Information about the New Terms of Use and Updated Privacy Notice for Firefox

[AshleyT]

For the first time, we’re introducing a Terms of Use for Firefox, alongside an updated Privacy Notice.

Earlier today, we published a blog post explaining why we’re making this change and what it means for you.

Now, we want to hear from you.

We’re committed to engaging with our community and keeping you informed about how we build Firefox—and why we make the decisions we do. Firefox wouldn’t be where it is today without the support of our users, and we want to continue working together to build a better internet for all.

To kick off the discussion, here are a few key points from the blog post:

• Transparency matters. We’re introducing a Terms of Use to provide clarity on what users agree to before starting to browse.
• Privacy remains a priority. Our updated Privacy Notice gives a more detailed, easy-to-read explanation of our data practices.
• You stay in control. Firefox is designed to respect user choice, with responsible defaults and simple tools to manage your data.

We’d love to hear your thoughts! Check out the full blog post and share your feedback here. If you have any questions, let us know—we’ll be actively monitoring the discussion and will reply where we can.

Update

Thank you all for taking the time to share your questions and reactions. We’ve been listening and made some updates to address areas of concern. I’ve started a new discussion topic covering what’s changed in the Terms of Use based on your feedback, and clearing up a few points of confusion.

[mention]

How about a new organisation that initially forks Firefox and deMozilla it (or use existing stripped versions) with super strong security architecture around it, privacy and adguard built in and then considers migration to https://ladybird.org/ when it matures

[mention]

I would recommend anyone technical to have a look at https://ladybird.org/ and consider contributing.

[pg_78]

I'd suggest the Firefox team looks at Thunderbird's Privacy Notice, which IMO is well written and clear.

Particularly, the Thunderbird Privacy Notice doesn't claim that Mozilla needs a license in order to send out emails! And Firefox no more needs a license to submit searches to a third-party search engine than Thunderbird does to send emails using a third-party SMTP server.

[wefwan]

@AshleyTThis is basically Bambu Lab 2.0

Bambu Lab (3d printer company) changed their privacy policy opening the door to blatant privacy violations and anti consumer practices and justified it by claiming it would 'improve security' and the overall user experience.

When they got backlash they resorted to PR gaslighting by making blog posts suggesting that there has been "some confusion" over the new policy, nitpicking user comments that they could easily spin as a simple misunderstanding of the policy. They also highlighted comments that mentioned some particularly horrible things they COULD do per the new terms and acting almost offended that anyone would even believe that they would betray their beloved user base in such a way. That these commenters are particularly crazy with radical ideas of how to interpret the policy, yet they never provided any guarantees that they wouldn't do such things in the future.

A couple of months have passed and the public outcry against Bambu Lab has basically died down, proving that this PR strategy works.

Unfortunately, I don't think this type of thing will work with Mozilla's user base which is mostly made of people who are very conscious of their rights and protective of their privacy. I assume you think you'll be able to target a new user base with whatever fancy AI powered browser project you're cooking up with AI VC investor money, bolstered by the Firefox name recognition, you'll finally be able to dethrone Google Chrome. Good luck with that

[sylph]

1. Why i choose to use Firefox? Coz I want a stable, private browsing experience. And I've given up many convenience of chromium-based browsers.

2. Just like Google ditching their "Don't be evil" motto, I felt the same way over the new term of use.

3. Considering moving to librewolf if this new term of use is gonna take effect. Period!

[mav]

This was just such a monumentally stupid move. 

While yes, having some kind of EULA for services is a necessary evil, the way this was executed - not clearly delineating what is a service and what is just the browser behaving as expected, primarily - was **catastrophically** done.

Moz has been slowly ceding all the goodwill it had for the last couple of *decades* in a long and well-documented set of impossibly bad decisions, and at this point I really wonder if it wouldn't make the most sense to scrap the organization in its entirety and start over with a core set of contributors. The job really should be to, you know, make a browser. With the focus on speed, portability, and a model that emphasizes that while yes, it is wise to set reasonable defaults for everyone, user choice is paramount.

