this post was submitted on 25 Sep 2024
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Mozilla hit with privacy complaint over Firefox user tracking (www.reuters.com)
submitted 2 months ago by geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml to c/technology@lemmy.ml
108 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

STOCKHOLM, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Vienna-based advocacy group NOYB on Wednesday said it has filed a complaint with the Austrian data protection authority against Mozilla accusing the Firefox browser maker of tracking user behaviour on websites without consent.

NOYB (None Of Your Business), the digital rights group founded by privacy activist Max Schrems, said Mozilla has enabled a so-called “privacy preserving attribution” feature that turned the browser into a tracking tool for websites without directly telling its users.

Mozilla had defended the feature, saying it wanted to help websites understand how their ads perform without collecting data about individual people. By offering what it called a non-invasive alternative to cross-site tracking, it hoped to significantly reduce collecting individual information.

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[–] zecg@lemmy.world -3 points 2 months ago (2 children)

talking to Mozilla directly and advocating for them to do the right thing going for a legal complaint as the final nuclear option

Fuck that, they know what they're doing and they know what the right thing is. Mozilla is the enemy for some time now, Firefox's development is basically held hostage by a shitty corporation and a toothless foundation.

[–] dr-robot@fedia.io 16 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Right, but what other browser are you going to use?

[–] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Big "what are you going to do, vote republican?" energy here.

[–] lemmyvore@feddit.nl 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

So what, are we giving Mozilla a free pass to do anything now? Is the new bar "not quite as shitty as Google"?

[–] dr-robot@fedia.io 0 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Absolutely not and is not what I said. Just that due to lack of alternatives it's not really beneficial for privacy enthousiasts to make the only browser with privacy features dislike the community it's working for. If NOYB has the resources for a legal complaint, it has the resources to lead this dialogue.

[–] lemmyvore@feddit.nl 4 points 2 months ago

Why do you assume they haven't warned Mozilla in advance?

Also, Mozilla was fully aware that what they were doing is in breach of GDPR. I find it extremely hard to believe that the makers of Firefox are not fully familiarized with it by now.

Last but not least Mozilla is doing this for financial gain. It's selling pur data to advertisers. Why should we excuse it? It's a very hostile act.

If Mozilla has hit rock bottom and has been reduced to selling our data to survive then that's that. We'll find another way and another FOSS browser. Accepting it is not an option.