM UTC

sunshine-o wrote: post #24

worik wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Only very few people are aware or care about the drama between Mozilla and Brave. Most people will only trust the Data safety / Data Privacy section on the Play / App store (as they should): - Firefox on Android: This app may share these data types with third parties: Location, Personal info and 3 others [0] - Firefox on iOS: The following data may be collected and linked to your identity: Contact Info. Data Not Link…

Developers that fill those informations.. So then saying over there that they do not collect does not mean they are not collecting something..

Also, Brave has already broken trust multiple times..

https://www.coindesk.com/business/2020/06/08/brave-browsers-...

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/brave-browser-under-fire...

https://www.xda-developers.com/brave-browser-installs-vpn-wi...

https://www.spacebar.news/stop-using-brave-browser/

I do not trust Brave in a million years and would never replace Firefox with it..

Also, i bet that most people do not even know or look at those privacy information at the store.. although i agree they should..

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

#32

Post by mimasama » Thu, Feb 27, 2025, 2:17 PM UTC

foresto wrote: post #16

> 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…

> 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?

I think it applies if the browser is "Firefox" in name and branding. So the Debian rebuilds count for example.

So recompile and remove the Firefox branding and the ToU should definitely no longer cover you.

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

#33

Post by winkelmann » Thu, Feb 27, 2025, 2:29 PM UTC

An interesting implication of this is that it would point to Firefox being considered a service from Mozilla (hence why they need a license to facilitate your use of the program).

If we now look at their "Acceptable Use Policy", we can find this:

> You may not use any of Mozilla’s services to [...] Upload, download, transmit, display, or grant access to content that includes graphic depictions of sexuality or violence, [...]

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/acceptable-use/

And to corroborate the applicability of the Acceptable Use Policy to the Firefox browser:

> Your use of Firefox must follow Mozilla’s Acceptable Use Policy, [...]

("Acceptable Use Policy" is hyperlinked to the aforementioned page)

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox/

So one could interpret this all to say that you're not allowed to view or download porn via Firefox. Additionally, "graphic depictions of violence" could extend to things like the sort of bodycam footage and reporting from war zones frequently seen in news reports.

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

#34

Post by xena » Thu, Feb 27, 2025, 2:46 PM UTC

I hate it when people get angry about this exact term of phrase. This is the legal definition of how user generated content works. What they're really saying is "if you upload anything to us, we're allowed to distribute it either back to you, or to other people". Yet another case of false panic.

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

#35

Post by mozball » Thu, Feb 27, 2025, 2:47 PM UTC

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote: post #12

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/

Genuinely asking : Who is behind librewolf and why should i trust them? They don't seem to be available in any official repos yet other than ones they self-published

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

#36

Post by pwdisswordfishz » Thu, Feb 27, 2025, 2:47 PM UTC

xena wrote: post #34

I hate it when people get angry about this exact term of phrase. This is the legal definition of how user generated content works. What they're really saying is "if you upload anything to us, we're allowed to distribute it either back to you, or to other people". Yet another case of false panic.

The terms do not mention being limited to uploading stuff to Mozilla.

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

#37

Post by rightbyte » Thu, Feb 27, 2025, 2:48 PM UTC

winkelmann wrote: post #33

An interesting implication of this is that it would point to Firefox being considered a service from Mozilla (hence why they need a license to facilitate your use of the program). If we now look at their "Acceptable Use Policy", we can find this: > You may not use any of Mozilla’s services to [...] Upload, download, transmit, display, or grant access to content that includes graphic depictions of sexuality or violenc…

It is really unfortunate.

My Firefox install lately added links to what could be considered not so nice sites for grandmas like amazon.com and hotels.com to the start screen.

It is quite clear they see it as their program not mine program.

I dunno for how long I will stick to using the least worst alternative. To go for custom builds would be giving up on Mozilla.

edit: Toned down language

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

#38

Post by hellcow » Thu, Feb 27, 2025, 2:52 PM UTC

Since Mozilla removed all mention of not selling my data in a recent PR and seems hellbent on an ad-based future, I've deleted my Firefox account and moved to Librewolf across my devices, and I'll encourage everyone I know to do the same.

It's a sad end to my literal decades of support for them.

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

#39

Post by mozball » Thu, Feb 27, 2025, 2:52 PM UTC

Disabled auto-update until this is clarified or alternatives can be found.

I for one don't agree to these 'terms of use'. If people are failing to understand Mozilla's legalese, it is Mozilla's fault for making them ambiguous and difficult to understand. They earned 650 million dollars last year. Surely they have the resources for the task.

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

#40

Post by CGamesPlay » Thu, Feb 27, 2025, 2:57 PM UTC

> Remember that to display, edit, transform (underline, italicize, fonts) the documents you write in MacWrite necessarily requires copying your document data from disk to memory to cpu to memory to display – lots of copying. Did Claris need the rights to your copyright to allow you to edit your documents in its software?

This analogy doesn't hold water in the context of giving the coparty access to your intellectual property and detracts from the point the author is trying to make. The answer is no, obviously, because Claris never had the information. The only place that information existed was in some software that lived on and only on your machine did that processing at your request.