Consumer Rights Wiki - User contributions [en]

User:Jerry468

2025-10-31T16:59:35Z

Jerry468: Account Deletion, somebody replace me.

Hi, if you are reading this as a admin or a mod, delete this account as per the request of the EU GDPR right to be forgotten. The problem being is that people in the discord once I have tried to ask a simple question and then moments later somebody was acting weird and this is completely unacceptable. I take back what I said in there, and I don't think I should be here until somebody replaces me. I am sick and tired of people being unrealistic and its just too burdensome to even think this is acceptable. No wonder why I no longer trust the people behind it since Americans can be pretty weird sometimes and due to this strange and fringe behavior and their lack of intellect and awareness, go ahead and fuck yourself with that stupid "???" and saying that I should stop doing it again in the future simply because of my own practice of OpSec... No wonder why pedos are everywhere on discord and I have decided to step away and await for someone to replace me in this entire world of nonsense. Sure, you have problems in the America I am aware of, but look at you, the problem is their and probably your personality that is inane and probably the main source of our own problems. Who is us? Who is our? The people that are lazy and can't do the effort. Sorry not sorry, but if this isn't going to be a resource for both Americans and Europeans then no, I am not trusting this page after my intensive effort into helping people. Apparently new terms have come up that is foreign and new to me. Have a nice day.

User talk:Jerry468

2025-10-28T12:55:58Z

Jerry468: /* Reply function issue */ Reply

==Reply function issue==

Hello Jerry!

Double check your [https://i.imgur.com/zpyghJe.png options] in your preferences, the Reply feature is default set to on for any user so it should work

/Frank [[User:Francis|Francis]] ([[User talk:Francis|talk]]) 12:37, 28 October 2025 (UTC)

:and it works, but I can still see the problem with this, the quick edit does not appear. [[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] ([[User talk:Jerry468|talk]]) 12:55, 28 October 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Main Page

2025-10-28T11:37:11Z

Jerry468: /* Hey what happened to my account? */ new section

<div class="plainlinks" style="text-align: center; margin: {{#ifeq:{{{navbox|<noinclude>yes</noinclude>}}}|yes|2px}} 0 0.5em; padding: 0.5em; {{{style|border: 1px solid #A0A5AD;}}} {{{backgroundstyle|background-color: var(--background-color-progressive-subtle, #eaf3ff); color: inherit;}}}">'''Welcome!''' To reach the moderator team, please add a new topic at the [[Consumer Rights Wiki talk:Moderators' noticeboard|Moderators' noticeboard]]. To report a bug, please add a new topic at the [[Consumer Rights Wiki talk:Bugs|Bugs noticeboard]].</div>
{{Archives}}

==Please add cautions to discord link==

Given the topic of this wiki, it surprises me that getting help seems to be gated behind [[discord]].

I think it would make sense to have the link on the home page (which currently goes to discord) go to a page that explains the discord situation, points out the downsides of discord (including a link to the wiki’s coverage of discord), and then lists the discord link, as well as a link to wherever on the wiki one can get help if decide not to discord.

For discord you have to read 29 pages of TOS, 19 pages of privacy policy; agree to their data harvesting, give up 7th amendment rights (forced arbitration), no class action, etc. Then create an account, including surrendering your birth date. Then figure out how to use yet another interface. Evidently in some places you also have to send them a picture of you with some id (yours if you trust them, fake if you don't).

Pretty ironic for this wiki advocating consumers rights to gate things behind some company with a less than stellar consumer rights stance. I figure that wondering about discord is a frequently asked question, and there is probably a standard response/explanation, but I can not find anything about this on the wiki. Where is the coverage of this?

If such an explanation does not exist, please help create one. Some of the things I think it well to address:
*Why discord?
*Is anything being done to move to a more consumer friendly platform? (e.g., What other platforms are being considered? What platforms rejected? What are desiderata? What is anticipated time frame?)
*Is there a project to mirror the public parts of the discord to the wiki, or to a web page? (I haven’t found a tool to do this. If I were doing it, I would try starting with something like DiscordChatExporter. [not an endorsement, I haven’t tried it]) A discord client for wiki (i.e., lets wiki users post on the discord) would be even better. (However, with the direction discord company is going, this is probably not worth the effort.)

Any other questions such an explanation should answer?

I wrote this a few days ago, but hadn't posted it. Just saw Mr. Rossmann's video about discord's new terms of service. Seems to me even more urgent to modify how this wiki pushes people to discord. Thanks.
[[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 00:17, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

:Current TOS score average reading level of 14th grade (Junior in college), estimated reading time 42 minutes just for the TOS. A 2021 version of Discord TOS featured in "EULAs of despair". Linked TOS 5.62 Tolstoys, over 275 hours.[[https://www.pilotlab.org/eulas-of-despair]] [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 16:43, 9 October 2025 (UTC)
::The discord link is in several other places (e.g. the left hand panel, the edit notice when moving a page). May be well to change those pages also to land on a caution page before just taking to Discord. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 05:25, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
::I noticed that some other editors also are reluctant to use discord. See [[Talk:Main_Page/Archive_2#Please_whitelist_creativecommons.org]] Thanks. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 06:49, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
:::+1 to this, never signed up for an account, only to download things when people are too lazy to not force discord to get it. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 07:15, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
:@[[User:Keith|Keith]] Hoping you can respond to this when you get the chance, since you mentioned this issue before. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 12:39, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
::Yep. I think @[[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]]'s idea of a warning page makes sense. It would save a lot of questions, I'll add it onto my to-do, though if anyone here wants to take a crack at it (assuming I haven't by the time you read this) then that would be helpful too. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 19:44, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
:::I've created a basic draft on [[User:Raster/Sandbox|my sandbox]] that staff could use to start with. It is not great, but I consider this to be an urgent matter that I wanted to bump this topic in some way. Thank you [[User:Raster|Raster]] ([[User talk:Raster|talk]]) 17:37, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
::::The layout of this reminds me of the abuse filter messages used, it has a very similar style. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 17:41, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
:While I do agree on this that it is gated behind discord, I do wanna make a request to the staff that we need a matrix or a SimpleX chat group chat for this one to exist (Yes, simpleX has a lot of room to spare for a lot of users). There is a reason why discord is made a software page here somewhere in this wiki. [[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] ([[User talk:Jerry468|talk]]) 14:30, 21 October 2025 (UTC)
::@[[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] I love that idea (as someone who doesn't use discord)! I noticed IRC is often used on Wikipedia, although I haven't really done any research on it so it could be irrelevant. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 15:04, 21 October 2025 (UTC)
:To be fair, help isn't gated behind discord. The process is just as slow there as it is here many times. It depends on the availability of admins, which is really just Keith by himself.
:That said, moving moderation discussions away from discord has been mentioned and is a lengthy process that is hoped to be achieved soon. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 17:09, 21 October 2025 (UTC)
::Ah, it's worse there than I thought! It's generally easier for me and other non-Discord users to be able to see moderation discussions, maybe put a page in the Project namespace talking about the discussions as a first step? Would be helpful! [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 17:39, 21 October 2025 (UTC)
:::Thank you for the perspective Beanie Bo. It was more the appearance of having discord link at the top of the page (and I keep finding it other places). Gave that FOMO feeling. I didn't mean criticism of the help here (or on discord), just the frustration of not knowing where to ask. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 06:32, 22 October 2025 (UTC)
::::You're right, and it's a very valid point. The noticeboard might need an overhaul anyway, so thanks for bringing it to our attention [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 16:48, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

==Where to ask questions on the wiki?==

Where should users ask questions if they don't do discord? e.g., Questions about how to use wiki? Questions about policy? And most important, questions they can't figure out where to ask?

I have looked around, even read through the staff directory, but can't figure out who/where to ask.

A quick link/directory of where to ask would be really helpful on the homepage. Thank you. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 00:23, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

:Not a mod (''you’ve probably seen me say that by now'') but I’d go to [[CRW Team]] which shows members, click on one of the blue wiki links and ask for advice on a mods talk page. They usually get back within a day or so. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 20:01, 10 October 2025 (UTC)
::Basically this^
::It might be best to ping specific moderators since not many of them are frequently on or are aware of all the Talk pages. And still, the noticeboard is the best bet for all questions, especially if you don't have one specific mod in mind. You can also ping someone there too. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 20:55, 10 October 2025 (UTC)
:I think here is probably the main place, but you're right that this should be more cleanly documented [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 19:47, 19 October 2025 (UTC)

==Add a main page list of major notorious companies==

Please add to the main page a list/section of major companies known to have violated consumer rights, with direct links to each company’s article (e.g., Alphabet (Google), Microsoft). This would make it easier for average users to find out about it. [[User:EBones|EBones]] ([[User talk:EBones|talk]]) 09:19, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

:Hello, and welcome! I agree that additional navigation pages could help make this wiki more accessible. However, I wonder how one could define such a list in a way that would keep it manageable. It could easily become an ever-expanding thing, or, if limited to a set number of entries, how would you focus it so that there wasn't constant back-and-forth about who should be on it? (Just my thought on how to improve the suggestion, if you want to pursue it.)
:I have no idea whether such a thing would fly with the moderators here. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 05:37, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
::My instinct is that this would end up as a very long list with a lot of unproductive arguments over who should and shouldn't be on it [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 19:45, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
::Since the focus of the list/section is the average user, we could limit it to 10 products or companies from popular markets that have high market share. For example, operating systems are a very popular market compared to e.g. 360 cameras, with a clear leader, "Microsoft Windows," that has many consumer-unfriendly practices, such as requiring online accounts, etc. And we could also use that to link to more consumer-friendly competitors' wiki pages.
::As it’s often pretty clear which markets are popular and who’s leading and also who the biggest competitors are, there shouldn’t be much debate, and if there still is some debate, we could just use a poll on Discord instead of arguing back and forth.
::A short example:
::'''Biggest Offenders and Alternatives'''
::Alphabet: Google Search (Alternative: DuckDuckGo), Chrome (Alternative: Firefox, Ungoogled Chromium)
::Microsoft : Windows 11 (Alternative: MacOs, Linux Distro) [[User:EBones|EBones]] ([[User talk:EBones|talk]]) 13:01, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
:::Those are mega-corporations that everyone knows commits consumer abuse on a daily basis. There is no real benefit to including them on the main page. Also, there is a search bar for that very reason. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 13:05, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
::::It is meant to help '''''average''''' users learn more about the practices of the companies behind the products they use and to consider alternatives.
::::Many people outside our circle know little about common consumer violations and never heard of alternatives such as DuckDuckGo. It should be on the main page, since again it is meant for the average user and could serve as a beginners guide.
::::I think it is a very common issue among consumer rights advocates that they don't properly consider how the average person acts and thinks. [[User:EBones|EBones]] ([[User talk:EBones|talk]]) 13:34, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
:::::Does something like this exist someplace else (as a resource we might link to)?
:::::Especially since the examples you picked are all out of software, it seems like something somebody might have done already? If not, is there some theme article that such content could naturally fit into? (e.g., is it about owning your computer?)
:::::A few things to think about if you want to pursue it:
:::::Is the purpose to highlight/direct people to content here, or something else?
:::::(e.g., I couldn't find an article here about Google search. If not about navigating here, the front page may not be best place for it.)
:::::May want to refine/clarify the selection criteria for categories. (e.g., I think cellphones may be more popular than desktops in consumer space, so why a desktop OS? How is MacOS an alt. to Win 11 if it doesn't run on same hardware? I think MacOS had a bunch of consumer issues similar to Win 11, so not sure it clearly better.) Also there was some policy about mentioning alternative products someplace in [[Consumer Rights Wiki:Wiki policy index]].
:::::If I think of major consumer areas, I think: shelter, food, communications and utilities, transportation/automobiles, work, medicine/health, entertainment, financial.
:::::Could there maybe be another way to approach the same sort of beginner guidance you want? You might look at the list of article types and see if there is some place that it might fit.
:::::There is this guide, [[Customer Privacy Guide]] which somebody was working on. However I would check with the moderators before working on that, since it does not seem to fit the stated policy guidance on guides. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 06:28, 21 October 2025 (UTC)

==Can we just replace PrivacyGuides.org?==

There are several reasons why and since there are going to be some people who are open source purists, and those that believe that privacy is not a spectrum (because its either you have privacy or not). I do want to make suggestion based off of this as there is a darknet wiki that does say it is a laxist community, saying it is possible to have "have privacy on Windows and Mac" which is completely false if you dug deeper. Normally this was said before and I am gonna say it here to do a little bit of a favor for all of us, replace PrivacyGuides.org into something else, if there isn't post-pone it until something new pops up. There are evidence of criticisms that I have noticed and I think it is reasonable to not recommend a laxist community that has no merit at all. I am not here to be rude, I am here to provide technicalities, logic, and reason, because nobody should be spied on by little brothers.

I would expect a peaceful discussion on this matter over here, I just want to bring the attention of how horrible or lenient it is for somebody who wants to recommend such a thing, I have seen it before. [[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] ([[User talk:Jerry468|talk]]) 14:40, 21 October 2025 (UTC)

:I've never heard of privacyguides.org until I saw it be mentioned very often here, but I am definitely inclined to remove it myself due to how often it is negatively talked about here, I'll wait around a day for any other mods to initiate a proper discussion or object, but if nothing comes, there certainly isn't harm in removing it. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 08:04, 24 October 2025 (UTC)
::How come? Do you know the PrivacyTools.io website as well?
::It is negatively talked about more because of how laxist it is, and recommending closed source software (I will answer this with questions, do you know whats its doing? What data is it sending? Are they telling the truth from their ToS and Privacy Policy? If so, explain me this: If you use Windows or Mac, and you use only FOSS Software such as Firefox or LIbreoffice, sending a message using SimpleX. Are you really private when using FOSS software?), such as 1Pass, or Safari. Would you trust PrivacyGuides.org with such an absurd recommending? Would you really follow what it lists as approved?
::That is the harm, you just gonna need to dig deeper instead of staying in one spot (the surface level). But as you said, you gotta wait since your a admin. I understand that. [[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] ([[User talk:Jerry468|talk]]) 18:46, 24 October 2025 (UTC)

== Hey what happened to my account? ==

I am currently using "Edit Source" as a way to communicate, but I am not sure what happened. What happened to "Edit" what happened to me not able to reply? What did I do?

Proton

2025-10-26T10:16:05Z

Jerry468: A consumer friendly alternative recommendations, since we kinda need it for a reason no?

{{Incomplete}}
{{CompanyCargo
|Founded=2014
|Industry=Technology, Telecommunications, Computer hardware
|Logo=Proton-logomark-purple-noborder.png
|Type=Private
|Website=https://proton.me
|Description=Proton is a privacy-focused tech company. Their main services include Proton Mail, Proton VPN and Proton Pass.
}}

'''{{Wplink|Proton AG|Proton}}''', officially known as '''Proton AG''', is a Swiss company known for its commitment to privacy and security in the digital realm. Founded in 2014 by scientists from CERN and MIT, Proton is best recognized for its flagship product, [[Protonmail|ProtonMail]], which offers end-to-end encrypted email services. The company operates under the principles of transparency and user privacy, ensuring that user data is protected from unauthorized access. Proton AG has expanded its offerings to include various services that cater to individuals and organizations seeking secure communication solutions.

==Consumer-impact summary==
====Business model====
In addition to Proton Mail, Proton provides a range of services designed to enhance online privacy and security. These include:

*Proton VPN: A virtual private network service that encrypts internet traffic and hides users' IP addresses.

*Proton Drive: A secure cloud storage solution that allows users to store and share files with end-to-end encryption.
*Proton Calendar: A privacy-focused calendar application that ensures users' events and schedules remain confidential.
*Proton Pass: A password manager that securely stores and manages passwords and sensitive information.

Through these services, Proton AG aims to empower users with tools that prioritize their privacy and security in an increasingly digital world.

