Mozilla introduces a Terms of Use agreement for Firefox
19 comments
·February 28, 2025_Algernon_
mnmalst
I have no idea what I am talking about but could it be related to future AI related features that process user data locally and/or on their servers? At least that would make some sense to me.
Juliate
Definitely.
There's a hidden motive, or utter incompetence in managing this side of the licensing and communication (either by beginners "better cover you ass" MBA or lawyers thinking, which could mean it's the result of some consulting firm operation).
Either way, the sudden change without proper communication is suspicious.
Figs
They are removing all the text about how they do not sell personal data as well.
My suspicion is that this is somehow related to Mozilla Anonym: https://www.anonymco.com/
If you haven't already configured "Firefox Data Collection and Use" and "Website Advertising Preferences" to not share data you should do so immediately.
chinathrow
Absolute bullshit.
p0w3n3d
I'm shocked when in 2025 the term "you stay in control" regarding browser emerges as something exclusive.
When a web page or a program is downloaded to my computer I cannot imagine anything else, yet every major company tries to do something opposed - take the control from me as soon as possible.
UweSchmidt
My mental model of a browser is the same as of any tool, as a hammer, purely defined by its technical capabilities to do a job, like to display a website and offer basic functionality like for saving a bookmark.
The very idea of an entity called "we", an anonymous and ever-changing cast of people managing "responsible defaults" and "simple tools to manage your data" and communicating it on their terms, making me try and keep up, is alien to this idea. They lay their hands on our data; want to know how exactly? Follow several links to this page:
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/#notice
The page in its tone trivializes the entire deal and is just another EULA and as such could just as well be presented in a small textbox in all-caps. It's more than the average user will ever read, and way too vague anyway.
"Be informed about what data we process about you, why and who it’s shared with (that’s this Notice!)" they say, but
...how about you show the entire dataset compiled about any user with information who is using it and for what exactly (excluding truly secret law enforcement requests). Everyone involved would be mortified with shame.
p0w3n3d
I consider a browser as similar as a complicated curl with GUI. Therefore:
- when I see that browser does not allow playing video in the background (youtube on mobile phones)
- when my browser disallows me blocking certain things
- when my browser prevents me from taking screenshot of things I can see on it
... it really angers me, as I feel betrayed. Of course, nowadays, web applications tend to get complicated and hide everything behind 'obscurity-security'; however, this should still be code that is a guest on my device, not me being a guest on their device running their code. I consider it extremely impolite behaviour.
fiverz
You can actually play YouTube in the background with Firefox on Android. There is two ways, 1. Put the video in full screen mode and then press the system home button, this enabled PiP. 2. Start the video, click onto another tab in Firefox (this will pause the video) but then with that second tab active, open the tab switcher and press the play button beside the other tab with the video. Then it will play in the background until you interact with the tab again.
MathMonkeyMan
Either you control the software, or the software controls you, yadda yadda...
amelius
Browsers are becoming SmartTVs.
gnabgib
Discussions
(116 points, 1 day ago, 38 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43187423
(162 points, 15 hours ago, 131 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43194536
(252 points, 5 hours ago, 142 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43200065
anacrolix
We're entering the end days now. Stallman showed us the light and then ESR closed the blinds.
askonomm
Can't wait for Ladybird to become usable. To be fair, it already is fairly usable, but I'd need history syncing / Keychain sync to make it a daily driver.
j-bos
Do you really? Seems you can wait, as do many of us. By waiting, what behavior do we encourage in software makers?
askonomm
I suppose I could manually copy paste things, but it's not a great user experience. I'm fine with using beta software, but pre-alpha even is a bit too hard for me to swallow.
Aeolun
It’s just sad that everything eventually comes to this.
Is it an inevitable law that everything eventually enshittifies? Firefox has had a good run, but it still pisses me off.
Tepix
if i want to block data collection by Mozilla, what do i configure in pi-hole?
lightandlight
I was pretty confused about why this even exists (it's weird to read a bunch of paragraphs that are semantically valid but don't seem to convey information), and then I read the [Privacy Notice](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox). Looks like there's a decent amount of surveillance / ad tech built in to Firefox.
From "How is your data used?":
> Firefox also shows its own search suggestions based on information stored on your local device (including recent search terms, open tabs, and previously visited URLs). These suggestions may include sponsored suggestions from Mozilla’s partners
> Mozilla's partners receive de-identified information about interactions with the suggestions they've served.
> Depending on your location, Mozilla derives the high level category (e.g., travel, shopping) of your search from keywords in that query, in order to understand the types and number of searches being made. We utilize privacy preserving technologies such that Mozilla only learns that someone, somewhere, performed a search relating to a particular category, without knowing who.
> Mozilla may also receive location-related keywords from your search (such as when you search for “Boston”) and share this with our partners to provide recommended and sponsored content. Where this occurs, Mozilla cannot associate the keyword search with an individual user once the search suggestion has been served and partners are never able to associate search suggestions with an individual user.
> You may be able to opt into an enhanced search experience, which will result in Mozilla processing additional personal data, including your technical data, location and search data. Some of that information may be shared with our partners on a de-identified and/or aggregated basis.
> We use technical data, language preference, and location to serve content and advertising on the Firefox New Tab page in the correct format (i.e. for mobile vs desktop), language, and relevant location. Mozilla collects technical and interaction data, such as the position, size, views and clicks on New Tab content or ads, to understand how people are interacting with our content and to personalize future content, including sponsored content. This data may be shared with our advertising partners on a de-identified or aggregated basis.
> In some instances, when ads are enabled on New Tab, additional browsing data may also be processed locally on your device to measure the effectiveness of those ads; such data will only be shared with Mozilla and/or our advertising partners via our privacy-preserving technologies on an aggregated and/or de-identified basis.
> When you allow us to do so, Firefox sends Mozilla data about the website domain or specific advertising campaign (if any) that referred you to our download page to help us understand and improve our marketing efforts. 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 page and whether you actively use Firefox. Where Firefox is pre-installed on your device, technical and interaction data (your device type and whether Firefox is used) will be sent to our marketing partners, and shared with Mozilla.
>UPDATE: We’ve seen a little confusion about the language regarding licenses, so we want to clear that up. We need a license to allow us to make some of the basic functionality of Firefox possible. Without it, we couldn’t use information typed into Firefox, for example. It does NOT give us ownership of your data or a right to use it for anything other than what is described in the Privacy Notice.
From their blog post[1]. Smells like bullshit to me. You haven't had this license for the last 30 years and I've had no trouble browsing. What's changed that you suddenly need it?
[1]: https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/firefox-terms-o...