It seems unlikely that the goodwill lost in this change will ever be regained.

[thephoenixbird]

As a long-time contributor and former Rep and Rep Council Member, I’ve been involved in the Mozilla community for many years. I'm severely concerned and aggravated about Mozilla's attempts to redefine the promise that "Firefox will never sell your personal data." Labeling this issue as merely "little confusion about the language" suggests a misunderstanding of the gravity of the situation.

It's clear to me that when you explicitly remove the statement "we don't sell access to your data" it indicates an intention to do just that, likely for legal reasons.

If a new feature requires violating the Mozilla Manifesto and breaking the promises made to your loyal users over the years, it threatens the very foundation of Firefox. This could be the final blow for a browser we have all worked hard to support over decades.

If this feature comes at such a cost, then it is unnecessary.

The world does not need another profit-driven corporate browser.

https://github.com/mozilla/bedrock/commit/d459addab846d8144b61939b7f4310eb80c5470e#diff-5c93e7e7cbfa...

https://github.com/mozilla/bedrock/commit/d459addab846d8144b61939b7f4310eb80c5470e#diff-a24e74e4595f...

[0x415246]

Regardless of references to the Privacy policy and acknowledgement of "a little confusion," you NEED to address the wording: "When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information ..."    This wording implies that you ARE collection any and ALL information that is entered in the browser.   So if I fill out my tax form or a bank form you are collecting that data.   If this is NOT true then please FIX that statement in addition to FULLY clarifying EXACTLY what information you are collecting and using.

[pg_78]

---

So if I fill out my tax form or a bank form you are collecting that data.

---

Or, imagine a doctor or lawyer who uploads confidential documents to a secure portal.

They cannot now legally use Firefox to do so, because doing so would license Mozilla to use that information, violating their obligation of confidentiality to their patients / clients!

[GreenFox]

Does any of this apply to Thunderbird email? They say that they "adhere to the Mozilla Privacy Policy for how we receive, handle, and share information."

[previouslyafan]

I am really sad to see this happening;

Until this is properly resolved I will be moving to another browser.

A proper resolution involves:
- No data at is or will be sold by Mozilla at any point of time;
- No data of the users local usage is *ever* uploaded to Mozilla, except the following:
- In Clear-Text Form: Error logs with *direct* prior permission of the user (opt-in, possible at error-time)
- Fully end-to-end encrypted (with no back doors):  Synchronization data as part of an explicitly enabled synchronization feature (with an explicit statement on what exactly is synchronized and how it is encrypted).

This may be achieved in many ways but if monetary concerns are an issue, the focus should be put squarely on firefox and any side projects cut down.

I think many other users think the same.

[pg_78]

The terms say "These Terms only apply to the Executable Code version of Firefox, not the Firefox source code."

So what happens if I download the source code, and recompile it without modification?

I'm not using Mozilla's Executable Code, so I'm not bound by the Terms of Use and haven't granted you a license.

So either:

1) A locally-running Firefox browser (not signed into any opt-in Mozilla services) does things which you believe require a license. In which case, it's doing so illegally when I'm running my recompiled-without-modification application, because I haven't done anything that grants you a license.

2) A locally-running Firefox browser (not signed into any opt-in Mozilla services) doesn't do anything that requires a license. In which case - please take that out of the Terms Of Use!

[rdavidatwell]

Well-articulated.

[Kind9]

Grow up.

[Kind9]

Well I've used this browser for about as long as it has existed. And now I'm out. This is a no-brainer decision. Clearly NONE of your users want these changes, but you are nevertheless determined to push ahead with them. All respect I ever had for Mozilla, gone just like that.

[pg_78]

Trying to be constructive: I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that this paragraph:

You give Mozilla all rights necessary to operate Firefox, including processing data as we describe in the Firefox Privacy Notice, as well as acting on your behalf to help you navigate the internet. When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you indicate with your use of Firefox.

should be replaced simply with:

You give Mozilla the right to process data as we describe in the Firefox Privacy Notice.