==Incidents==
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{FULLPAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].
===Proton starts moving their infrastructure out of Switzerland===
Proton AG is relocating most of its infrastructure out of Switzerland in response to proposed changes in Swiss surveillance laws that threaten user privacy.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maguire |first=Eamonn |date=23 July 2025 |title=Introducing Lumo, the AI where every conversation is confidential |url=https://proton.me/blog/lumo-ai#:~:text=Building%2520EuroStack%2520for%2520the%2520future |url-status=live |access-date=12 Aug 2025 |website=proton.me}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Naprys |first=Ernestas |date=19 May 2025 |title=Proton threatens to leave Switzerland amid proposed law changes |url=https://cybernews.com/security/proton-considers-relocation-from-switzerland/ |url-status=live |access-date=12 Aug 2025 |website=cybernews.com}}</ref> The amendments would require companies, including VPNs and messaging services, to identify users and retain their data, which contradicts Proton's commitment to providing secure and private services. To maintain its privacy standards, Proton plans to move its infrastructure to countries like Germany and Norway, where it can operate without the risk of mass surveillance.

CEO Andy Yen has emphasized that if these laws are enacted, Proton would be less confidential than competitors like Google, making it unsustainable for their business model. This strategic move reflects Proton's dedication to ensuring that its services remain secure and aligned with its foundational principles of user privacy in an evolving regulatory environment.

===Proton suspends journalists accounts who investigated North Korean cyberattacks===
In June of 2025, writers for the magazine Phrack were investigating cyberattacks from a North Korean group that targeted South Korea's defense infrastructure. The writers disclosed the news of this attack through a dedicated Protonmail account that would only be used for informing South Korea. At the start of August they stopped receiving communication from South Korea, and on August 15th, their dedicated account for disclosure was suspended. The next day a journalist's personal Proton account was suspended as well. When the suspension was appealed, Proton rejected the appeal stating "your account will cause further damage to our service, therefore we will keep the account suspended." After numerous attempts to make contact with Proton, Phrack reached out publicly via X to Proton. Proton responded saying they had received an alert from a computer emergency response team who claimed hackers were misusing the specified Proton accounts. The journalists' accounts were re-instated the day after, but the CERT who made the report was not identified.

==See also==
[[Protonmail|Proton Mail]]

== Proton AG alternatives ==

=== Proton Mail ===
[https://tuta.com/ Tutanota]

[https://mailfence.com/ Mailfence]

=== Proton Calender ===
[https://tuta.com/ Tutanota]

=== Proton Pass ===
[https://keepassxc.org/ KeePassXC]

[https://bitwarden.com/ Bitwarden]

=== Proton Authenticator ===
[https://auth.ente.io/ Ente Auth]

=== Proton VPN ===
[[Mullvad VPN|Mullvad]] [https://mullvad.net/en VPN]

[https://www.ivpn.net/en/ iVPN]

==References==
{{reflist}}{{Cite web |last=Mazurov |first=Nikita |date=2025-09-12 |title=Proton Mail Suspended Journalist Accounts at Request of Cybersecurity Agency |url=https://theintercept.com/2025/09/12/proton-mail-journalist-accounts-suspended/ |url-status=live |website=The Intercept}}
{{Cite web |date=2025-09-19 |title=Phrack Journalists Suspended from Proton Mail |url=https://redact.dev/blog/proton-mail-journalist-suspensions-cert-alert |url-status=live}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

User:Jerry468

2025-10-25T10:52:46Z

Jerry468: My first or second ever authorship of such article.

==Hi, I am Jerry the Winki dink.==
Not exactly appropriate, but who cares? Anyway, I am sort of new to this whole wiki stuff, but I have contributed to some articles before, and especially made my own which was, to be honest, considered scope creep, just like this one right over [[National Security Agency|here]].

I also investigate and research (duh, it is obvious why this wiki was made for, especially how contributors do the same as we do, like you :-) ), to do my best ability to research and provide accurate information as I can, however, there are things that I am unable to find despite me searching for such information, but it does seem to be unheard of by the mainstream public news outlets, [[Firefox|such as this for example]]. I couldn't find any mentions of its removal of such license, so I had to make an update to it.

Anyway that is much it by now.

==Things I have authored so far==

# [[Thunderbird]]

Talk:Main Page

2025-10-24T18:46:06Z

Jerry468: /* Can we just replace PrivacyGuides.org? */ Reply

Talk:Customer Privacy Guide

2025-10-22T19:34:24Z

Jerry468: /* Relevance */ Reply

==Relevance==

@[[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] Before you go even deeper on this article, you should ask an admin if this is even acceptable on the wiki. The guidelines for writing guides is clearly stated in [[Consumer Rights Wiki:Article types|Article Types]]. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 17:15, 20 October 2025 (UTC)

:There are many guides on the wiki, but they aren't listed as one of the article types. In this case though, it is much more different. I'd suggest a different namespace for guides, [[Guide: How to circumvent Synology hard drive restrictions|which has been done before.]] [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 18:35, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
::While I do apologize for such a creation, it is just that I am new around here I haven't gotten myself to go deeper into reading more guidelines are it is long. But I do understand, while it may be somewhat off-putting or out of place, I am unable to find any such "namespace" since I am unfamiliar with such names (Not my first time on the net, its just that I haven't found any connections or in general hear about such namespaces that does exist, I don't have time for all of this already), and that doesn't really excuse me for not asking a admin (Remember I am unfamiliar and I am new here since I started this series, I will probably delete this page later due to its questionable relevance, I have changed my mind already), since I can't bother someone that is busy, so sorry I have made it and the things I didn't follow as a new one. I haven't logged in here for a very long time. [[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] ([[User talk:Jerry468|talk]]) 14:18, 21 October 2025 (UTC)
:::Don't worry about it. It's a great article in general and maybe it can be shared elsewhere so that it can still be useful to other online users.
:::@[[User:Keith|Keith]] Can you give your input before this article is deleted? It's fairly comprehensive, so just wanted to check before it gets deleted. (The deletion notice was added by the original contributor). [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 17:02, 21 October 2025 (UTC)
:::@[[User:Jerry468]] You might consider whether you want to move the article to your user space (either copy it onto your user page, or move to a subpage of your user page [where it would retain talk page too I think]), rather than flat out deleting it. When I skimmed it, it seemed like there were bits that could be useful, if not in their current form, maybe reformulated to fit better into the format of articles here. (I am thinking portions of one or more theme articles.) I am pressed for time now, so I haven't read the article in detail, so I have no specific suggestions at the moment. Stowing something on your user page can be handy for developing something that isn't quite ready for prime time. I will at least snag a copy for consideration when I have more time. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 05:31, 22 October 2025 (UTC)
::::+1 to Drakeula’s point (although it will create a redirect that needs to be deleted), this does actually have a few good points that can easily be recycled if reformatted. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 05:37, 22 October 2025 (UTC)
:::::Well, thank god that it was seemed useful to some of you, but I believe it is something that is worth a while, like you said "recycled if reformatted" I wish, but that would require someone who is competent to do so, but I do not believe it is instructional at best, or is there? If there were instructions there has gone to be some sort of text that hints or at least directly said it out right. And by the way, I have copied and pasted the original of the article, which is now a text file that I will probably be using it later as a form of archive, at least for now, you know, something that can be preserved into something that can be looked back it... Or is it just me being (insert terminology describing the aforementioned behavior that is unfamiliar)? Either way, I have changed my mind as I am not exactly familiar as some others do, some interpret it differently then others, whenever that be seeing it in a way that be angry, or something that is a form of "love letter" demanding that "you should never do this again" or some kind. Either way, it is just me rambling, and all I want to do is to improve and try to meet the demands of the people that want it fixed, e.g recommending PrivacyGuides.org on your home page of the wiki, which is something that has been brought up before but never seemed to be reconsidered, that was the cause, to create a guide as a long form format. A great example of, activism? I believe? Either way, I like it, just that we need a form of reform of some kind, or do we? [[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] ([[User talk:Jerry468|talk]]) 19:34, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Firefox introduces TOS

2025-10-22T13:35:03Z

Jerry468: /* Does anybody have any idea after June 10th? */ new section

==Issues==

This stub seems to use open source to mean something that it does not. While I agree that the wording of the new TOS for firefox leave a lot to be desired this does not mean that the source code for firefox is not open source. [[User:Kostas|Kostas]] ([[User talk:Kostas|talk]]) 23:05, 26 February 2025 (UTC)

:I have rewritten the page to be more accurate to the incident so far. [[User:Kostas|Kostas]] ([[User talk:Kostas|talk]]) 18:00, 27 February 2025 (UTC)

== CCPA do not sell ==

Hey @[[User:Louis|Louis]] regardin the ccpa compliance issues sections I am not sure if the are regarding Firefox of mozilla products as a whole but in [[Mozilla introduces TOS to Firefox#Potential CCPA Compliance Issues|Potential CCPA Compliance Issues]] you mention not having a "Do not sell my data" button. Firefox has this in the Privacy&Security section of their settings. [[:File:Ff-do-sell.png]]

They seem to have added it about a month ago? https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-turn-do-not-track-feature?as=u&utm_source=inproduct

Was this maybe supposed to be in [[Mozilla introduces TOS to Firefox#Potential CCPA Compliance Issues Before the TOU Update|Potential CCPA Compliance Issues Before the TOU Update]]? [[User:Kostas|Kostas]] ([[User talk:Kostas|talk]]) 15:30, 2 March 2025 (UTC)

== Does anybody have any idea after June 10th? ==

So I recently did a investigation on mozilla after a long time, so far, I saw that in their terms of service, there was no mention of such license, it was removed, Either way, it looks kinda sketchy to me, there was no announcements nor recent news coverage talking about it, I couldn't find it everywhere. Any thoughts and opinions on this whole ordeal? I wanna know. [[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] ([[User talk:Jerry468|talk]]) 13:35, 22 October 2025 (UTC)

Firefox introduces TOS

2025-10-22T13:32:50Z

Jerry468: A recent investigation showed that Mozilla changed the firefox ToS and removed the controversial license, so here I am updating the article here.

In February 2025 Mozilla introduced [[Terms of service|terms of service]] (TOS) for the Firefox browser for the first time as well as an updated {{wplink|Privacy policy|privacy policy}}. These terms of service contain a section about the rights and permissions the user gives to Mozilla. This has caused concern among Firefox users due to how this section was initially phrased.

==Background==
On February 26th 2025, Mozilla announced they were introducing terms of service and updating their privacy policy for the Firefox web browser. Until February 2025, Mozilla always relied on Firefox's open source license (the [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/MPL/2.0/ Mozilla Public License version 2.0]) for the browser and their public commitments. They say that by adding these terms, they want to make their commitments "abundantly clear and accessible."<ref name="tos-announce">
{{cite web
|first= Ajit
|last= Varma
|title= Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox
|url= https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/firefox-news/firefox-terms-of-use/
|website= Mozilla blog
|date=26 Feb 2025
|access-date=27 Feb 2025
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227075559/https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/firefox-news/firefox-terms-of-use/
|archive-date=27 Feb 2025
}}</ref>
However, concerns arose regarding whether Firefox itself, rather than just Mozilla's online services (such as Firefox Sync or Mozilla VPN), would be subject to the company's Acceptable Use Policy, which restricts certain types of content. Mozilla's Acceptable Use Policy includes prohibitions on graphic depictions of sexuality, violence, and hate speech, which are standard for services like Firefox Sync but were not previously associated with the Firefox browser itself. While Mozilla later removed references to the Acceptable Use Policy in a revision, this initial concern fueled distrust.<ref name="acceptable-use">
{{cite web
|author=
|title= Acceptable Use Policy
|url=https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/acceptable-use
|website= Mozilla
|access-date=2 Mar 2025
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228075344/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/acceptable-use/
|archive-date=28 Feb 2025
}}</ref>

==Questionable phrasing in the TOS and consumer response==
The new terms contained phrasing that has caused concern by users of Firefox and the reasoning for its inclusion in the privacy focused browser.<ref name="reddit-1">{{cite web
|author=
|title= Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox
|url= https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1iyzmo6/introducing_a_terms_of_use_and_updated_privacy/
|website= Reddit - r/linux
|date=26 Feb 2025
|access-date=27 Feb 2025
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref name="discourse">{{cite web
|author=
|title= Why does Mozilla now require a "nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license" when entering information in Firefox?
|url= https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/why-does-mozilla-now-require-a-nonexclusive-royalty-free-worldwide-license-when-entering-information-in-firefox/140700
|website= Mozilla discourse
|date=26 Feb 2025
|access-date=27 Feb 2025
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227171303/https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/why-does-mozilla-now-require-a-nonexclusive-royalty-free-worldwide-license-when-entering-information-in-firefox/140700
|archive-date=27 Feb 2025
}}</ref><ref name="lemmy">
{{cite web
|author=
|title= Mozilla Introducing 'Terms of Use' to Firefox
|url= https://lemmy.world/post/26091770
|website= Lemmy
|date=26 Feb 2025
|access-date=27 Feb 2025
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227171252/https://lemmy.world/post/26091770
|archive-date=27 Feb 2025
}}</ref><ref name="moz-connect">
{{cite web
|author=AshleyT
|title= Information about the New Terms of Use and Updated Privacy Notice for Firefox
|url= https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/information-about-the-new-terms-of-use-and-updated-privacy/m-p/87949/highlight/true#M33725
|website= Mozilla connect
|date=26 Feb 2025
|access-date=28 Feb 2025
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228135428/https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/information-about-the-new-terms-of-use-and-updated-privacy/m-p/87949/highlight/true#M33725
|archive-date=28 Feb 2025
}}</ref> Concerns center especially around the phrasing of terms outlined in the section titled "You Give Mozilla Certain Rights and Permissions".<ref name="TOS">
{{cite web
|author=
|title= Firefox Terms of Use
|url=https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox/
|website= Mozilla
|date=25 Feb 2025
|access-date=27 Feb 2025
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227073459/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox/
|archive-date=27 Feb 2025
}}</ref>

This is what that section originally said:
<blockquote>
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.
</blockquote>
The vagueness of the terms resulted in users questioning how much of their data they were granting Mozilla a license to use, especially since the company puts a lot of emphasis on transparency and privacy on their manifesto.<ref name="manifesto">
{{cite web
|author=
|title= The Mozilla Manifesto Addendum; Pledge for a Healthy Internet
|url=https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/manifesto/
|website= Mozilla
|date=25 Feb 2025
|access-date=27 Feb 2025
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227045402/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/manifesto/
|archive-date=27 Feb 2025
}}</ref> One notable concern is the possibility that license to user input could be used to train artificial intelligence tools. This became a concern since Mozilla has recently been working on AI tools.<ref name="orbit" />

===AI training concerns===

Mozilla's original TOU could have allowed AI training on user input. Mozilla's wording in their first round of TOS changes granted Mozilla a "nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license" to "use" user input, without specifying clear limitations.<ref name="connect">{{cite web
|title= Re: Information about the New Terms of Use and Updated Privacy Notice for Firefox
|url= https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/information-about-the-new-terms-of-use-and-updated-privacy/m-p/87949/highlight/true
|website= Mozilla Connect
|date=27 Feb 2025
|access-date=1 Mar 2025
}}</ref>
Mozillla's vague writing caused concern among Firefox users that their input could be used for artificial intelligence training, especially given Mozilla's AI-related projects.<ref name="orbit">{{cite web
|title= Orbit by Mozilla
|url= https://orbitbymozilla.com/
|website= Mozilla AI
|access-date=1 Mar 2025
}}</ref> After backlash, Mozilla revised the TOU to clarify that data usage is restricted to user-requested actions.<ref name="tos-update">{{cite web
|title= An update on our Terms of Use
|url= https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/update-on-terms-of-use/
|website= Mozilla Blog
|date=28 Feb 2025
|access-date=1 Mar 2025
}}</ref>

===Date of effect===
It is also worth noting that the announcement of the introduction of the TOS and new privacy policy was made in a blog post one day after the terms and privacy policy were originally set to take effect.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Firefox Terms of Use - Febuary 28 |url=https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228023710/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox/ |archive-date=28 Feb 2025 |access-date=28 Feb 2025}}</ref> No other communication was made to users of the browser as of February 27th 2025. The terms of use page was then edited to read "Effective February 28, 2025"<ref name="TOS" /> following the update in the language.

