Mozilla Firefox updates TOS and Privacy Policy; raises privacy concerns

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Current Events » Mozilla Firefox updates TOS and Privacy Policy; raises privacy concerns
The official newspost:
https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/firefox-news/firefox-terms-of-use/

The concerning changes:
https://bsky.app/profile/dryad.technology/post/3lj4gzxdqhk2d
https://mastodon.social/@sarahjamielewis/114072293410465140
https://mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/@neil/114074342412214433

A lot of speculation has been going around about this being in regards to AI features being added in. Personally, I've switched to forks that handle privacy a bit better than Mozilla themselves (LibreWolf on desktop, IronFox on Android).

Seems just about every browser sucks these days.
https://i.imgur.com/TGkNCva.gif https://i.imgur.com/8mWCvA4.gif
FL81 posted...
LibreWolf on desktop, IronFox on Android
These support all firefox addons? I might be switching in that case.
http://i.imgur.com/NkZUeFd.gif
Guess I'll try out Floorp
kind9 posted...
These support all firefox addons? I might be switching in that case.
Yep, extensions work just fine. The fingerprinting protection enabled by default will break a couple websites, but you can tweak it in about:config
https://i.imgur.com/TGkNCva.gif https://i.imgur.com/8mWCvA4.gif
Just switched to FF in the last week or so too.
************************************************
http://i.imgur.com/iZdWIKJ.jpg
It's so exhausting trying to out pace enshitification.
Another concerning change is that Mozilla removed language stating that they don't sell your data
https://github.com/mozilla/bedrock/commit/d459addab846d8144b61939b7f4310eb80c5470e
https://i.imgur.com/TGkNCva.gif https://i.imgur.com/8mWCvA4.gif
FL81 posted...
Another concerning change is that Mozilla removed language stating that they don't sell your data
https://github.com/mozilla/bedrock/commit/d459addab846d8144b61939b7f4310eb80c5470e
Whaaaaat
https://imgur.com/gallery/dXDmJHw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75GL-BYZFfY
Well we had a good 13-14 year run FF, guess I'll be looking for a new browser now.
http://i.imgur.com/vDci4hD.gif
FL81 posted...
Another concerning change is that Mozilla removed language stating that they don't sell your data
https://github.com/mozilla/bedrock/commit/d459addab846d8144b61939b7f4310eb80c5470e
Jesus... Yeah I think it's fork time. I used palemoon for a while until it couldn't support modern ad blockers.

Is there even any other browser not firefox or chromium based that supports ad blocking as good as uBO?
http://i.imgur.com/NkZUeFd.gif
kind9 posted...
Is there even any other browser not firefox or chromium based
Everything these days is Firefox or Chromium based

only exception is Safari (only available on Apple devices), and then the Ladybird browser, but who even knows when that will be released
https://i.imgur.com/TGkNCva.gif https://i.imgur.com/8mWCvA4.gif
kind9 posted...
I used palemoon for a while until it couldn't support modern ad blockers.
Pale Moon does have its own uBlock Origin fork
https://github.com/UCyborg/uBlock-for-firefox-legacy/releases

but I can't speak for its efficacy, it's been years since I've used Pale Moon and it just does not work well with modern web standards
https://i.imgur.com/TGkNCva.gif https://i.imgur.com/8mWCvA4.gif
Damn that's a shame.

If there's a browser that blocks ads/trackers as good as or better than FF that isn't selling data, time to migrate.
Black Lives Matter. ~ DYL ~ (On mobile)
It's so disappointing how competition keeps dropping the ball every time defacto market leaders make a mistake. Not that top brass cares too much, they've all got their golden parachutes ready to go.
http://i.imgur.com/szMsu.png
Validate your purchases and discredit the purchases of others whenever possible. Numbers objectively define quality and enjoyment.
Is there any browser that isn't evil?
http://i.imgur.com/VwJsmAR.gifv
Ivynn posted...
Well we had a good 13-14 year run FF, guess I'll be looking for a new browser now.
There are no other browsers. Its only Firefox, Microsoft edge and chrome. And Microsoft edge is just chrome with a less shitty coat of paint on it
I'm still using Chrome on desktop (Brave on iPhone) still haven't decided to fully ditch Chrome yet.
FAM FOREVER | https://iili.io/HSJO4Uv.jpg
I'm looking at it, and I think it's just poorly overworded. At least I hope.

Basically any text or images you put into the browser, is you giving the browser permission to use it based on what you're telling it to do according to your settings. Essentially what you've already been doing, they just for some reason decided to make it really weird? That's my take away.