Personally, I'm happy to sign up to the Privacy Notice itself, which is clear and specific about what data is collected under what circumstances. The problem is that accepting the Terms Of Use in their current form means not only signing up to the Privacy Notice, but signing an additional blank check on top of that.

[sunth1ef]

Long time user. I love Firefox. Switched back to @mozilla.org Firefox from Chrome on all my devices and felt good about it. This is a total abuse of trust and needs to be reversed: there will be a mass exodus. I was close to making a donation or purchasing a Mozilla product to support and now certainly will not. Change it!

[yumcimil]

Dear Mozilla management, even assuming your intentions are good, this is *precisely* the ToS change that I would make if I were going to sell all the user data and gaslight people about it. Fire the MBA who had this idea, and do it publicly.

[bendodge]

Why on earth is the only real competitor to Chromium lighting itself on fire? Are you all taking crazy pills?

[MegaT]

Honestly this is super disappointing and speaks to just how disconnected the leadership is from the core user base.

This change serves only to alienate the core user base at a moment when the deprecation of manifest V2 in Chrome put Firefox in the best possible position to gain market share. If this change is required because of some funding shortfall please be open and honest about the shortfall provide numbers and calls to action.

- Does Firefox sell your data? Never have never will.
+ Does Firefox sell your data? We currently do not sell your data and through generous donations we hope to never have to. In the event we find data collection is required we commit to working with the community to insure data collection is opt in and done in a way that respects privacy.

[masterspace]

If Sales of Data is defined as overly broad in "some jurisdictions" then you need to explain what jurisdictions those are, what the wording of the laws are that you think are overbroad, and what Firefox functionality would be impacted by them.

Literally anything less than that is not an explanation. Full stop. 

[edge-effects]

This is absolutely not it, Mozilla. Back off our data.

[godzsa]

I have been using Firefox before it was called Firefox... I liked this browser and I could not accept other browsers policies: the way they handle my data and sell it for marketing or other purposes and so on. I'd be happy to PAY to keep using the browser as is, but the new Terms of Use are unacceptable.

Firefox has been losing market share for a decade now, it has so many hiccups, behind on implementing features and web standards that major browsers have. I think the only people who still stick with it are here because of the privacy they get and the TRUST. With this update I think Firefox will be a dead project in a year, trust lost. You can sugarcoat and "explain" each change, but the people who still stick to Firefox are exactly sticking to it because other browsers have this approach Firefoxt is adapting now.

If anyone at Firefox reading this, please consider this: Either you say this was a mistake and go back and find another way to make money or you can say goodby to your user base.

[EtherealVeil]

The company I work for requires the use of a browser, and there are almost as much FF users as the heavily neutered Chromium we use. But we also deal with sensitive information that is not for us to disclose or share to third parties unless strictly necessary. As the "clarifying" details given are quite condescending and this mirrors the worst offenders that collect information to sell and use for training AI, I will inform my peers to consider it hostile and to no longer use FF. It will promptly be uninstalled and blocked on every instance. You have no idea what legality hell you've brought upon the usage in the corporate sphere by introducing this into a browser of all things.

[HomerSparkle]

I've been using Firefox for 20 years.

Today is my last day.

You have just betrayed your entire userbase, which is about to drop from 3% market share to zero.

Goodbye Mozilla.

[bethekind]

Wow, way to throw your users under the bus. Everyone would recommened FF over Chrome or Edge cause FF respected data and the users.

Where's the "why would they do this meme", with FF ruining their reputation

[rdavidatwell]

Well, there you go, Mozilla; two work days down, and you have 200+ comments on mozconnect, dozens on GitHub, hundreds on Reddit; dozens each on Lemmy, Mastodon, and Bluesky; blog posts, videos, and news stories all asking "what are they doing?"; and competitors pouncing at the opportunity you've created. This nonsense has completely torpedoed your good name in a way that may be completely unrecoverable, made a lot of people uninstall, and turned even the ones who stay against recommending Firefox to others. The remarkable thing is, you've angered the only people who care enough about your product to keep you going, the ones who care enough about Firefox to beg you to change course. The ones who don't just deleted the browser and didn't look back.