===Change of Firefox's FAQ===
[[File:Firefox faq.png|thumb|Firefox FAQ wording changes]]
Mozilla's Terms of Use no longer explicitly state that the company does not and will never sell user data. Previously, Mozilla's FAQ included the statement, "Nope. Never have, never will," when addressing whether they sell user data. The section promising not to sell personal data<ref name="faq-old">{{cite web
|author=
|title= Firefox FAQ
|url= https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/faq/
|website= Mozilla
|access-date=28 Feb 2025
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250227214216/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/faq/
|archive-date=27 Feb 2025
}}</ref> was quietly removed from their documentation.<ref name="github-tos">{{cite web
|title= Tos copy updates (fix #16016) (#16018)
|url= https://github.com/mozilla/bedrock/commit/d459addab846d8144b61939b7f4310eb80c5470e
|website= GitHub
|date=28 Feb 2025
|access-date=1 Mar 2025
}}</ref>

Before its removal, the section said:<blockquote>
''Does Firefox sell your personal data?''

''Nope. Never have, never will. And we protect you from many of the advertisers who do. Firefox products are designed to protect your privacy. That's a promise.''
</blockquote>
Another section Mozilla changed is removing part of the answer to the question "Is Firefox free?". This section concluded with the phrase "and we don't sell your personal data.".

Both of these were present in the FAQ until at least January 30th 2025.<ref name="faq">{{cite web
|author=
|title= Firefox older FAQ
|url= https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/faq/
|website= Mozilla
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250130092351/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/faq/
|archive-date=30 Jan 2025
}}</ref><ref name="github-faq">{{cite web
|author=
|title= Github commit showing TOS FAQ changes
|url= https://github.com/mozilla/bedrock/commit/d459addab846d8144b61939b7f4310eb80c5470e
|website= Github
|access-date= 1 Mar 2025
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

Mozilla justified this change by pointing to evolving legal definitions of "data selling," particularly under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which defines "sale" broadly to include certain data-sharing arrangements. However, the revised Terms of Use do not explicitly prohibit Mozilla from selling user data in the future, leaving open the possibility of future monetization.<ref name="tos-update" />
Mozilla justified this by pointing to broad legal definitions under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), which define "selling data" as any transfer of data for "valuable consideration," even if anonymized.<ref name="ccpa">
{{cite web
|title= CCPA Full Text
|url= https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1798.140.#
|website= Legilature.ca.gov
|access-date=1 Mar 2025
}}</ref> However, the new Terms of Use do not explicitly prohibit Mozilla from selling user data in the future, meaning they could legally do so if they chose.<ref name="tos-update" />

==Mozilla's response==
[[File:Firefox-privacy-lawful-bases.png|thumb|Partial screenshot of the lawful basis section for data usage from the Firefox privacy policy.]]
Initially, Mozilla added an update to their initial blog post in an attempt to clarify the language of the terms of use.<ref name="tos-announce" />

This is what the update says:
<blockquote>
'''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.
</blockquote>
Notably, this update doesn't address the concerns relating to the broadness that can be attributed to the wording of the terms.

Mozilla's privacy policy contains fairly extensive and clear statements on how Mozilla uses user data. It does not explicitly mention artificial intelligence tools other than the ability to use third party chat assistants. The privacy policy clarifies that Mozilla has no access to these chats.

On February 28th, Mozilla updated the terms of use to address the concerns people were having. The section about rights and permissions given to Mozilla was reworded to be more clear:<blockquote>You give Mozilla the rights necessary to operate Firefox. This includes processing your data as we describe in the Firefox Privacy Notice. It also includes a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license for the purpose of doing as you request with the content you input in Firefox. This does not give Mozilla any ownership in that content.</blockquote>As well as this, the new terms have removed the reference to the acceptable use policy.

Mozilla have also provided an explanation for why they changed their FAQ.<ref name="tos-update" /> They say this is because different legislation has different definitions of "sale of data"and this makes it uncertain on whether a business is legally considered to be selling data. Mozilla explicitly cites the California Consumer Privacy Act<ref name="ccpa" /> with regards to how existing privacy legislation defines the sale of data. <ref group="footnotes">Mozilla in the version of the CCPA they quoted on their update (see ''[https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/update-on-terms-of-use/ "An update on out terms of use"]'') a draf version of the CCPA. The difference in the definition used is the inclusion of "another bussiness" in the wording. [https://www.quippd.com/social/posts/2025/03/06/mozilla-quoted-an-incorrect-version-of-the-ccpa-in-their-terms-of-use-update.html "Mozilla Quoted an Incorrect Version of the CCPA in their Terms of Use update"].''Youssuff Quips'' </ref>

==Mozilla's Business Model & Potential CCPA Violations==
Before the Terms of Use update, Mozilla publicly stated that it did not & would never sell user data. However, under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), some of Mozilla's existing business practices may have legally qualified as "selling data." While there is no confirmed evidence that Mozilla violated the CCPA, their data-sharing practices placed them in a legally gray area.

===Potential CCPA Compliance Issues Before the TOU Update===
The CCPA defines "selling data" as: <blockquote>
'' “Sell,” “selling,” “sale,” or “sold,” means selling, renting, releasing, disclosing, disseminating, making available, transferring, or otherwise communicating orally, in writing, or by electronic or other means, a consumer’s personal information by the business to a third party for monetary or other valuable consideration.''<ref name="ccpa" />
</blockquote>

*'''Search Engine Partnerships (Google, Bing, Yandex, etc.)''': Mozilla's largest revenue source comes from deals with search engines like Google, which pay Mozilla to be Firefox's default search provider.<ref>{{cite web
|title= Mozilla Foundation and Subsidiaries ; Independent Auditors’ Report, and Consolidated Financial Statement
|url= https://assets.mozilla.net/annualreport/2022/mozilla-fdn-2022-fs-final-0908.pdf
|website= Mozilla
|access-date=2 Mar 2025
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250211174819/https://assets.mozilla.net/annualreport/2022/mozilla-fdn-2022-fs-final-0908.pdf
|archive-date=11 Feb 2025
}}. [[:File:Mozilla-fdn-2022-fs-final-0908.pdf|See file on the wiki]]
</ref>
These deals involve sending search query data to search partners. Under the CCPA, if Mozilla transmitted search data in exchange for financial compensation, this could be classified as a ''"sale of data."'' This is a practice that Mozilla had already been openly taking part in.

===Mozilla's Sponsored Ads & Potential CCPA Implications===

====How Mozilla’s Sponsored Ads Work====
Mozilla monetizes Firefox through advertising programs:
*'''Pocket Sponsored Stories''': Mozilla owns Pocket, which provides content recommendations. Mozilla shares aggregated data with ad platforms (such as Adzerk) so advertisers can track engagement.<ref name="pocket-sponsored">
{{cite web
|title= Pocket Sponsored Stories on New Tabs
|url= https://support.mozilla.org/kb/pocket-sponsored-stories-new-tabs
|website= Mozilla Support
|access-date=2 Mar 2025
}}</ref>

*'''Sponsored Shortcuts''': Mozilla displays paid website shortcuts on the New Tab page. Mozilla gets paid per user click & routes click data through a Mozilla-owned proxy service.<ref name="sponsored-shortcuts">
{{cite web
|title= Sponsored Shortcuts on the New Tab Page
|url= https://support.mozilla.org/kb/sponsored-shortcuts-new-tab
|website= Mozilla Support
|access-date=2 Mar 2025
}}</ref>

*'''Sponsored Suggestions in Search''': Mozilla processes search queries & shares de-identified interaction data with partners, including search engines and ad networks.<ref name="firefox-privacy" />

Mozilla says all data shared with advertisers is anonymized, aggregated, or de-identified before being disclosed.

====How this relates to Mozilla’s Privacy Policy====
Mozilla’s Privacy Policy states that user data is only shared in an aggregated or de-identified form.<ref name="mozilla-privacy">{{cite web
|title= Mozilla Privacy Policy
|url= https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/
|website= Mozilla
|access-date=2 Mar 2025
}}</ref> The Firefox Privacy Notice also confirms:<blockquote>''Mozilla processes interaction data (such as ad clicks) & shares de-identified information with partners. Partners cannot associate these interactions with an individual user.<ref name="firefox-privacy" />''</blockquote>This lines up with Mozilla's claim that it does not sell personal data under the CCPA.

====Potential CCPA Compliance Issues====

Mozilla's ad system does not clearly violate the CCPA, but it exists in a gray area because of:
*'''Valuable Consideration Clause''': Mozilla earns money from clicks on Sponsored Shortcuts, which may be considered a sale under the CCPA if user data has "value."

*'''Lack of a Clear "Do Not Sell" Option''': The CCPA requires an explicit "Do Not Sell My Data" button, but Mozilla bundles opt-out settings under "technical and interaction data." Mozilla's privacy policy page states ''"You can opt out of having your data processed for personalization or advertising purposes by turning off “technical and interaction data” on Desktop and Mobile at any time".''<ref name="firefox-privacy" /> Firefox does have this option in the privacy and security section of the settings as of version 135 (4th February 2025).<ref>https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-i-turn-do-not-track-feature?as=u&utm_source=inproduct</ref>

*'''Potential Re-identification of Data''': CCPA states that anonymized data can still be personal information if it can be linked to a user.<ref name="ccpa" />

While Mozilla tells users that advertisers cannot directly identify users, regulators may argue that user interactions still hold monetary value, which could require Mozilla to revise its privacy policy for full compliance.

===Legitimate Reasons for Mozilla Updating Its Terms of Use===
Mozilla's sudden change to its Terms of Use & Privacy Policy can be viewed as hedges to Mozilla's legal risks & exposure under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), rather than an admission of wrongdoing.

*'''Legal Definitions of "Selling Data" Under the CCPA Are Broad''': As noted above, the CCPA's definition encompasses many data-sharing practices that may not align with common understanding of "selling data".<ref name="ccpa" /> Even if Mozilla was not directly selling user data, its search partnerships, telemetry data sharing, & sponsored content could have been interpreted as data sales if Mozilla received any financial benefit from them, all of which were actions that Mozilla has already been transparent & upfront about.

*'''Mozilla's Search Engine Deals Could Be Considered Data Sales''': As mentioned earlier, these partnerships could legally qualify as data sales under the CCPA definition, despite being an existing part of Mozilla's business model that consumers are already aware of.<ref name="tos-announce" />

*'''Sponsored Content in Firefox's New Tab Page Involves Data Exchange''': Mozilla dReferencesisplays sponsored content and ads on the Firefox New Tab page, which may involve user interaction data being shared with advertisers.<ref name="tos-update" /> Even if the data is anonymized, the CCPA considers certain types of aggregated data as personal information if it can be linked back to users.<ref name="ccpa" />

By removing explicit guarantees such as "we never sell your data" & rewriting the Terms of Use, Mozilla eliminated legal ambiguity while maintaining its existing business model.

While the new terms of use does not confirm that Mozilla intends to sell user data, & puts its current practices in-line with California's Consumer Privacy Act, it no longer explicitly prohibits it, leaving open the possibility for future monetization.

==Community Concerns & Digging into the validity of them==
Mozilla's Terms of Use & Privacy Policy update led to loud public protest over them. Here is an analysis of the primary concerns raised by the Firefox community:

===Valid Concerns===
====Vague licensing language in the TOU====
Initially, Mozilla's TOU granted the company a "nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license" to user input, which raised concerns about potential data ownership and usage rights.<ref name="connect">{{cite web
|title= Re: Information about the New Terms of Use and Updated Privacy Notice for Firefox
|url= https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/information-about-the-new-terms-of-use-and-updated-privacy/m-p/87949/highlight/true
|website= Mozilla Connect
|date=27 Feb 2025
|access-date=1 Mar 2025
}}</ref> This was later revised after backlash.<ref name="tos-update" />

====Mozilla removed explicit language about not selling user data====
Mozilla's FAQ previously stated, "We don't and never will sell your personal data," but this was quietly removed from its website and documentation.<ref name="github-tos">{{cite web
|title= Tos copy updates (fix #16016) (#16018)
|url= https://github.com/mozilla/bedrock/commit/d459addab846d8144b61939b7f4310eb80c5470e
|website= GitHub
|date=28 Feb 2025
|access-date=1 Mar 2025
}}</ref> Mozilla later stated that different legal jurisdictions, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), had vague definitions of "data selling," which led them to revise this wording.<ref name="tos-update" />

====Users were not notified before the TOU changes took effect====
Mozilla announced the new terms on February 26, 2025, but they had already taken effect by February 25, 2025.<ref name="tos-announce" />

====Lack of clarity on why Mozilla needs a license to user input====
Users questioned why Mozilla needed licensing rights over user input when browsers have worked for 25+ years without these terms.<ref name="connect" />
While the new TOU does not confirm that Mozilla intends to sell user data, it no longer explicitly prohibits it, leaving open the possibility for future monetization.

===Concerns Likely Based on Misinterpretation===
====Mozilla will log & track all user browsing data====
Some users assumed the TOU granted Mozilla unlimited access to browsing history.<ref name="connect" /> However, Mozilla's privacy policy still states that it does not store user browsing history or personal data beyond necessary telemetry.<ref name="tos-announce" />

====Mozilla's telemetry data collection doesn't seem to constitute a "sale" under the CCPA====
Firefox collects telemetry data by default, including interaction metrics (such as the number of open tabs, visited webpages, & search partner referrals) & technical data (such as OS version, hardware specs, and crash reports).<ref name="telemetry">{{cite web
|title= Telemetry collection and deletion
|url= https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/telemetry-clientid
|website= Mozilla Support
|access-date=1 Mar 2025
}}</ref> However, Mozilla clearly says that this data is only sent to Mozilla & does not explicitly mention sharing this with third parties<ref name="firefox-privacy">{{cite web
|title= Firefox Privacy Notice
|url= https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/#notice
|website= Mozilla
|access-date=1 Mar 2025
}}</ref> Under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), a "sale" requires data to be transferred to a third party in exchange for monetary or other valuable consideration.<ref name="ccpa" />
Since Mozilla does not explicitly transfer telemetry data to third parties, it is unlikely to be classified as a "sale" under the CCPA. Users can opt out of telemetry data collection, and Mozilla deletes previously collected data within 30 days of opting out.<ref name="telemetry" />

Mozilla tried to clarify where they stand on data privacy, but the way they've written their terms as well as the manner in which they communicated them has resulted in user protest & distrust.

== Update: Mozilla removed controversial license from firefox's ToS (June 10th 2025) ==
On June 10th, 2025, [[Mozilla]] changed their [[firefox]]'s [[terms of service]] for unknown reasons<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mozilla Firefox Terms of Service |url=https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox/#you-give-mozilla-certain-rights-and-permissions |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251007184549/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox/#you-give-mozilla-certain-rights-and-permissions |archive-date=October 7th, 2025 |access-date=October 22nd, 2025 |website=Mozilla.org}}</ref>, there were no announcements nor coverage on this matter. The motives and the reason why it is removed are currently unclear as of writing. The [https://web.archive.org/web/20250227004713/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox/ original] and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20250328021454/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox/ fixed] versions were last seen before June 10th 2025.

==See also==
*[[Mozilla]]
==Footnotes==
<references group="footnotes" />
==References==

[[Category:Incidents]]
[[Category:Firefox]]
<references />

User:Jerry468

2025-10-22T13:08:44Z

Jerry468: First time

== Hi, I am Jerry the Winki dink. ==
Not exactly appropriate, but who cares? Anyway, I am sort of new to this whole wiki stuff, but I have contributed to some articles before, and especially made my own which was, to be honest, considered scope creep, just like this one right over [[National Security Agency|here]].