Now, I'm not a fan of them creeping that AI chatbot crap into the sidebar, because... what are we going to get? I can't WAIT for windows co-pilot, firefox AI, customer support chat bots, and google AI to have some conversational orgy as I'm just trying to look up eggs.
why does everything suck
This is the obvious third strike for me.
I shouldn't have trusted them after the Mr. Robot bullshit
there was something else they did after that that was shady as hell

will give librewolf a try

RS3: UltimaSuende - CE Thread Zone
https://letterboxd.com/BMovieBro/
FL81 posted...
Another concerning change is that Mozilla removed language stating that they don't sell your data
https://github.com/mozilla/bedrock/commit/d459addab846d8144b61939b7f4310eb80c5470e
A response from Mozilla
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/faq/
It seems like every company on the web is buying and selling my data. Youre probably no different.
Mozilla doesnt sell data about you (in the way that most people think about selling data), and we dont buy data about you. Since we strive for transparency, and the LEGAL definition of sale of data is extremely broad in some places, weve 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).

and now they are looking for feedback
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/information-about-the-new-terms-of-use-and-updated-privacy/m-p/87735/highlight/true#M33600
https://i.imgur.com/TGkNCva.gif https://i.imgur.com/8mWCvA4.gif
Seems like if they wanted people to trust them on that front they'd have said that first and not after all the backlash.

Which leads me to think that's at best a walkback.
He/Him http://guidesmedia.ign.com/guides/9846/images/slowpoke.gif https://i.imgur.com/M8h2ATe.png
https://i.imgur.com/6ezFwG1.png
FL81 posted...
A response from Mozilla
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/faq/

and now they are looking for feedback
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/information-about-the-new-terms-of-use-and-updated-privacy/m-p/87735/highlight/true#M33600
Got to love their bullshit corporate copy-paste stock replies. They don't really address the concerns, they just confirm them all and give vague reasons for them as if that's supposed to ease your mind. This pretty much confirms it for me that it's time to move to another browser.
http://i.imgur.com/NkZUeFd.gif
How's Vivaldi these days?
Since only from below can one better see the heights.
http://i.imgur.com/OhZgm.jpg
I'll try LibreWolf or WaterFox.
http://i.imgur.com/NkZUeFd.gif
kind9 posted...
Is there even any other browser not firefox or chromium based that supports ad blocking as good as uBO?

Every browser is either Firefox, Chromium, Safari, or has virtually no addon support.

What I recommend doing is checking out browsers recommended by the FSF, such as IceCat which is a FS Firefox fork.
It says right here in Matthew 16:4 "Jesus doth not need a giant Mecha."
https://i.imgur.com/dQgC4kv.jpg
Tyranthraxus posted...
What I recommend doing is checking out browsers recommended by the FSF, such as IceCat which is a FS Firefox fork.
Whatever I use it will likely be a firefox fork, because I require uBlock Origin.
http://i.imgur.com/NkZUeFd.gif
I have a dumb question, you can't use older versions of Firefox? Or is that affected by these changes as well
:D Brawlin' Mains: R.O.B., Lucario, Pikachu, Wolf
MrFingers07 posted...
I have a dumb question, you can't use older versions of Firefox? Or is that affected by these changes as well
Old versions have huge security flaws, you don't want to use them.
Want some rye? 'Course ya do!
MrFingers07 posted...
I have a dumb question, you can't use older versions of Firefox? Or is that affected by these changes as well
The TOS refers to data usage regardless of how it is acquired, I'd assume.

Like, as long as it's still sending info to Mozilla the version of Firefox seems irrelevant.

Plus the above-mentioned security holes, which is the main reason to not do that, you'd be risking a lot more information compromise.
He/Him http://guidesmedia.ign.com/guides/9846/images/slowpoke.gif https://i.imgur.com/M8h2ATe.png
https://i.imgur.com/6ezFwG1.png
FL81 posted...
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
Yeah, this is some gold right here. For real: what's the best alternative to Firefox?
Cuteness is justice! It's the law.
Powdered_Toast posted...
Old versions have huge security flaws, you don't want to use them.

While this is true, as long as you are careful about where you go online, you shouldn't have any issues. I'm currently using a windows 10 version from 2018 and haven't had any problems. I also used Firefox 56 for many years without issue before I finally decided to upgrade to Firefox 90 (which at the time was the newest one). I stayed on 56 for so long because many of my favorite addons broke from 57 onward.
Like it or leave it. Hey, where are you going?
darkmaian23 posted...
Yeah, this is some gold right here. For real: what's the best alternative to Firefox?
An active fork of Firefox that doesn't have to adhere to any of Mozilla's BS (Librewolf, Floorp, Zen, etc)

An active Chromium based browser without Google's BS (Vivaldi, Ungoogled Chromium, etc - not Brave due to their status as a sketchy ad company with questionable leadership)

That's about it.
http://i.imgur.com/szMsu.png
Validate your purchases and discredit the purchases of others whenever possible. Numbers objectively define quality and enjoyment.
the fact there is almost zero pushback as we speed faster and faster towards a dystopia so bad no publisher would have ever accepted it for a novel is just depressing
3 things 1. i am female 2. i havea msucle probelm its hard for me to typ well 3.*does her janpuu dance*
We probably should have expected Firefox to start getting shitty again after everybody switched back to them for being the only browser not sitting on top of chromium so you can still install ad blockers.
"History Is Much Like An Endless Waltz. The Three Beats Of War, Peace And Revolution Continue On Forever." - Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz
AceMos posted...
the fact there is almost zero pushback as we speed faster and faster towards a dystopia so bad no publisher would have ever accepted it for a novel is just depressing
Anybody who cares has alternatives. Everybody else has already been giving that data away for years.

