Firefox search update

"list of categories we’re using: animals, arts, autos, business, career, education, fashion, finance, food, government, health, hobbies, home, inconclusive, news, real estate, society, sports, tech and travel."

"This helps us [...] providing a browsing experience that is more tailored to your needs"

How would my browsing experience be different in any of the categories? Unless it's about showing me ads yet again.

Re: Firefox search update

#5

Post by mrbluecoat » Tue, May 14, 2024, 3:22 PM UTC

DuckDuckGo for the win!

Re: Firefox search update

#6

Post by mst » Tue, May 14, 2024, 3:22 PM UTC

Title feels a little bit misleading - they're not collecting 'categorised search data' so much as 'categorising searches and then collecting an aggregate of only the categories.'

I'm not entirely sure how to phrase it better while keeping it pithy but the current wording reads to me like they're collecting the searches as well as the categories, and they deliberately aren't doing that.

(I entirely understand that some people will reasonably have an issue with what they -are- doing, but it's at least worth understanding what that actually is before deciding whether you're one of them :)

Re: Firefox search update

#7

Post by atomicfiredoll » Tue, May 14, 2024, 3:23 PM UTC

Just a shortcut for anybody trying to find it.

"Remember, you can always opt out of sending any technical or usage data to Firefox. Here’s a step-by-step guide [0] on how to adjust your settings."

---

1. Click the [hamburger menu button] and select Settings.

2. Select the Privacy & Security panel.

3. Scroll down to the Firefox Data Collection and Use section.

4. Check or uncheck the box next to Allow Firefox to send technical and interaction data to Mozilla.

[0] https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/share-data-mozilla-help...

Re: Firefox search update

#8

Post by yborg » Tue, May 14, 2024, 3:23 PM UTC

Isn't this exactly what Google does in Chrome?

Re: Firefox search update

#9

Post by mst » Tue, May 14, 2024, 3:23 PM UTC

parrellel wrote: post #3

Welp, thanks for telling me what to turn off right now Mozilla.

Providing a link to their own comprehensive guide to turn everything off definitely earns style points in my book.

Re: Firefox search update

#10

Post by CaptainOfCoit » Tue, May 14, 2024, 3:24 PM UTC

> Innovation and privacy go hand in hand here at Mozilla [...] Rest assured, the way we gather these insights will always put user privacy first [...] Remember, you can always opt out of sending any technical or usage data to Firefox

Wouldn't actually putting "user privacy first" lead to the conclusion that gathering insights like this shouldn't be done on a opt-out basis and instead be opt-in, at the very least?

Personally, I'd see "privacy first" as not needing to sell any user data at all, in the first place, but we're clearly beyond that already.