I also investigate and research (duh, it is obvious why this wiki was made for, especially how contributors do the same as we do, like you :-) ), to do my best ability to research and provide accurate information as I can, however, there are things that I am unable to find despite me searching for such information, but it does seem to be unheard of by the mainstream public news outlets, [[Firefox|such as this for example]]. I couldn't find any mentions of its removal of such license, so I had to make an update to it.

Anyway that is much it by now.

== Things I have authored so far ==
Nothing, keep going.

Talk:Main Page

2025-10-21T14:40:48Z

Jerry468: /* Can we just replace PrivacyGuides.org? */ new section

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{{Archives}}

==Please add cautions to discord link==

Given the topic of this wiki, it surprises me that getting help seems to be gated behind [[discord]].

I think it would make sense to have the link on the home page (which currently goes to discord) go to a page that explains the discord situation, points out the downsides of discord (including a link to the wiki’s coverage of discord), and then lists the discord link, as well as a link to wherever on the wiki one can get help if decide not to discord.

For discord you have to read 29 pages of TOS, 19 pages of privacy policy; agree to their data harvesting, give up 7th amendment rights (forced arbitration), no class action, etc. Then create an account, including surrendering your birth date. Then figure out how to use yet another interface. Evidently in some places you also have to send them a picture of you with some id (yours if you trust them, fake if you don't).

Pretty ironic for this wiki advocating consumers rights to gate things behind some company with a less than stellar consumer rights stance. I figure that wondering about discord is a frequently asked question, and there is probably a standard response/explanation, but I can not find anything about this on the wiki. Where is the coverage of this?

If such an explanation does not exist, please help create one. Some of the things I think it well to address:
*Why discord?
*Is anything being done to move to a more consumer friendly platform? (e.g., What other platforms are being considered? What platforms rejected? What are desiderata? What is anticipated time frame?)
*Is there a project to mirror the public parts of the discord to the wiki, or to a web page? (I haven’t found a tool to do this. If I were doing it, I would try starting with something like DiscordChatExporter. [not an endorsement, I haven’t tried it]) A discord client for wiki (i.e., lets wiki users post on the discord) would be even better. (However, with the direction discord company is going, this is probably not worth the effort.)

Any other questions such an explanation should answer?

I wrote this a few days ago, but hadn't posted it. Just saw Mr. Rossmann's video about discord's new terms of service. Seems to me even more urgent to modify how this wiki pushes people to discord. Thanks.
[[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 00:17, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

:Current TOS score average reading level of 14th grade (Junior in college), estimated reading time 42 minutes just for the TOS. A 2021 version of Discord TOS featured in "EULAs of despair". Linked TOS 5.62 Tolstoys, over 275 hours.[[https://www.pilotlab.org/eulas-of-despair]] [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 16:43, 9 October 2025 (UTC)
::The discord link is in several other places (e.g. the left hand panel, the edit notice when moving a page). May be well to change those pages also to land on a caution page before just taking to Discord. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 05:25, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
::I noticed that some other editors also are reluctant to use discord. See [[Talk:Main_Page/Archive_2#Please_whitelist_creativecommons.org]] Thanks. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 06:49, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
:::+1 to this, never signed up for an account, only to download things when people are too lazy to not force discord to get it. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 07:15, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
:@[[User:Keith|Keith]] Hoping you can respond to this when you get the chance, since you mentioned this issue before. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 12:39, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
::Yep. I think @[[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]]'s idea of a warning page makes sense. It would save a lot of questions, I'll add it onto my to-do, though if anyone here wants to take a crack at it (assuming I haven't by the time you read this) then that would be helpful too. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 19:44, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
:::I've created a basic draft on [[User:Raster/Sandbox|my sandbox]] that staff could use to start with. It is not great, but I consider this to be an urgent matter that I wanted to bump this topic in some way. Thank you [[User:Raster|Raster]] ([[User talk:Raster|talk]]) 17:37, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
::::The layout of this reminds me of the abuse filter messages used, it has a very similar style. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 17:41, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
:While I do agree on this that it is gated behind discord, I do wanna make a request to the staff that we need a matrix or a SimpleX chat group chat for this one to exist (Yes, simpleX has a lot of room to spare for a lot of users). There is a reason why discord is made a software page here somewhere in this wiki. [[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] ([[User talk:Jerry468|talk]]) 14:30, 21 October 2025 (UTC)

==Where to ask questions on the wiki?==

Where should users ask questions if they don't do discord? e.g., Questions about how to use wiki? Questions about policy? And most important, questions they can't figure out where to ask?

I have looked around, even read through the staff directory, but can't figure out who/where to ask.

A quick link/directory of where to ask would be really helpful on the homepage. Thank you. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 00:23, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

:Not a mod (''you’ve probably seen me say that by now'') but I’d go to [[CRW Team]] which shows members, click on one of the blue wiki links and ask for advice on a mods talk page. They usually get back within a day or so. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 20:01, 10 October 2025 (UTC)
::Basically this^
::It might be best to ping specific moderators since not many of them are frequently on or are aware of all the Talk pages. And still, the noticeboard is the best bet for all questions, especially if you don't have one specific mod in mind. You can also ping someone there too. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 20:55, 10 October 2025 (UTC)
:I think here is probably the main place, but you're right that this should be more cleanly documented [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 19:47, 19 October 2025 (UTC)

==Add a main page list of major notorious companies==

Please add to the main page a list/section of major companies known to have violated consumer rights, with direct links to each company’s article (e.g., Alphabet (Google), Microsoft). This would make it easier for average users to find out about it. [[User:EBones|EBones]] ([[User talk:EBones|talk]]) 09:19, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

:Hello, and welcome! I agree that additional navigation pages could help make this wiki more accessible. However, I wonder how one could define such a list in a way that would keep it manageable. It could easily become an ever-expanding thing, or, if limited to a set number of entries, how would you focus it so that there wasn't constant back-and-forth about who should be on it? (Just my thought on how to improve the suggestion, if you want to pursue it.)
:I have no idea whether such a thing would fly with the moderators here. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 05:37, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
::My instinct is that this would end up as a very long list with a lot of unproductive arguments over who should and shouldn't be on it [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 19:45, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
::Since the focus of the list/section is the average user, we could limit it to 10 products or companies from popular markets that have high market share. For example, operating systems are a very popular market compared to e.g. 360 cameras, with a clear leader, "Microsoft Windows," that has many consumer-unfriendly practices, such as requiring online accounts, etc. And we could also use that to link to more consumer-friendly competitors' wiki pages.
::As it’s often pretty clear which markets are popular and who’s leading and also who the biggest competitors are, there shouldn’t be much debate, and if there still is some debate, we could just use a poll on Discord instead of arguing back and forth.
::A short example:
::'''Biggest Offenders and Alternatives'''
::Alphabet: Google Search (Alternative: DuckDuckGo), Chrome (Alternative: Firefox, Ungoogled Chromium)
::Microsoft : Windows 11 (Alternative: MacOs, Linux Distro) [[User:EBones|EBones]] ([[User talk:EBones|talk]]) 13:01, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
:::Those are mega-corporations that everyone knows commits consumer abuse on a daily basis. There is no real benefit to including them on the main page. Also, there is a search bar for that very reason. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 13:05, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
::::It is meant to help '''''average''''' users learn more about the practices of the companies behind the products they use and to consider alternatives.
::::Many people outside our circle know little about common consumer violations and never heard of alternatives such as DuckDuckGo. It should be on the main page, since again it is meant for the average user and could serve as a beginners guide.
::::I think it is a very common issue among consumer rights advocates that they don't properly consider how the average person acts and thinks. [[User:EBones|EBones]] ([[User talk:EBones|talk]]) 13:34, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
:::::Does something like this exist someplace else (as a resource we might link to)?
:::::Especially since the examples you picked are all out of software, it seems like something somebody might have done already? If not, is there some theme article that such content could naturally fit into? (e.g., is it about owning your computer?)
:::::A few things to think about if you want to pursue it:
:::::Is the purpose to highlight/direct people to content here, or something else?
:::::(e.g., I couldn't find an article here about Google search. If not about navigating here, the front page may not be best place for it.)
:::::May want to refine/clarify the selection criteria for categories. (e.g., I think cellphones may be more popular than desktops in consumer space, so why a desktop OS? How is MacOS an alt. to Win 11 if it doesn't run on same hardware? I think MacOS had a bunch of consumer issues similar to Win 11, so not sure it clearly better.) Also there was some policy about mentioning alternative products someplace in [[Consumer Rights Wiki:Wiki policy index]].
:::::If I think of major consumer areas, I think: shelter, food, communications and utilities, transportation/automobiles, work, medicine/health, entertainment, financial.
:::::Could there maybe be another way to approach the same sort of beginner guidance you want? You might look at the list of article types and see if there is some place that it might fit.
:::::There is this guide, [[Customer Privacy Guide]] which somebody was working on. However I would check with the moderators before working on that, since it does not seem to fit the stated policy guidance on guides. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 06:28, 21 October 2025 (UTC)

== Can we just replace PrivacyGuides.org? ==

There are several reasons why and since there are going to be some people who are open source purists, and those that believe that privacy is not a spectrum (because its either you have privacy or not). I do want to make suggestion based off of this as there is a darknet wiki that does say it is a laxist community, saying it is possible to have "have privacy on Windows and Mac" which is completely false if you dug deeper. Normally this was said before and I am gonna say it here to do a little bit of a favor for all of us, replace PrivacyGuides.org into something else, if there isn't post-pone it until something new pops up. There are evidence of criticisms that I have noticed and I think it is reasonable to not recommend a laxist community that has no merit at all. I am not here to be rude, I am here to provide technicalities, logic, and reason, because nobody should be spied on by little brothers.

I would expect a peaceful discussion on this matter over here, I just want to bring the attention of how horrible or lenient it is for somebody who wants to recommend such a thing, I have seen it before. [[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] ([[User talk:Jerry468|talk]]) 14:40, 21 October 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Main Page

2025-10-21T14:30:51Z

Jerry468: /* Please add cautions to discord link */ Reply

<div class="plainlinks" style="text-align: center; margin: {{#ifeq:{{{navbox|<noinclude>yes</noinclude>}}}|yes|2px}} 0 0.5em; padding: 0.5em; {{{style|border: 1px solid #A0A5AD;}}} {{{backgroundstyle|background-color: var(--background-color-progressive-subtle, #eaf3ff); color: inherit;}}}">'''Welcome!''' To reach the moderator team, please add a new topic at the [[Consumer Rights Wiki talk:Moderators' noticeboard|Moderators' noticeboard]]. To report a bug, please add a new topic at the [[Consumer Rights Wiki talk:Bugs|Bugs noticeboard]].</div>
{{Archives}}

==Please add cautions to discord link==

Given the topic of this wiki, it surprises me that getting help seems to be gated behind [[discord]].

I think it would make sense to have the link on the home page (which currently goes to discord) go to a page that explains the discord situation, points out the downsides of discord (including a link to the wiki’s coverage of discord), and then lists the discord link, as well as a link to wherever on the wiki one can get help if decide not to discord.

For discord you have to read 29 pages of TOS, 19 pages of privacy policy; agree to their data harvesting, give up 7th amendment rights (forced arbitration), no class action, etc. Then create an account, including surrendering your birth date. Then figure out how to use yet another interface. Evidently in some places you also have to send them a picture of you with some id (yours if you trust them, fake if you don't).

Pretty ironic for this wiki advocating consumers rights to gate things behind some company with a less than stellar consumer rights stance. I figure that wondering about discord is a frequently asked question, and there is probably a standard response/explanation, but I can not find anything about this on the wiki. Where is the coverage of this?

If such an explanation does not exist, please help create one. Some of the things I think it well to address:
*Why discord?
*Is anything being done to move to a more consumer friendly platform? (e.g., What other platforms are being considered? What platforms rejected? What are desiderata? What is anticipated time frame?)
*Is there a project to mirror the public parts of the discord to the wiki, or to a web page? (I haven’t found a tool to do this. If I were doing it, I would try starting with something like DiscordChatExporter. [not an endorsement, I haven’t tried it]) A discord client for wiki (i.e., lets wiki users post on the discord) would be even better. (However, with the direction discord company is going, this is probably not worth the effort.)

Any other questions such an explanation should answer?

I wrote this a few days ago, but hadn't posted it. Just saw Mr. Rossmann's video about discord's new terms of service. Seems to me even more urgent to modify how this wiki pushes people to discord. Thanks.
[[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 00:17, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

:Current TOS score average reading level of 14th grade (Junior in college), estimated reading time 42 minutes just for the TOS. A 2021 version of Discord TOS featured in "EULAs of despair". Linked TOS 5.62 Tolstoys, over 275 hours.[[https://www.pilotlab.org/eulas-of-despair]] [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 16:43, 9 October 2025 (UTC)
::The discord link is in several other places (e.g. the left hand panel, the edit notice when moving a page). May be well to change those pages also to land on a caution page before just taking to Discord. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 05:25, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
::I noticed that some other editors also are reluctant to use discord. See [[Talk:Main_Page/Archive_2#Please_whitelist_creativecommons.org]] Thanks. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 06:49, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
:::+1 to this, never signed up for an account, only to download things when people are too lazy to not force discord to get it. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 07:15, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
:@[[User:Keith|Keith]] Hoping you can respond to this when you get the chance, since you mentioned this issue before. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 12:39, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
::Yep. I think @[[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]]'s idea of a warning page makes sense. It would save a lot of questions, I'll add it onto my to-do, though if anyone here wants to take a crack at it (assuming I haven't by the time you read this) then that would be helpful too. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 19:44, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
:::I've created a basic draft on [[User:Raster/Sandbox|my sandbox]] that staff could use to start with. It is not great, but I consider this to be an urgent matter that I wanted to bump this topic in some way. Thank you [[User:Raster|Raster]] ([[User talk:Raster|talk]]) 17:37, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
::::The layout of this reminds me of the abuse filter messages used, it has a very similar style. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 17:41, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
:While I do agree on this that it is gated behind discord, I do wanna make a request to the staff that we need a matrix or a SimpleX chat group chat for this one to exist (Yes, simpleX has a lot of room to spare for a lot of users). There is a reason why discord is made a software page here somewhere in this wiki. [[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] ([[User talk:Jerry468|talk]]) 14:30, 21 October 2025 (UTC)

==Where to ask questions on the wiki?==

Where should users ask questions if they don't do discord? e.g., Questions about how to use wiki? Questions about policy? And most important, questions they can't figure out where to ask?

I have looked around, even read through the staff directory, but can't figure out who/where to ask.

