Firefox just updated their TOS to let us know they will sell all our browsing history with advertisers. If this isn't the final nail in the coffin I don't know what else is.

Thanks to @javi (https://goblin.band/notes/ak78rax5htqlh5qo) for posting about this situation.

@javi

<p>Firefox updated their <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/#notice">Terms of Use</a>? Let's see!</p><blockquote><p>As you type a search query within Firefox, Firefox offers <a target="_blank" href="https://support.mozilla.org/kb/search-suggestions-firefox">search suggestions</a> to provide you with faster and more direct access to what you’re looking for. Some of the search suggestions come from your search provider (“Search Suggestions”). Others come from Firefox, and are based on information stored on your local device (including recent search terms, open tabs, and previously visited URLs), or content from Mozilla and Mozilla’s partners, including paid sponsors and internet resources like Wikipedia (“Suggestions from Firefox”).</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Here chat. Here. This is where Firefox dies. </p><p>"information stored in your local device" and "content from mozilla's parners" and "paid sponsors".</p><p>This is a very convoluted way of saying "we use your personal data to segment you into something we can sell to advertisers".</p><p>This is EXACTLY what chrome does, this is exactly why a lot of us stopped using Chrome and moved back to Firefox. </p><blockquote><p>In some circumstances Mozilla’s partners will receive de-identified search and interaction data, in order to serve relevant suggestions and measure user engagement with suggested content.</p></blockquote><p>This is making me really mad. THIS IS JUST CORPO-SPEAK TO DESCRIBE HOW THE ENTIRE INTERNET ADVERTISEMENT INDUSTRY WORKS. This is HOW FACEBOOK WORK. This is how GOOGLE WORK. This is how the entire programmatic advertisement industry work. This is what we call "sell your personal data". No, no one sells your address, no one sells your name. BECAUSE IT'S ILLEGAL IN A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE WORLD. </p><p></p><blockquote><p>We also work with advertising providers to deliver relevant sponsored content using programmatic technologies. To support this, we may share limited, non-identifying information — such as device type, IP-derived location information, and category of content viewed — to help determine which ads to display. We don’t share any information that identifies you. You can turn off sponsored content in your New Tab settings at any time.</p></blockquote><p>Oh it's so nice of you Mozilla, to do THE MINIMUM LEGAL REQUIREMENTS when selling our data. You don't share information that identify me? so nice of you! you know how else does that? Meta! Google! Tiktok! Somehow big tech mega corporations are willing to comply with the minimum legal requirements as you do, mozilla!</p><blockquote><p>In some cases, we may share or publish aggregated and anonymized data to facilitate research or as part of the lawful business purposes outlined above (such as sharing aggregated insights with advertising partners).</p></blockquote><p>This is called "advertisement segmentation" and it's what it paid for Zuckenberg fortress in Hawaii!! Going places, Moz, you are operating exactly as how Facebook used to do in 2016!</p><blockquote><p>To provide our services as described above, we may disclose personal data to: Partners, service providers, suppliers and contractors</p></blockquote><p>"We never disclose your personal data!!! well, unless it's one of our partners who pays us for it, of course!"</p><p>oh wait! they include a table of what kind of data they share with partners!</p><blockquote><ul><li><p>Technical data</p></li><li><p>Location</p></li><li><p>Language preference</p></li><li><p>Settings data</p></li><li><p>Unique identifiers</p></li><li><p>System performance data</p></li><li><p>Interaction data</p></li><li><p>Search data</p></li><li><p>Browsing data</p></li></ul></blockquote><p>The SHARE FUCKING EVERYTHING. THEY ARE SELLING EVERYTHING. "Unique identifiers" is the closest to personal identifiable data they can sell. That's what advertisers can use to make a profile of you: They may not know your name, but they will know everything else about you.</p><p>This is the same information that google collects and sells from you. THE SAME.</p><p>Fucking ghouls. This is where Firefox died, folks. </p><p></p>

goblin.band
@liaizon @javi no that's not what it says. This is simply explaining the way the omnibar has always worked. You type something and the search provider gives autofill suggestions(unless you turned it off in settings. Locally there'll also be suggestion under that which are just queries of your local firefox history bookmarks etc this is not related to the internet nor sent anywhere in any way. And then if you live in certain regions firefox will also autofill some ads.
@liaizon @javi Only the ads and the search engine are internet/server related. And they also only get whatever word or words you typed into the omnibar no other data
This is literally in the document:

"in some cases, when ads are enabled on New Tab, additional browsing and interaction data (including interactions with our advertisers) may also be processed locally on your device to measure the effectiveness of those ads; the shortcuts feature also uses browsing data locally on your device to select top shortcuts, some of which may be sponsored. Any 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.

"



That's almost exactly the same of how, for example, Facebook ads work.
@javi they measure the click through rate of ads. They don't have many ads so they all just send them to all browsers with some if then rules for showing them. Like for example, show amazon ad on new tab if amazon is in browsers local search history, all of which would be done on the browser side. They only get a signal if you click on the amazon ad on the new tab page. At most if they don't anonymize it enough then them would keep your ip but they probably don't.
@javi And the advertisers don't get any data, except perhaps the total aggregated click trough rate of the new tab amazon ad for example
Firefox themselves are the ad providers here
@javi AFAIK, mozilla does not process or collect your local browser data anywhere. The only thing mozilla collects depending on your settings is browser feature related analytics, crash reports and the ad click through rates if you leave the ads enabled. Firefox sync does exist but that's e2ee so mozilla doesn't have any access to that data.
@javi
I agree, in addition to disabling remote search providers, one should also deactivate all featured content on the New Tab page, plus switching it in settings not to be used as new tab page, but a blank one instead.
@DenJohn
@liaizon
@yala @javi @DenJohn I don't think anyone should have to do any of that in order to use a browser and I'm certainly not gonna recommend anyone install Firefox and then tell them to go through all of those hoops just to use it first.