The clock is ticking, and the amount of work you're going to have to do to get out of this mess is only getting higher the longer you stay silent. Yesterday, you might've been able to save face with a mea culpa and a complete reversion of all repos; at this point, you're probably going to have to fire an executive. If you let it go over the weekend, I don't think anything could save your (formerly) good name, and the best case scenario for the browser will be to spin Firefox off to its own unaffiliated nonprofit.

The internet doesn't forget; if you think this will all blow over, you're horribly mistaken.

Please. Do a complete 180 now, while you still can.

[smb8]

Agreed. If you think you might change course, DO IT NOW. Timing matters and the window to fix this is closing fast.

[Vxnsup]

One of the main reasons people use Firefox is for its privacy, and now you pull this **bleep**? vague statements that meant nothing, a complete rug pull, and for what? Sell our data? AI training? Is the money really worth it? It doesn't take a genius to realize most of the user base will leave, so good luck with that, you leeches.

[flake_]

Is this a secret mission to annihilate your remaining market share? Smart, it's gonna be effective!

[jmicz3d]

To me this is an unacceptable breach of the trust I've given Firefox for the past few decades. I will be uninstalling today.

[disgruntledusr4]

I have been a lifelong user of Firefox. That ends this weekend. Remarkable that the higher-ups could think this is the right move with an already non-existent market-share.

[RipFirefox2]

Yes, this is just betrayal. The reason I used Firefox was because it put me as a user and my privacy at the fore front of the app (or application as it used to be called in the old school days ). Reading through all these replies  reminisences me of how long ago it alreday was that Firefox 1.0  came by... Sad!!!

[Esna]

You became the very thing you were born to fight against.

It was a nice journey, but I guess you either die young or grow to be a villain applies to browsers as well.

[usuallypresent]

Absolutely not. This is a giant mistake, and we know it and we're telling you so now you know it. DO NOT DO THIS. Unless you're just tired of making Firefox, in which case completely open-source it and let people who actually care about it take it over from you. I will never agree to this, and I will remove it from each of my family's systems.

[kevinevans]

Since you're stating that "transparency matters," I would like to ask: WHO is leading these changes at Mozilla? Who specifically called for Mozilla to renege their promises of not selling user data? The current CEO?

It truly is a shame to see what Mozilla has become after all these years. But it's clear that the folks at Mozilla today are only seeming to care about making money by exploiting their users, unfortunately.

I wonder what promises Mozilla will renege next. Perhaps they'll go back on the promises they're making in the comments today.

[Nicram]

Privacy was the main reason for me using Firefox browser. And i think, most of the userbase of Firefox, are aware users, that choose it because that reason. And now You destroing it. Good bye Firefox. At least there are some alternatives like Floorp or LibreWolf.

[Taureon]

The geriatric, forever declining "underdog" of the internet is dead.

Long live the forks, and long live privacy-centered chromium forks.

They are our only hope now.

At least google chrome is now a full-on monopoly, can only hope they are forced to give up ownership of the project.

[ByronGriggs]

I want to believe you, but you're making it difficult. You really need to explicitly state what has changed or will change about your software or business practices that warranted this infamous commit. https://github.com/mozilla/bedrock/commit/d459addab846d8144b61939b7f4310eb80c5470e

I understand that your reasons may be complicated, and they may be numerous. Perhaps you haven't had time to prepare a technical explanation that you're willing to commit to.

But please understand that if the devil is in the details, you need to give a technical explanation. Surely you must understand that with the information you have given us, we cannot be assured of your good intentions. 

For example, (and this isn't the ONLY thing you should address) how specifically are licenses used? Have you changed or will you change how you use them? Do other browsers use them in the same way? Why is it not possible to operate Firefox without them? We need the details.

[krausmariaraus]

are you guys insane? if you don’t remove the AI clause within a week, I’m uninstalling forever