A quick link/directory of where to ask would be really helpful on the homepage. Thank you. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 00:23, 9 October 2025 (UTC)

:Not a mod (''you’ve probably seen me say that by now'') but I’d go to [[CRW Team]] which shows members, click on one of the blue wiki links and ask for advice on a mods talk page. They usually get back within a day or so. [[User:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|AnotherConsumerRightsPerson]] ([[User talk:AnotherConsumerRightsPerson|talk]]) 20:01, 10 October 2025 (UTC)
::Basically this^
::It might be best to ping specific moderators since not many of them are frequently on or are aware of all the Talk pages. And still, the noticeboard is the best bet for all questions, especially if you don't have one specific mod in mind. You can also ping someone there too. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 20:55, 10 October 2025 (UTC)
:I think here is probably the main place, but you're right that this should be more cleanly documented [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 19:47, 19 October 2025 (UTC)

==Add a main page list of major notorious companies==

Please add to the main page a list/section of major companies known to have violated consumer rights, with direct links to each company’s article (e.g., Alphabet (Google), Microsoft). This would make it easier for average users to find out about it. [[User:EBones|EBones]] ([[User talk:EBones|talk]]) 09:19, 18 October 2025 (UTC)

:Hello, and welcome! I agree that additional navigation pages could help make this wiki more accessible. However, I wonder how one could define such a list in a way that would keep it manageable. It could easily become an ever-expanding thing, or, if limited to a set number of entries, how would you focus it so that there wasn't constant back-and-forth about who should be on it? (Just my thought on how to improve the suggestion, if you want to pursue it.)
:I have no idea whether such a thing would fly with the moderators here. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 05:37, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
::My instinct is that this would end up as a very long list with a lot of unproductive arguments over who should and shouldn't be on it [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 19:45, 19 October 2025 (UTC)
::Since the focus of the list/section is the average user, we could limit it to 10 products or companies from popular markets that have high market share. For example, operating systems are a very popular market compared to e.g. 360 cameras, with a clear leader, "Microsoft Windows," that has many consumer-unfriendly practices, such as requiring online accounts, etc. And we could also use that to link to more consumer-friendly competitors' wiki pages.
::As it’s often pretty clear which markets are popular and who’s leading and also who the biggest competitors are, there shouldn’t be much debate, and if there still is some debate, we could just use a poll on Discord instead of arguing back and forth.
::A short example:
::'''Biggest Offenders and Alternatives'''
::Alphabet: Google Search (Alternative: DuckDuckGo), Chrome (Alternative: Firefox, Ungoogled Chromium)
::Microsoft : Windows 11 (Alternative: MacOs, Linux Distro) [[User:EBones|EBones]] ([[User talk:EBones|talk]]) 13:01, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
:::Those are mega-corporations that everyone knows commits consumer abuse on a daily basis. There is no real benefit to including them on the main page. Also, there is a search bar for that very reason. [[User:Beanie Bo|Beanie Bo]] ([[User talk:Beanie Bo|talk]]) 13:05, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
::::It is meant to help '''''average''''' users learn more about the practices of the companies behind the products they use and to consider alternatives.
::::Many people outside our circle know little about common consumer violations and never heard of alternatives such as DuckDuckGo. It should be on the main page, since again it is meant for the average user and could serve as a beginners guide.
::::I think it is a very common issue among consumer rights advocates that they don't properly consider how the average person acts and thinks. [[User:EBones|EBones]] ([[User talk:EBones|talk]]) 13:34, 20 October 2025 (UTC)
:::::Does something like this exist someplace else (as a resource we might link to)?
:::::Especially since the examples you picked are all out of software, it seems like something somebody might have done already? If not, is there some theme article that such content could naturally fit into? (e.g., is it about owning your computer?)
:::::A few things to think about if you want to pursue it:
:::::Is the purpose to highlight/direct people to content here, or something else?
:::::(e.g., I couldn't find an article here about Google search. If not about navigating here, the front page may not be best place for it.)
:::::May want to refine/clarify the selection criteria for categories. (e.g., I think cellphones may be more popular than desktops in consumer space, so why a desktop OS? How is MacOS an alt. to Win 11 if it doesn't run on same hardware? I think MacOS had a bunch of consumer issues similar to Win 11, so not sure it clearly better.) Also there was some policy about mentioning alternative products someplace in [[Consumer Rights Wiki:Wiki policy index]].
:::::If I think of major consumer areas, I think: shelter, food, communications and utilities, transportation/automobiles, work, medicine/health, entertainment, financial.
:::::Could there maybe be another way to approach the same sort of beginner guidance you want? You might look at the list of article types and see if there is some place that it might fit.
:::::There is this guide, [[Customer Privacy Guide]] which somebody was working on. However I would check with the moderators before working on that, since it does not seem to fit the stated policy guidance on guides. [[User:Drakeula|Drakeula]] ([[User talk:Drakeula|talk]]) 06:28, 21 October 2025 (UTC)

User:Jerry468/sandbox

2025-10-21T14:26:21Z

Jerry468: I have changed my mind already.

{{GuideNotice}}
{{StubNotice}}
{{Alert|This guide is meant for, either internet online consumers, or people looking for an alternative. I (the original author) do not endorse any sensitive activity and is not responsible for any damages that may have caused. This is meant to be a longer and insightful version of the one found in the Main_Page that needs improving. It can go separate ways.|message=This guide is meant for, either internet online consumers, or people looking for an alternative. I (the original author) do not endorse any sensitive activity and is not responsible for any damages that may have caused. This is meant to be a longer and insightful version of the one found in the Main_Page that needs improving. It can go separate ways.}}

{{Delete|I have changed my mind on this, since I am new here I didn't dig deeper in such guidelines and I haven't bothered to ask an admin about this, I do not want to maintain this anymore, and I don't want to deal with this guide anymore, I will focus on making guides that is appropriate for the wiki itself, and not for my own self-interest like I have made here as an example. My apologizes if I have made any inconvenience to any staff out there, I wish I could have done better then this one, kinda new to making articles to be honest.}}

==Introduction One (1) - Why was this made?==
Simply because of the lack of new guides being added, or simply, because other guides on the [[wikipedia:Clearnet_(networking)|clearnet]] are, most likely, unreliable. There are many reasons why, however, I (The original author, aka contributor) want to make it clear that this is simply a guide for anyone seeking privacy, and/or anonymity, even though we (The Consumer Rights Wiki) already have a page dedicated to this in the [https://consumerrights.wiki/Main_Page main page], but that is a issue on it's own as it isn't universal. It was made, and in summery, to provide an alternative to other mainstream platforms such as [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/ PrivacyGuides.org] and [https://www.privacytools.io/ PrivacyTools.io], to improve on those ideas and to provide basic to advanced consumer-level privacy and anonymity services, and software, that I (Original Author), recommend based on my (Original Author) experience and other sources that I may have viewed on the [[wikipedia:Darknet|darknet]] (Which may be depending on the credibility on the sources, it still provides the valuable information out, as of current writing).

Summary: It was made to provide an alternative to popular mainstream privacy sources such as [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/ PrivacyGuides.org] and [https://www.privacytools.io/ PrivacyTools.io], to combat inaccuracies and misleading information. While there is a Consumer Tools page, it is not universal and is short to be fully used for consumer privacy and security, which is lacking. This guide is designed for average daily consumer that just wants to get away with Big Tech, or consumer violations.

===Why not security? Why isn't it mentioned?===
It can go both ways, either you use a Operating System (E.g [[Apple|MacOS]]) that is still maintained and is considered the "best of the best" in terms of security, while it is moderately privacy friendly, it still can perform actions that may be considered "Privacy Invasive" or "Surveillance Software" such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Surveillance scanning your files] such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Backdoors documents] uploaded to cloud for example, or having access to your local files.<ref>{{Cite news |first=ldsandon |date=February 24th, 2016. |title=Scaring: Windows 10 lets Microsoft access your own local files |url=https://www.sandon.it/node/104 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325072357/http://www.sandon.it/node/104 |archive-date=March 25, 2016 |access-date=August 26th, 2025 |work=Sandon}}</ref>

Either way, security is also important in this guide, also. But, what is important is you, the consumer, should understand that, while it may become popularized in the future (Privacy & Anonymity), there are other software services that offer security (Maintained, or Design) such those that are still updated or have by-design features such as [[wikipedia:Plausible_deniability|plausible deniability]] or [[wikipedia:Virtualization|virtualization]]. Either way, any software listed here is maintained, and those that are not are removed and instead replaced with a up-to-date version.

===Why should I read this guide? Why should I trust it?===
Because whatever we (Author or contributor) say in this guide '''does or does not''' have a merit on its own. So it is recommended to research it yourself if it contains inaccuracies or out of date information that does not fit well in this said guide, as we (Author or contributors) are trying our best to find information that is important for you, as a consumer or somebody online looking for an alternative, to be introduced with software and information that we may see fit, whenever relevant or not. Also, the trust thingy, take things with a grain of salt, whatever we say (Contributors) may be inaccurate or out of date, and in some cases, misleading. However, this one should act as a form a recommendation base, and especially a knowledge base, for many reasons that we may include here. We are also trying our best to be wiki-friendly when possible, and for that, this guide does not fit the wiki in of itself, as it requires a separate domain, which by the way, the author himself, does not have money to afford a server to self-host it himself.

==Introduction Two (2) - Recommended sources==
While it may be irrelevant, it is important to read other sources that we may list here (Credibility varies, excluding PrivacyGuides or PrivacyTools). The sources I or we will list is as follows:

*[https://darkwebdaily.live/ Dark Web Daily] (Tor Browser required) - While it is imperative that we do not endorse any sort of sensitive activities, it is a place for you to explore vast majority of those onion sites.
*[http://opbible7nans45sg33cbyeiwqmlp5fu7lklu6jd6f3mivrjeqadco5yd.onion//index.html The Nihilist OpSec Guide] (Onion Address, Tor Browser required) - The alternative to "[https://anonymousplanet.org/guide/ Hitchhikers guide to anonymity]" but on a dark net. It serves as a knowledge base for anyone looking to stay anonymous and private online. Be warned, some blog posts there are vague, such as, questions that you may be asking "How do I manually exam the source code for malware?" which does not explain (In my own research).
*[http://jqibjqqagao3peozxfs53tr6aecoyvctumfsc2xqniu4xgcrksal2iqd.onion/index.html The OpSec Manual] (Onion Address, Tor Browser required) - The recommended guide for anyone looking to educate themselves on [[wikipedia:Operations_security|Operational Security]], however, this also vagueness inside of the website itself, but it is still valuable it seems to be "recommended<ref>{{Cite web |title=DarkWebDaily.live |url=https://darkwebdaily.live/#security |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824181934/https://darkwebdaily.live/ |archive-date=August 24th, 2025 |access-date=August 28th, 2025 |website=DarkWebDaily.live}}</ref>" by [https://darkwebdaily.live/ Dark Web Daily].
*[https://prism-break.org/en/ PRISM Break] (An actual clearnet site) - An 1 year outdated website, however, it is revealed that [https://gitlab.com/prism-break/prism-break/-/issues/2301 there will be revamp soon] according to a closed issue.
*[https://hidden-services.today/ Hidden Services Today] (Clearnet, darknet available [http://q3o3hdjbf6vwxdnpskyhxw7w7rnmnfhz2szbuala4q24x6csbp7adiad.onion/ here]) - A somewhat interesting website, however, his guides and other resources he lists are something worth considering (Be aware of misleading information, especially [https://PrivacyTools.io PrivacyTools.io] being listed as "recommended").

==Introduction Three (3) - Clarifications & Explanations==

===Why should I not trust big tech? (Software/Hardware wise)===
Because many of us (you the viewer and the wiki contributors) know that they simply cannot be trusted, no matter what. You may have seen that [[Google]] is introducing an [[Android]] "certified devices" update regarding [[Google|Google Play]] when [[Google plans to restrict sideloading of Android apps|developers have to verify themselves]] and to prevent side-loading. Which, in the process of verification, it can lead into [[de-anonymization]]. Another one, [[Microsoft]] acknowledged the fact that what Windows 10 is doing is illegal in terms of privacy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davey |first=Winder |date=Aug 28, 2019, 03:40am EDT |title=Microsoft Confirms Windows 10 Privacy Investigation With A $4 Billion Sting |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/08/28/microsoft-confirms-windows-10-privacy-investigation-with-a-4-billion-sting/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/08/28/microsoft-confirms-windows-10-privacy-investigation-with-a-4-billion-sting/ |archive-date=May 7th, 2025 |access-date=August 28th, 2025 |work=Forbes}}</ref> Or how about [[Mozilla]], having their [[firefox]] to have a [[terms of service]] ([[Mozilla introduces TOS to Firefox|2]]) because they are an [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/advertising/ advertising company]. How about [[Apple]] having their MacOS having an increased [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ84qw4ZMxc surveillance capabilities]. There are many examples of this and honestly, there are '''many reasons why you should not trust big tech corporations''' like these.

You might ask yourself: "Which one should I trust?" The answer depends, and will most likely lead to it being '''no'''. But the issue itself is that, while you may have seen [[Proton]] advertised everywhere, including their sponsors online, such as [https://protonvpn.com/ ProtonVPN], or their password manager [https://proton.me/pass Proton Pass]. However, nobody should be trusting an marketing strategy. But for now, they should be "trustworthy" as of the current writing.

For now this will be a list of "trusted*" corporations that we the contributors put into.

*[https://proton.me/ Proton AG] (There are many reports that indicate its untrustworthy in recent news)
*[https://tuta.com/ Tuta]

===Why should I not trust Governments? (Anywhere, technically)===
There are many reasons why, for example, The United States of America, their [[wikipedia:National_Security_Agency|National Security Agency]], back in 2013, When [[wikipedia:Edward_Snowden|Edward Snowden]] leaked classified information regarding the active surveillance that was deemed unconstitutional, according [https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/nov/01/snowden-nsa-files-surveillance-revelations-decoded The Guardian]. Another example, China, [[wikipedia:National_Intelligence_Law_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China|anything established or headquartered in China must provide data to intelligence agencies]], which may include [[ByteDance|Bytedance]] such as [[TikTok]]. In Russia, there is a new app call "[https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/21/tech/max-messenger-app-russia-smartphones-intl Max]" that is made by the state government, and is considered as a replacement to the "VK" messenger, what's concerning, for now, is that it may track Russian citizens. In the European Union, in the year 2022, the "[https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_920 ProtectEU]" project, they wanted every encryption to be backdoored<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chiara |first=Castro |date=May 8th, 2025 |title=Chat Control 2.0? Experts urge the EU not to undermine encryption with new ProtectEU plan |url=https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/chat-control-2-0-experts-urge-the-eu-not-to-undermine-encryption-with-new-protecteu-plan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250508124026/https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/chat-control-2-0-experts-urge-the-eu-not-to-undermine-encryption-with-new-protecteu-plan |archive-date=May 8th, 2025. |access-date=August 31st, 2025. |work=TechRadar}}</ref>, and nowadays, it is supported by [https://fightchatcontrol.eu/ 15 member states].

The issue is that we shouldn't trust our own governments just because they are 'honest', which they aren't, we gotta be speculative on the things that they pose a danger to. Do note that we do not endorse any sort of sensitive activity when it comes to, say, endorsing or promoting [[wikipedia:Anarchism|anarchism]], that is a separate issue that you must figure it out. Ideally, there is no such thing as a true good government.

===Why should my traffic be on Tor Browser?===
It depends, if you are in a country known for state surveillance or "police state" then you should, otherwise, it is optional as long as your ISP isn't known to sell data about your internet activity (sometimes this is called "logs" in my case). For that to actually hide your usage of Tor, you need to use Tor bridges, which is in the connections tab.

===How do I manually audit the code for malware (e.g backdoor, spyware, keylogger...)===
In order to actually do this, in a literal sense, you would need to have a programming knowledge, and for this reason, you must learn the programming language it is written in, if it is C, learn C, if it Python, learn Python, and so on and so forth. However, if you don't have time for doing so, you gotta use an LLM or an AI "chatbot" to do so for you, however it may lead into inaccuracies or [[wikipedia:Hallucination_(artificial_intelligence)|artificial hallucination]], which may be a drawback but it is worth the risk, if you don't want to do so, learn programming and then learn a easy to learn programming language like Python or Go, this is an advice, so bear with us.

==Manual One (1) - The basics==
let's start off with the things you use.