s0nicfan posted...
We probably should have expected Firefox to start getting shitty again after everybody switched back to them for being the only browser not sitting on top of chromium so you can still install ad blockers.
That number is negligible. Mozilla's problems can be traced back to corrupt leadership who, despite running a non-profit organization that is supposed to be all about privacy and open standards, pay themselves millions in their pursuit to be the heads of a shitty tech company and ad provider. Nevermind the fact the only things they've made which anybody actually likes and uses are Firefox and technically the Rust programming language.
http://i.imgur.com/szMsu.png
Validate your purchases and discredit the purchases of others whenever possible. Numbers objectively define quality and enjoyment.
Board_hunter567 posted...
Anybody who cares has alternatives

i care and i dont
3 things 1. i am female 2. i havea msucle probelm its hard for me to typ well 3.*does her janpuu dance*
FL81 posted...
Pale Moon does have its own uBlock Origin fork
https://github.com/UCyborg/uBlock-for-firefox-legacy/releases

but I can't speak for its efficacy, it's been years since I've used Pale Moon and it just does not work well with modern web standards
I still use Pale Moon, but I think I'm gonna end up switching before long. YouTube in particular is slow enough that it's basically unusable, and elements on various webpages will occasionally just refuse to load and need to be loaded in a different browser.
http://i.imgur.com/VeNBg.gif http://i.imgur.com/gd5jC8q.gif
http://i.imgur.com/PKIy7.gif http://i.imgur.com/3p29JqP.gif
AceMos posted...
i care and i dont
Librewolf and Zen are built on the latest stable branches and Floorp uses the ESR. There's no real forks on Android yet but Vivaldi is fine.
http://i.imgur.com/szMsu.png
Validate your purchases and discredit the purchases of others whenever possible. Numbers objectively define quality and enjoyment.
Man, it's supposed to be companies competing to be the best. Not companies competing to be the fucking worse and just 'barely better' than the other.
Japanese Crack: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5pzggr
Board_hunter567 posted...
Librewolf and Zen are built on the latest stable branches and Floorp uses the ESR. There's no real forks on Android yet but Vivaldi is fine.

i dont know what those are
3 things 1. i am female 2. i havea msucle probelm its hard for me to typ well 3.*does her janpuu dance*
I can't find Ironfox on the playstore is it Iron Browser by SRWare?
RS3: UltimaSuende - CE Thread Zone
https://letterboxd.com/BMovieBro/
Hexenherz posted...
I can't find Ironfox on the playstore
It's hosted on Gitlab (it's essentially a successor to the Mull browser that was recently discontinued)
https://gitlab.com/ironfox-oss/IronFox

Hexenherz posted...
is it Iron Browser by SRWare?
SRWare Iron isn't great
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRWare_Iron#Criticism
https://spyware.neocities.org/articles/iron
(plus its whole shtick of being an ungoogled chromium is done better by uhhh, Ungoogled Chromium)
https://i.imgur.com/TGkNCva.gif https://i.imgur.com/8mWCvA4.gif
Thank you FL81!

RS3: UltimaSuende - CE Thread Zone
https://letterboxd.com/BMovieBro/
So is this something they're not going to listen to their users and backtrack on? The feedback page is 100% negative response.
http://i.imgur.com/NkZUeFd.gif
kind9 posted...
So is this something they're not going to listen to their users and backtrack on? The feedback page is 100% negative response.
They never fucking listen to negative feedback. For the past several years the Firefox update cycle has had them removing features, the power users get mad and go "hey, that was a really handy feature, why did you get rid of it?" And Mozilla will just cite their metrics that show 90% of users didn't use the feature. Of course they just ignore the massive selection bias, because every hardcore Firefox user immediately turns off data collection the minute they make a new install. Sometimes the features will still be available by jumping through a ton of hoops, but inevitably they just go "well it was too much work to keep it updated and people don't use it any more" and scrap them.
Want some rye? 'Course ya do!
Tag
Warning: This post may contain triggering or distressing content.
Powdered_Toast posted...
They never fucking listen to negative feedback. For the past several years the Firefox update cycle has had them removing features, the power users get mad and go "hey, that was a really handy feature, why did you get rid of it?" And Mozilla will just cite their metrics that show 90% of users didn't use the feature. Of course they just ignore the massive selection bias, because every hardcore Firefox user immediately turns off data collection the minute they make a new install. Sometimes the features will still be available by jumping through a ton of hoops, but inevitably they just go "well it was too much work to keep it updated and people don't use it any more" and scrap them.
The only thing keeping Firefox alive anymore is sheer spite towards Google
https://i.imgur.com/TGkNCva.gif https://i.imgur.com/8mWCvA4.gif
Current Events » Mozilla Firefox updates TOS and Privacy Policy; raises privacy concerns