===Google LLC===
We all know why, but let me list some reasons why not to use them and list some adversarial traits that may have been documented.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Google Adversarial Attack Tree
!Traits
!Aftermath
!Mitigation's
!Notes
|-
|Advertising
|Selling your data to third party data brokers
|Opt-out, Adblockers.
|While opting out maybe isn't as effective as it should be, but it will do the job.
|-
|Backdoored Software/Services<ref>{{Cite web |first=GNU is Not Unix |title=Google's Software is Malware |url=https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-google.en.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250520022029/https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-google.en.html |archive-date=May 20th, 2025 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |website=GNU Operating System}}</ref>
|Law enforcement (or your government) can actually subpoena your data to be handed over, soon, you might get arrested for something you didn't or did do.
|Keep illegal activities away from Google, Create a purpose for a Google account, keep it minimal as possible, aka low profile.
|Do not put all eggs in one basket, keep them in a separate account and do not defeat the purpose of such accounts, do it somewhere else.
|-
|Remote installation of what was once disabled (Systemic issue, check google play store for further details)
|Once you have disabled or uninstalled a google software from your phone, it can be re-enabled and/or reinstalled by tomorrow.
|No new information is available on how to mitigate this issue.
|While invasive, there are some apps that cannot be deleted whatsoever, which is just another example of what will happen if it becomes the next [[Apple]].
|-
|Location Tracking (Many sources)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hautala |first=Laura |date=Aug. 20, 2018 |title=Google sued over tracking user location amid privacy concerns |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/google-sued-over-keeping-location-data-amid-privacy-concerns/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920093729/https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/google-sued-over-keeping-location-data-amid-privacy-concerns/ |archive-date=September 20th, 2021 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |work=Cnet}}</ref>
|It can profile and track whenever you go, full surveillance on your habits when going outside.
|Turn off location tracking (Ineffective because of dark-patterns)
|Not exactly sure if turning it off is good or not, as we can agree that it does have dark-patterns in many ways.
|-
|The walled garden<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jatain |first=Vishveshwar |date=16th of June, 2021 |title=The walled gardens of ad tech, explained |url=https://blockthrough.com/blog/the-walled-gardens-of-the-ad-tech-industry-explained/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616182313/https://blockthrough.com/blog/the-walled-gardens-of-the-ad-tech-industry-explained/ |archive-date=June 16th, 2021 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |work=Blockthrough}}</ref>
|It makes you tightly integrated into the Googles ecosystem, in any shape of form of escaping this walled garden, it becomes impossible, due to laziness or highly dependent on.
|Breaking out the habit of staying in one ecosystem. Break the laziness and start working on removing yourself from it, and look for other options instead.
|None. It is obvious.
|-
|Artificial intelligence training data about you
|If you shared something sensitive, like your medical or disability status, your vulnerabilities, or as such. It could lead into increased AI capabilities that it will understand natural language processing, and for the worst, reinforced bias (which is a ethical implication).
|Don't use artificial intelligence, simple.
|There is a [https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-gemini-privacy-warning/507818/ article] that details it. However, for the time being it is at least for now okay to use alternatives such as Duck.ai and Brave Leo, all of which are for now, safe to use as an alternative.
|}

==Manual Two (2) - Consumer-friendly alternatives==
Just a clear heads up, we do not endorse any of these, just that it is recommended, nothing else.

===Software-level alternatives and recommendations===

====Operating System (OS)====
A side note: if you are going to use those distributions for production work, make sure to encrypt your hard drive upon installation (the partitioning), this will increase security in case of theft or the law enforcement or dubbed as "feds" trying to snoop in on your unencrypted hard drive.

#[https://linuxmint.com/ Linux Mint]
##Often recommended for beginners to those that are familiar with the traditional Windows desktop experience. Stable, but it is generally a lightweight version of Ubuntu. Does not contain any form of OS-level tracking whatsoever.
#[https://www.debian.org/ Debian]
##A one distribution that has inspired many distributions that are based off of, such as Ubuntu for example. It is rock-solid stable, it is lightweight, and has customization options in the installation menu when you start Debian for the first time.
#[https://www.kicksecure.com/ KickSecure]
##Based on Debian (but hardened), it is secure, and has a great documentation detailing your usage on that said distribution. It is free software, as they have claimed to be, and has [https://xfce.org/ Xfce] as its default desktop environment, making the distribution lightweight and performant.

==References==
<references />

Talk:Customer Privacy Guide

2025-10-21T14:18:06Z

Jerry468: /* Relevance */ Reply

Firefox

2025-10-20T17:34:14Z

Jerry468: This might be something of a change, but, I decided to add a incident after discovering that Mozilla has changed the firefox's terms of use in regards to the license. I couldn't find any sources, but this is what I have researched so far, I have no idea, but it does seem to be removed entirely. I will include it here for anybody who isn't up to date or just wants to hear a current latest update in the firefox situation.

{{Stub}}
{{ProductCargo
|Company=Mozilla
|ReleaseYear=2004
|InProduction=Yes
|ArticleType=Product
|Category=Browser, Web Browser
|Website=https://www.firefox.com/
|Description=Firefox is a free open-source browser created and owned by Mozilla.
|Logo=Firefox_Logo.svg}}

'''{{wplink|Firefox}}''' is a free and open-source web browser developed by the [[Mozilla]] Foundation. It is officially available on Windows (10 and above<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 Feb 2025 |title=Firefox users on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 moving to Extended Support Release |url=https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-users-windows-7-8-and-81-moving-extended-support |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250729074747/https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-users-windows-7-8-and-81-moving-extended-support |archive-date=29 Jul 2025 |access-date=20 Aug 2025 |website=Mozilla Support}}</ref>), macOS and Linux.<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 Aug 2025 |title=Firefox for desktop |url=https://www.firefox.com/en-US/browsers/desktop/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250729082008/https://www.firefox.com/en-US/browsers/desktop/ |archive-date=29 Jul 2025 |access-date=20 Aug 2025 |website=Firefox}}</ref>

==Consumer impact summary==
{{Ph-C-CIS}}
===User privacy===
Despite marketing itself as a security browser, by default "technical and interaction data" is sent to Firefox.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Manage technical and interaction data collection settings in Firefox|url=https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/technical-and-interaction-data|website=Mozilla Support|access-date=August 31, 2025}}</ref> The [[opt-out]] option can be disabled easily using the GUI settings.

However, some options cannot be conveniently disabled, and requires fiddling the settings in <code>about:config</code>. Some of these examples include:
*Integrated Pocket technology as a built-in extension, which in its Privacy Policy uses Google Analytics.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pocket|url=https://getpocket.com/privacy?t=privacypolicy|date=August 27, 2025|website=Pocket|access-date=August 31, 2025}}</ref>
*Google Analytics in the browser.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Google Analytics is used to track users. #3145|url=https://github.com/mozilla/addons/issues/3145|website=GitHub|access-date=August 31, 2025}}</ref> Firefox stated they will not "give the 'data directly to Google'" but will "[collect] aggregate and non-identifiable data in numbers to ensure our development/UX changes are met well. [...] We need some data, anonymised and aggregated, to do this."

===User freedom===
*Heavily configurable via <code>about:config</code>.

==Incidents==
{{Ph-C-Inc}}
This is a list of all consumer protection incidents related to this product. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the [[:Category:{{PAGENAME}}|{{PAGENAME}} category]].

===Mozilla introduces TOS to Firefox (''02/27/2025'')===
{{Main|Mozilla introduces TOS to Firefox}}
On February 26th, 2025 Mozilla announced in their blog that they are introducing Terms of Use to Firefox, effective June 10th, 2025. <ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2025-02-26 |title=Firefox Terms of Use |url=https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-08-18 |website=Mozilla}}</ref> Their reasoning is to "give [the user] more transparency over [their] rights and permissions as [they] use Firefox".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Varma |first=Ajit |date=2025-02-26 |title=Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox |url=https://blog.mozilla.org/en/firefox/firefox-terms-of-use/ |url-status=live |website=Mozilla Blog}}</ref> In the same blog post they announce an update to their Privacy Policy.

Under section "Mozilla Can Update or Terminate This Agreement" in the ToS, it is announced that updates to it will be posted online, and continued use of Firefox is taken as the user's acceptance of the new terms. No mention is made of any other commitment to notify the user (in-browser notification, etc.). In the next section, "Termination", it is explicitly stated that Mozilla will "try to notify [the user]" at their email address or next time they try to access their account, in case Mozilla denies or suspend anyone's access to Firefox.

=== Mozilla removed the "nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license" in the Firefox TOS (10/06/2025) ===
On June 10th, 2025 Mozilla has removed the "nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license" in the "[https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox/#you-give-mozilla-certain-rights-and-permissions You Give Mozilla Certain Rights and Permissions]" page of where the controversial [[terms of service]] clause used to be last seen<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mozilla Firefox Terms of Service (Archived) |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250515140703/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox/ |url-status=live |archive-date=March 15th of 2025 |access-date=October 20th, 2025}}</ref> on march 15th of 2025. It is currently unknown why this change was made, as of current writing.

==Alternatives==
*[https://librewolf.net/ LibreWolf]
*[http://mullvad.net/browser Mullvad Browser]
*[https://zen-browser.app/ Zen Browser]

==See also==
*[[Brave browser|Brave]]
*[[DuckDuckGo Browser|DuckDuckGo Browser]]
*[[Google Chrome]]
*[[Microsoft Edge]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]

User:Jerry468/sandbox

2025-10-20T16:49:58Z

Jerry468: A little mistake I made.

{{GuideNotice}}
{{StubNotice}}
{{Alert|This guide is meant for, either internet online consumers, or people looking for an alternative. I (the original author) do not endorse any sensitive activity and is not responsible for any damages that may have caused. This is meant to be a longer and insightful version of the one found in the Main_Page that needs improving. It can go separate ways.|message=This guide is meant for, either internet online consumers, or people looking for an alternative. I (the original author) do not endorse any sensitive activity and is not responsible for any damages that may have caused. This is meant to be a longer and insightful version of the one found in the Main_Page that needs improving. It can go separate ways.}}

==Introduction One (1) - Why was this made?==
Simply because of the lack of new guides being added, or simply, because other guides on the [[wikipedia:Clearnet_(networking)|clearnet]] are, most likely, unreliable. There are many reasons why, however, I (The original author, aka contributor) want to make it clear that this is simply a guide for anyone seeking privacy, and/or anonymity, even though we (The Consumer Rights Wiki) already have a page dedicated to this in the [https://consumerrights.wiki/Main_Page main page], but that is a issue on it's own as it isn't universal. It was made, and in summery, to provide an alternative to other mainstream platforms such as [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/ PrivacyGuides.org] and [https://www.privacytools.io/ PrivacyTools.io], to improve on those ideas and to provide basic to advanced consumer-level privacy and anonymity services, and software, that I (Original Author), recommend based on my (Original Author) experience and other sources that I may have viewed on the [[wikipedia:Darknet|darknet]] (Which may be depending on the credibility on the sources, it still provides the valuable information out, as of current writing).

Summary: It was made to provide an alternative to popular mainstream privacy sources such as [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/ PrivacyGuides.org] and [https://www.privacytools.io/ PrivacyTools.io], to combat inaccuracies and misleading information. While there is a Consumer Tools page, it is not universal and is short to be fully used for consumer privacy and security, which is lacking. This guide is designed for average daily consumer that just wants to get away with Big Tech, or consumer violations.

===Why not security? Why isn't it mentioned?===
It can go both ways, either you use a Operating System (E.g [[Apple|MacOS]]) that is still maintained and is considered the "best of the best" in terms of security, while it is moderately privacy friendly, it still can perform actions that may be considered "Privacy Invasive" or "Surveillance Software" such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Surveillance scanning your files] such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Backdoors documents] uploaded to cloud for example, or having access to your local files.<ref>{{Cite news |first=ldsandon |date=February 24th, 2016. |title=Scaring: Windows 10 lets Microsoft access your own local files |url=https://www.sandon.it/node/104 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325072357/http://www.sandon.it/node/104 |archive-date=March 25, 2016 |access-date=August 26th, 2025 |work=Sandon}}</ref>

Either way, security is also important in this guide, also. But, what is important is you, the consumer, should understand that, while it may become popularized in the future (Privacy & Anonymity), there are other software services that offer security (Maintained, or Design) such those that are still updated or have by-design features such as [[wikipedia:Plausible_deniability|plausible deniability]] or [[wikipedia:Virtualization|virtualization]]. Either way, any software listed here is maintained, and those that are not are removed and instead replaced with a up-to-date version.

===Why should I read this guide? Why should I trust it?===
Because whatever we (Author or contributor) say in this guide '''does or does not''' have a merit on its own. So it is recommended to research it yourself if it contains inaccuracies or out of date information that does not fit well in this said guide, as we (Author or contributors) are trying our best to find information that is important for you, as a consumer or somebody online looking for an alternative, to be introduced with software and information that we may see fit, whenever relevant or not. Also, the trust thingy, take things with a grain of salt, whatever we say (Contributors) may be inaccurate or out of date, and in some cases, misleading. However, this one should act as a form a recommendation base, and especially a knowledge base, for many reasons that we may include here. We are also trying our best to be wiki-friendly when possible, and for that, this guide does not fit the wiki in of itself, as it requires a separate domain, which by the way, the author himself, does not have money to afford a server to self-host it himself.

==Introduction Two (2) - Recommended sources==
While it may be irrelevant, it is important to read other sources that we may list here (Credibility varies, excluding PrivacyGuides or PrivacyTools). The sources I or we will list is as follows:

*[https://darkwebdaily.live/ Dark Web Daily] (Tor Browser required) - While it is imperative that we do not endorse any sort of sensitive activities, it is a place for you to explore vast majority of those onion sites.
*[http://opbible7nans45sg33cbyeiwqmlp5fu7lklu6jd6f3mivrjeqadco5yd.onion//index.html The Nihilist OpSec Guide] (Onion Address, Tor Browser required) - The alternative to "[https://anonymousplanet.org/guide/ Hitchhikers guide to anonymity]" but on a dark net. It serves as a knowledge base for anyone looking to stay anonymous and private online. Be warned, some blog posts there are vague, such as, questions that you may be asking "How do I manually exam the source code for malware?" which does not explain (In my own research).
*[http://jqibjqqagao3peozxfs53tr6aecoyvctumfsc2xqniu4xgcrksal2iqd.onion/index.html The OpSec Manual] (Onion Address, Tor Browser required) - The recommended guide for anyone looking to educate themselves on [[wikipedia:Operations_security|Operational Security]], however, this also vagueness inside of the website itself, but it is still valuable it seems to be "recommended<ref>{{Cite web |title=DarkWebDaily.live |url=https://darkwebdaily.live/#security |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824181934/https://darkwebdaily.live/ |archive-date=August 24th, 2025 |access-date=August 28th, 2025 |website=DarkWebDaily.live}}</ref>" by [https://darkwebdaily.live/ Dark Web Daily].
*[https://prism-break.org/en/ PRISM Break] (An actual clearnet site) - An 1 year outdated website, however, it is revealed that [https://gitlab.com/prism-break/prism-break/-/issues/2301 there will be revamp soon] according to a closed issue.
*[https://hidden-services.today/ Hidden Services Today] (Clearnet, darknet available [http://q3o3hdjbf6vwxdnpskyhxw7w7rnmnfhz2szbuala4q24x6csbp7adiad.onion/ here]) - A somewhat interesting website, however, his guides and other resources he lists are something worth considering (Be aware of misleading information, especially [https://PrivacyTools.io PrivacyTools.io] being listed as "recommended").

==Introduction Three (3) - Clarifications & Explanations==

===Why should I not trust big tech? (Software/Hardware wise)===
Because many of us (you the viewer and the wiki contributors) know that they simply cannot be trusted, no matter what. You may have seen that [[Google]] is introducing an [[Android]] "certified devices" update regarding [[Google|Google Play]] when [[Google plans to restrict sideloading of Android apps|developers have to verify themselves]] and to prevent side-loading. Which, in the process of verification, it can lead into [[de-anonymization]]. Another one, [[Microsoft]] acknowledged the fact that what Windows 10 is doing is illegal in terms of privacy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davey |first=Winder |date=Aug 28, 2019, 03:40am EDT |title=Microsoft Confirms Windows 10 Privacy Investigation With A $4 Billion Sting |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/08/28/microsoft-confirms-windows-10-privacy-investigation-with-a-4-billion-sting/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/08/28/microsoft-confirms-windows-10-privacy-investigation-with-a-4-billion-sting/ |archive-date=May 7th, 2025 |access-date=August 28th, 2025 |work=Forbes}}</ref> Or how about [[Mozilla]], having their [[firefox]] to have a [[terms of service]] ([[Mozilla introduces TOS to Firefox|2]]) because they are an [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/advertising/ advertising company]. How about [[Apple]] having their MacOS having an increased [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ84qw4ZMxc surveillance capabilities]. There are many examples of this and honestly, there are '''many reasons why you should not trust big tech corporations''' like these.

You might ask yourself: "Which one should I trust?" The answer depends, and will most likely lead to it being '''no'''. But the issue itself is that, while you may have seen [[Proton]] advertised everywhere, including their sponsors online, such as [https://protonvpn.com/ ProtonVPN], or their password manager [https://proton.me/pass Proton Pass]. However, nobody should be trusting an marketing strategy. But for now, they should be "trustworthy" as of the current writing.

For now this will be a list of "trusted*" corporations that we the contributors put into.

*[https://proton.me/ Proton AG] (There are many reports that indicate its untrustworthy in recent news)
*[https://tuta.com/ Tuta]

===Why should I not trust Governments? (Anywhere, technically)===
There are many reasons why, for example, The United States of America, their [[wikipedia:National_Security_Agency|National Security Agency]], back in 2013, When [[wikipedia:Edward_Snowden|Edward Snowden]] leaked classified information regarding the active surveillance that was deemed unconstitutional, according [https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/nov/01/snowden-nsa-files-surveillance-revelations-decoded The Guardian]. Another example, China, [[wikipedia:National_Intelligence_Law_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China|anything established or headquartered in China must provide data to intelligence agencies]], which may include [[ByteDance|Bytedance]] such as [[TikTok]]. In Russia, there is a new app call "[https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/21/tech/max-messenger-app-russia-smartphones-intl Max]" that is made by the state government, and is considered as a replacement to the "VK" messenger, what's concerning, for now, is that it may track Russian citizens. In the European Union, in the year 2022, the "[https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_920 ProtectEU]" project, they wanted every encryption to be backdoored<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chiara |first=Castro |date=May 8th, 2025 |title=Chat Control 2.0? Experts urge the EU not to undermine encryption with new ProtectEU plan |url=https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/chat-control-2-0-experts-urge-the-eu-not-to-undermine-encryption-with-new-protecteu-plan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250508124026/https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/chat-control-2-0-experts-urge-the-eu-not-to-undermine-encryption-with-new-protecteu-plan |archive-date=May 8th, 2025. |access-date=August 31st, 2025. |work=TechRadar}}</ref>, and nowadays, it is supported by [https://fightchatcontrol.eu/ 15 member states].

The issue is that we shouldn't trust our own governments just because they are 'honest', which they aren't, we gotta be speculative on the things that they pose a danger to. Do note that we do not endorse any sort of sensitive activity when it comes to, say, endorsing or promoting [[wikipedia:Anarchism|anarchism]], that is a separate issue that you must figure it out. Ideally, there is no such thing as a true good government.

===Why should my traffic be on Tor Browser?===
It depends, if you are in a country known for state surveillance or "police state" then you should, otherwise, it is optional as long as your ISP isn't known to sell data about your internet activity (sometimes this is called "logs" in my case). For that to actually hide your usage of Tor, you need to use Tor bridges, which is in the connections tab.

===How do I manually audit the code for malware (e.g backdoor, spyware, keylogger...)===
In order to actually do this, in a literal sense, you would need to have a programming knowledge, and for this reason, you must learn the programming language it is written in, if it is C, learn C, if it Python, learn Python, and so on and so forth. However, if you don't have time for doing so, you gotta use an LLM or an AI "chatbot" to do so for you, however it may lead into inaccuracies or [[wikipedia:Hallucination_(artificial_intelligence)|artificial hallucination]], which may be a drawback but it is worth the risk, if you don't want to do so, learn programming and then learn a easy to learn programming language like Python or Go, this is an advice, so bear with us.

==Manual One (1) - The basics==
let's start off with the things you use.

===Google LLC===
We all know why, but let me list some reasons why not to use them and list some adversarial traits that may have been documented.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Google Adversarial Attack Tree
!Traits
!Aftermath
!Mitigation's
!Notes
|-
|Advertising
|Selling your data to third party data brokers
|Opt-out, Adblockers.
|While opting out maybe isn't as effective as it should be, but it will do the job.
|-
|Backdoored Software/Services<ref>{{Cite web |first=GNU is Not Unix |title=Google's Software is Malware |url=https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-google.en.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250520022029/https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-google.en.html |archive-date=May 20th, 2025 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |website=GNU Operating System}}</ref>
|Law enforcement (or your government) can actually subpoena your data to be handed over, soon, you might get arrested for something you didn't or did do.
|Keep illegal activities away from Google, Create a purpose for a Google account, keep it minimal as possible, aka low profile.
|Do not put all eggs in one basket, keep them in a separate account and do not defeat the purpose of such accounts, do it somewhere else.
|-
|Remote installation of what was once disabled (Systemic issue, check google play store for further details)
|Once you have disabled or uninstalled a google software from your phone, it can be re-enabled and/or reinstalled by tomorrow.
|No new information is available on how to mitigate this issue.
|While invasive, there are some apps that cannot be deleted whatsoever, which is just another example of what will happen if it becomes the next [[Apple]].
|-
|Location Tracking (Many sources)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hautala |first=Laura |date=Aug. 20, 2018 |title=Google sued over tracking user location amid privacy concerns |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/google-sued-over-keeping-location-data-amid-privacy-concerns/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920093729/https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/google-sued-over-keeping-location-data-amid-privacy-concerns/ |archive-date=September 20th, 2021 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |work=Cnet}}</ref>
|It can profile and track whenever you go, full surveillance on your habits when going outside.
|Turn off location tracking (Ineffective because of dark-patterns)
|Not exactly sure if turning it off is good or not, as we can agree that it does have dark-patterns in many ways.
|-
|The walled garden<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jatain |first=Vishveshwar |date=16th of June, 2021 |title=The walled gardens of ad tech, explained |url=https://blockthrough.com/blog/the-walled-gardens-of-the-ad-tech-industry-explained/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616182313/https://blockthrough.com/blog/the-walled-gardens-of-the-ad-tech-industry-explained/ |archive-date=June 16th, 2021 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |work=Blockthrough}}</ref>
|It makes you tightly integrated into the Googles ecosystem, in any shape of form of escaping this walled garden, it becomes impossible, due to laziness or highly dependent on.
|Breaking out the habit of staying in one ecosystem. Break the laziness and start working on removing yourself from it, and look for other options instead.
|None. It is obvious.
|-
|Artificial intelligence training data about you
|If you shared something sensitive, like your medical or disability status, your vulnerabilities, or as such. It could lead into increased AI capabilities that it will understand natural language processing, and for the worst, reinforced bias (which is a ethical implication).
|Don't use artificial intelligence, simple.
|There is a [https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-gemini-privacy-warning/507818/ article] that details it. However, for the time being it is at least for now okay to use alternatives such as Duck.ai and Brave Leo, all of which are for now, safe to use as an alternative.
|}

==Manual Two (2) - Consumer-friendly alternatives==
Just a clear heads up, we do not endorse any of these, just that it is recommended, nothing else.

===Software-level alternatives and recommendations===

====Operating System (OS)====
A side note: if you are going to use those distributions for production work, make sure to encrypt your hard drive upon installation (the partitioning), this will increase security in case of theft or the law enforcement or dubbed as "feds" trying to snoop in on your unencrypted hard drive.

#[https://linuxmint.com/ Linux Mint]
##Often recommended for beginners to those that are familiar with the traditional Windows desktop experience. Stable, but it is generally a lightweight version of Ubuntu. Does not contain any form of OS-level tracking whatsoever.
#[https://www.debian.org/ Debian]
##A one distribution that has inspired many distributions that are based off of, such as Ubuntu for example. It is rock-solid stable, it is lightweight, and has customization options in the installation menu when you start Debian for the first time.
#[https://www.kicksecure.com/ KickSecure]
##Based on Debian (but hardened), it is secure, and has a great documentation detailing your usage on that said distribution. It is free software, as they have claimed to be, and has [https://xfce.org/ Xfce] as its default desktop environment, making the distribution lightweight and performant.

==References==
<references />

User:Jerry468/sandbox

2025-10-20T16:48:18Z

Jerry468: Sorry for the wait, but it is still unfinished as of current writing.

{{GuideNotice}}
{{StubNotice}}
{{Alert|This guide is meant for, either internet online consumers, or people looking for an alternative. I (the original author) do not endorse any sensitive activity and is not responsible for any damages that may have caused. This is meant to be a longer and insightful version of the one found in the Main_Page that needs improving. It can go separate ways.|message=This guide is meant for, either internet online consumers, or people looking for an alternative. I (the original author) do not endorse any sensitive activity and is not responsible for any damages that may have caused. This is meant to be a longer and insightful version of the one found in the Main_Page that needs improving. It can go separate ways.}}

==Introduction One (1) - Why was this made?==
Simply because of the lack of new guides being added, or simply, because other guides on the [[wikipedia:Clearnet_(networking)|clearnet]] are, most likely, unreliable. There are many reasons why, however, I (The original author, aka contributor) want to make it clear that this is simply a guide for anyone seeking privacy, and/or anonymity, even though we (The Consumer Rights Wiki) already have a page dedicated to this in the [https://consumerrights.wiki/Main_Page main page], but that is a issue on it's own as it isn't universal. It was made, and in summery, to provide an alternative to other mainstream platforms such as [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/ PrivacyGuides.org] and [https://www.privacytools.io/ PrivacyTools.io], to improve on those ideas and to provide basic to advanced consumer-level privacy and anonymity services, and software, that I (Original Author), recommend based on my (Original Author) experience and other sources that I may have viewed on the [[wikipedia:Darknet|darknet]] (Which may be depending on the credibility on the sources, it still provides the valuable information out, as of current writing).

Summary: It was made to provide an alternative to popular mainstream privacy sources such as [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/ PrivacyGuides.org] and [https://www.privacytools.io/ PrivacyTools.io], to combat inaccuracies and misleading information. While there is a Consumer Tools page, it is not universal and is short to be fully used for consumer privacy and security, which is lacking. This guide is designed for average daily consumer that just wants to get away with Big Tech, or consumer violations.

===Why not security? Why isn't it mentioned?===
It can go both ways, either you use a Operating System (E.g [[Apple|MacOS]]) that is still maintained and is considered the "best of the best" in terms of security, while it is moderately privacy friendly, it still can perform actions that may be considered "Privacy Invasive" or "Surveillance Software" such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Surveillance scanning your files] such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Backdoors documents] uploaded to cloud for example, or having access to your local files.<ref>{{Cite news |first=ldsandon |date=February 24th, 2016. |title=Scaring: Windows 10 lets Microsoft access your own local files |url=https://www.sandon.it/node/104 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325072357/http://www.sandon.it/node/104 |archive-date=March 25, 2016 |access-date=August 26th, 2025 |work=Sandon}}</ref>

Either way, security is also important in this guide, also. But, what is important is you, the consumer, should understand that, while it may become popularized in the future (Privacy & Anonymity), there are other software services that offer security (Maintained, or Design) such those that are still updated or have by-design features such as [[wikipedia:Plausible_deniability|plausible deniability]] or [[wikipedia:Virtualization|virtualization]]. Either way, any software listed here is maintained, and those that are not are removed and instead replaced with a up-to-date version.

===Why should I read this guide? Why should I trust it?===
Because whatever we (Author or contributor) say in this guide '''does or does not''' have a merit on its own. So it is recommended to research it yourself if it contains inaccuracies or out of date information that does not fit well in this said guide, as we (Author or contributors) are trying our best to find information that is important for you, as a consumer or somebody online looking for an alternative, to be introduced with software and information that we may see fit, whenever relevant or not. Also, the trust thingy, take things with a grain of salt, whatever we say (Contributors) may be inaccurate or out of date, and in some cases, misleading. However, this one should act as a form a recommendation base, and especially a knowledge base, for many reasons that we may include here. We are also trying our best to be wiki-friendly when possible, and for that, this guide does not fit the wiki in of itself, as it requires a separate domain, which by the way, the author himself, does not have money to afford a server to self-host it himself.

=== Why should my traffic be on Tor Browser? ===
It depends, if you are in a country known for state surveillance or "police state" then you should, otherwise, it is optional as long as your ISP isn't known to sell data about your internet activity (sometimes this called "logs" in my case). For that to actually hide your usage of Tor, you need to use Tor bridges, which is in the connections tab.

=== How do I manually audit the code for malware (e.g backdoor, spyware, keylogger...) ===
In order to actually do this, in a literal sense, you would need to have a programming knowledge, and for this reason, you must learn the programming language it is written in, if it is C, learn C, if it Python, learn Python, and so on and so forth. However, if you don't have time for doing so, you gotta use an LLM or an AI "chatbot" to do so for you, however it may lead into inaccuracies or [[wikipedia:Hallucination_(artificial_intelligence)|artificial hallucination]], which may be a drawback but it is worth the risk, if you don't want to do so, learn programming and then learn a easy to learn programming language like Python or Go, this is an advice, so bear with us.

==Introduction Two (2) - Recommended sources==
While it may be irrelevant, it is important to read other sources that we may list here (Credibility varies, excluding PrivacyGuides or PrivacyTools). The sources I or we will list is as follows:

*[https://darkwebdaily.live/ Dark Web Daily] (Tor Browser required) - While it is imperative that we do not endorse any sort of sensitive activities, it is a place for you to explore vast majority of those onion sites.
*[http://opbible7nans45sg33cbyeiwqmlp5fu7lklu6jd6f3mivrjeqadco5yd.onion//index.html The Nihilist OpSec Guide] (Onion Address, Tor Browser required) - The alternative to "[https://anonymousplanet.org/guide/ Hitchhikers guide to anonymity]" but on a dark net. It serves as a knowledge base for anyone looking to stay anonymous and private online. Be warned, some blog posts there are vague, such as, questions that you may be asking "How do I manually exam the source code for malware?" which does not explain (In my own research).
*[http://jqibjqqagao3peozxfs53tr6aecoyvctumfsc2xqniu4xgcrksal2iqd.onion/index.html The OpSec Manual] (Onion Address, Tor Browser required) - The recommended guide for anyone looking to educate themselves on [[wikipedia:Operations_security|Operational Security]], however, this also vagueness inside of the website itself, but it is still valuable it seems to be "recommended<ref>{{Cite web |title=DarkWebDaily.live |url=https://darkwebdaily.live/#security |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824181934/https://darkwebdaily.live/ |archive-date=August 24th, 2025 |access-date=August 28th, 2025 |website=DarkWebDaily.live}}</ref>" by [https://darkwebdaily.live/ Dark Web Daily].
*[https://prism-break.org/en/ PRISM Break] (An actual clearnet site) - An 1 year outdated website, however, it is revealed that [https://gitlab.com/prism-break/prism-break/-/issues/2301 there will be revamp soon] according to a closed issue.
*[https://hidden-services.today/ Hidden Services Today] (Clearnet, darknet available [http://q3o3hdjbf6vwxdnpskyhxw7w7rnmnfhz2szbuala4q24x6csbp7adiad.onion/ here]) - A somewhat interesting website, however, his guides and other resources he lists are something worth considering (Be aware of misleading information, especially [https://PrivacyTools.io PrivacyTools.io] being listed as "recommended").

==Introduction Three (3) - Clarifications & Explanations==

===Why should I not trust big tech? (Software/Hardware wise)===
Because many of us (you the viewer and the wiki contributors) know that they simply cannot be trusted, no matter what. You may have seen that [[Google]] is introducing an [[Android]] "certified devices" update regarding [[Google|Google Play]] when [[Google plans to restrict sideloading of Android apps|developers have to verify themselves]] and to prevent side-loading. Which, in the process of verification, it can lead into [[de-anonymization]]. Another one, [[Microsoft]] acknowledged the fact that what Windows 10 is doing is illegal in terms of privacy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davey |first=Winder |date=Aug 28, 2019, 03:40am EDT |title=Microsoft Confirms Windows 10 Privacy Investigation With A $4 Billion Sting |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/08/28/microsoft-confirms-windows-10-privacy-investigation-with-a-4-billion-sting/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/08/28/microsoft-confirms-windows-10-privacy-investigation-with-a-4-billion-sting/ |archive-date=May 7th, 2025 |access-date=August 28th, 2025 |work=Forbes}}</ref> Or how about [[Mozilla]], having their [[firefox]] to have a [[terms of service]] ([[Mozilla introduces TOS to Firefox|2]]) because they are an [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/advertising/ advertising company]. How about [[Apple]] having their MacOS having an increased [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ84qw4ZMxc surveillance capabilities]. There are many examples of this and honestly, there are '''many reasons why you should not trust big tech corporations''' like these.

You might ask yourself: "Which one should I trust?" The answer depends, and will most likely lead to it being '''no'''. But the issue itself is that, while you may have seen [[Proton]] advertised everywhere, including their sponsors online, such as [https://protonvpn.com/ ProtonVPN], or their password manager [https://proton.me/pass Proton Pass]. However, nobody should be trusting an marketing strategy. But for now, they should be "trustworthy" as of the current writing.

For now this will be a list of "trusted*" corporations that we the contributors put into.

*[https://proton.me/ Proton AG] (There are many reports that indicate its untrustworthy in recent news)
*[https://tuta.com/ Tuta]

===Why should I not trust Governments? (Anywhere, technically)===
There are many reasons why, for example, The United States of America, their [[wikipedia:National_Security_Agency|National Security Agency]], back in 2013, When [[wikipedia:Edward_Snowden|Edward Snowden]] leaked classified information regarding the active surveillance that was deemed unconstitutional, according [https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/nov/01/snowden-nsa-files-surveillance-revelations-decoded The Guardian]. Another example, China, [[wikipedia:National_Intelligence_Law_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China|anything established or headquartered in China must provide data to intelligence agencies]], which may include [[ByteDance|Bytedance]] such as [[TikTok]]. In Russia, there is a new app call "[https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/21/tech/max-messenger-app-russia-smartphones-intl Max]" that is made by the state government, and is considered as a replacement to the "VK" messenger, what's concerning, for now, is that it may track Russian citizens. In the European Union, in the year 2022, the "[https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_920 ProtectEU]" project, they wanted every encryption to be backdoored<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chiara |first=Castro |date=May 8th, 2025 |title=Chat Control 2.0? Experts urge the EU not to undermine encryption with new ProtectEU plan |url=https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/chat-control-2-0-experts-urge-the-eu-not-to-undermine-encryption-with-new-protecteu-plan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250508124026/https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/chat-control-2-0-experts-urge-the-eu-not-to-undermine-encryption-with-new-protecteu-plan |archive-date=May 8th, 2025. |access-date=August 31st, 2025. |work=TechRadar}}</ref>, and nowadays, it is supported by [https://fightchatcontrol.eu/ 15 member states].

The issue is that we shouldn't trust our own governments just because they are 'honest', which they aren't, we gotta be speculative on the things that they pose a danger to. Do note that we do not endorse any sort of sensitive activity when it comes to, say, endorsing or promoting [[wikipedia:Anarchism|anarchism]], that is a separate issue that you must figure it out. Ideally, there is no such thing as a true good government.

==Manual One (1) - The basics==
let's start off with the things you use.

===Google LLC===
We all know why, but let me list some reasons why not to use them and list some adversarial traits that may have been documented.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Google Adversarial Attack Tree
!Traits
!Aftermath
!Mitigation's
!Notes
|-
|Advertising
|Selling your data to third party data brokers
|Opt-out, Adblockers.
|While opting out maybe isn't as effective as it should be, but it will do the job.
|-
|Backdoored Software/Services<ref>{{Cite web |first=GNU is Not Unix |title=Google's Software is Malware |url=https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-google.en.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250520022029/https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-google.en.html |archive-date=May 20th, 2025 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |website=GNU Operating System}}</ref>
|Law enforcement (or your government) can actually subpoena your data to be handed over, soon, you might get arrested for something you didn't or did do.
|Keep illegal activities away from Google, Create a purpose for a Google account, keep it minimal as possible, aka low profile.
|Do not put all eggs in one basket, keep them in a separate account and do not defeat the purpose of such accounts, do it somewhere else.
|-
|Remote installation of what was once disabled (Systemic issue, check google play store for further details)
|Once you have disabled or uninstalled a google software from your phone, it can be re-enabled and/or reinstalled by tomorrow.
|No new information is available on how to mitigate this issue.
|While invasive, there are some apps that cannot be deleted whatsoever, which is just another example of what will happen if it becomes the next [[Apple]].
|-
|Location Tracking (Many sources)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hautala |first=Laura |date=Aug. 20, 2018 |title=Google sued over tracking user location amid privacy concerns |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/google-sued-over-keeping-location-data-amid-privacy-concerns/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920093729/https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/google-sued-over-keeping-location-data-amid-privacy-concerns/ |archive-date=September 20th, 2021 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |work=Cnet}}</ref>
|It can profile and track whenever you go, full surveillance on your habits when going outside.
|Turn off location tracking (Ineffective because of dark-patterns)
|Not exactly sure if turning it off is good or not, as we can agree that it does have dark-patterns in many ways.
|-
|The walled garden<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jatain |first=Vishveshwar |date=16th of June, 2021 |title=The walled gardens of ad tech, explained |url=https://blockthrough.com/blog/the-walled-gardens-of-the-ad-tech-industry-explained/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616182313/https://blockthrough.com/blog/the-walled-gardens-of-the-ad-tech-industry-explained/ |archive-date=June 16th, 2021 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |work=Blockthrough}}</ref>
|It makes you tightly integrated into the Googles ecosystem, in any shape of form of escaping this walled garden, it becomes impossible, due to laziness or highly dependent on.
|Breaking out the habit of staying in one ecosystem. Break the laziness and start working on removing yourself from it, and look for other options instead.
|None. It is obvious.
|-
|Artificial intelligence training data about you
|If you shared something sensitive, like your medical or disability status, your vulnerabilities, or as such. It could lead into increased AI capabilities that it will understand natural language processing, and for the worst, reinforced bias (which is a ethical implication).
|Don't use artificial intelligence, simple.
|There is a [https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-gemini-privacy-warning/507818/ article] that details it. However, for the time being it is at least for now okay to use alternatives such as Duck.ai and Brave Leo, all of which are for now, safe to use as an alternative.
|}

== Manual Two (2) - Consumer-friendly alternatives ==
Just a clear heads up, we do not endorse any of these, just that it is recommended, nothing else.

=== Software-level alternatives and recommendations ===

==== Operating System (OS) ====
A side note: if you are going to use those distributions for production work, make sure to encrypt your hard drive upon installation (the partitioning), this will increase security in case of theft or the law enforcement or dubbed as "feds" trying to snoop in on your unencrypted hard drive.

# [https://linuxmint.com/ Linux Mint]
## Often recommended for beginners to those that are familiar with the traditional Windows desktop experience. Stable, but it is generally a lightweight version of Ubuntu. Does not contain any form of OS-level tracking whatsoever.
# [https://www.debian.org/ Debian]
## A one distribution that has inspired many distributions that are based off of, such as Ubuntu for example. It is rock-solid stable, it is lightweight, and has customization options in the installation menu when you start Debian for the first time.
# [https://www.kicksecure.com/ KickSecure]
## Based on Debian (but hardened), it is secure, and has a great documentation detailing your usage on that said distribution. It is free software, as they have claimed to be, and has [https://xfce.org/ Xfce] as its default desktop environment, making the distribution lightweight and performant.

==References==
<references />

User:Jerry468/sandbox

2025-08-31T10:16:32Z

Jerry468: Added a somewhat interesting way of documenting the overall issues of google.

{{GuideNotice}}
{{StubNotice}}
{{Alert|This guide is meant for, either internet online consumers, or people looking for an alternative. I (the original author) do not endorse any sensitive activity and is not responsible for any damages that may have caused. This is meant to be a longer and insightful version of the one found in the Main_Page that needs improving. It can go separate ways.|message=This guide is meant for, either internet online consumers, or people looking for an alternative. I (the original author) do not endorse any sensitive activity and is not responsible for any damages that may have caused. This is meant to be a longer and insightful version of the one found in the Main_Page that needs improving. It can go separate ways.}}

==Introduction One (1) - Why was this made?==
Simply because of the lack of new guides being added, or simply, because other guides on the [[wikipedia:Clearnet_(networking)|clearnet]] are, most likely, unreliable. There are many reasons why, however, I (The original author, aka contributor) want to make it clear that this is simply a guide for anyone seeking privacy, and/or anonymity, even though we (The Consumer Rights Wiki) already have a page dedicated to this in the [https://consumerrights.wiki/Main_Page main page], but that is a issue on it's own as it isn't universal. It was made, and in summery, to provide an alternative to other mainstream platforms such as [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/ PrivacyGuides.org] and [https://www.privacytools.io/ PrivacyTools.io], to improve on those ideas and to provide basic to advanced consumer-level privacy and anonymity services, and software, that I (Original Author), recommend based on my (Original Author) experience and other sources that I may have viewed on the [[wikipedia:Darknet|darknet]] (Which may be depending on the credibility on the sources, it still provides the valuable information out, as of current writing).

Summary: It was made to provide an alternative to popular mainstream privacy sources such as [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/ PrivacyGuides.org] and [https://www.privacytools.io/ PrivacyTools.io], to combat inaccuracies and misleading information. While there is a Consumer Tools page, it is not universal and is short to be fully used for consumer privacy and security, which is lacking. This guide is designed for average daily consumer that just wants to get away with Big Tech, or consumer violations.

===Why not security? Why isn't it mentioned?===
It can go both ways, either you use a Operating System (E.g [[Apple|MacOS]]) that is still maintained and is considered the "best of the best" in terms of security, while it is moderately privacy friendly, it still can perform actions actions that may be considered "Privacy Invasive" or "Surveillance Software" such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Surveillance scanning your files] such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Backdoors documents] uploaded to cloud for example, or having access to your local files.<ref>{{Cite news |first=ldsandon |date=February 24th, 2016. |title=Scaring: Windows 10 lets Microsoft access your own local files |url=https://www.sandon.it/node/104 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325072357/http://www.sandon.it/node/104 |archive-date=March 25, 2016 |access-date=August 26th, 2025 |work=Sandon}}</ref>

Either way, security is also important in this guide, also. But, what is important is you, the consumer, should understand that, while it may become popularized in the future (Privacy & Anonymity), there are other software services that offer security (Maintained, or Design) such those that are still updated or have by-design features such as [[wikipedia:Plausible_deniability|plausible deniability]] or [[wikipedia:Virtualization|virtualization]]. Either way, any software listed here is maintained, and those that are not are removed and instead replaced with a up-to-date version.

===Why should I read this guide? Why should I trust it?===
Because whatever we (Author or contributor) say in this guide '''does or does not''' have a merit on its own. So it is recommended to research it yourself if it contains inaccuracies or out of date information that does not fit well in this said guide, as we (Author or contributors) are trying our best to find information that is important for you, as a consumer or somebody online looking for an alternative, to be introduced with software and information that we may see fit, whenever relevant or not. Also, the trust thingy, take things with a grain of salt, whatever we say (Contributors) may be inaccurate or out of date, and in some cases, misleading. However, this one should act as a form a recommendation base, and especially a knowledge base, for many reasons that we may include here. We are also trying our best to be wiki-friendly when possible, and for that, this guide does not fit the wiki in of itself, as it requires a separate domain, which by the way, the author himself, does not have money to afford a server to self-host it himself.

==Introduction Two (2) - Recommended sources==
While it may be irrelevant, it is important to read other sources that we may list here (Credibility varies, excluding PrivacyGuides or PrivacyTools). The sources I or we will list is as follows:

*[https://darkwebdaily.live/ Dark Web Daily] (Tor Browser required) - While it is imperative that we do not endorse any sort of sensitive activities, it is a place for you to explore vast majority of those onion sites.
*[http://opbible7nans45sg33cbyeiwqmlp5fu7lklu6jd6f3mivrjeqadco5yd.onion//index.html The Nihilist OpSec Guide] (Onion Address, Tor Browser required) - The alternative to "[https://anonymousplanet.org/guide/ Hitchhikers guide to anonymity]" but on a dark net. It serves as a knowledge base for anyone looking to stay anonymous and private online. Be warned, some blog posts there are vague, such as, questions that you may be asking "How do I manually exam the source code for malware?" which does not explain (In my own research).
*[http://jqibjqqagao3peozxfs53tr6aecoyvctumfsc2xqniu4xgcrksal2iqd.onion/index.html The OpSec Manual] (Onion Address, Tor Browser required) - The recommended guide for anyone looking to educate themselves on [[wikipedia:Operations_security|Operational Security]], however, this also vagueness inside of the website itself, but it is still valuable it seems to be "recommended<ref>{{Cite web |title=DarkWebDaily.live |url=https://darkwebdaily.live/#security |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250824181934/https://darkwebdaily.live/ |archive-date=August 24th, 2025 |access-date=August 28th, 2025 |website=DarkWebDaily.live}}</ref>" by [https://darkwebdaily.live/ Dark Web Daily].
*[https://prism-break.org/en/ PRISM Break] (An actual clearnet site) - An 1 year outdated website, however, it is revealed that [https://gitlab.com/prism-break/prism-break/-/issues/2301 there will be revamp soon] according to a closed issue.
*[https://hidden-services.today/ Hidden Services Today] (Clearnet, darknet available [http://q3o3hdjbf6vwxdnpskyhxw7w7rnmnfhz2szbuala4q24x6csbp7adiad.onion/ here]) - A somewhat interesting website, however, his guides and other resources he lists are something worth considering (Be aware of misleading information, especially [https://PrivacyTools.io PrivacyTools.io] being listed as "recommended").

==Introduction Three (3) - Clarifications & Explanations==

===Why should I not trust big tech? (Software/Hardware wise)===
Because many of us (you the viewer and the wiki contributors) know that they simply cannot be trusted, no matter what. You may have seen that [[Google]] is introducing an [[Android]] "certified devices" update regarding [[Google|Google Play]] when [[Google plans to restrict sideloading of Android apps|developers have to verify themselves]] and to prevent side-loading. Which, in the process of verification, it can lead into [[de-anonymization]]. Another one, [[Microsoft]] acknowledged the fact that what Windows 10 is doing is illegal in terms of privacy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davey |first=Winder |date=Aug 28, 2019, 03:40am EDT |title=Microsoft Confirms Windows 10 Privacy Investigation With A $4 Billion Sting |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/08/28/microsoft-confirms-windows-10-privacy-investigation-with-a-4-billion-sting/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2019/08/28/microsoft-confirms-windows-10-privacy-investigation-with-a-4-billion-sting/ |archive-date=May 7th, 2025 |access-date=August 28th, 2025 |work=Forbes}}</ref> Or how about [[Mozilla]], having their [[firefox]] to have a [[terms of service]] ([[Mozilla introduces TOS to Firefox|2]]) because they are an [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/advertising/ advertising company]. How about [[Apple]] having their MacOS having an increased [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ84qw4ZMxc surveillance capabilities]. There are many examples of this and honestly, there are '''many reasons why you should not trust big tech corporations''' like these.

You might ask yourself: "Which one should I trust?" The answer depends, and will most likely lead to it being '''no'''. But the issue itself is that, while you may have seen [[Proton]] advertised everywhere, including their sponsors online, such as [https://protonvpn.com/ ProtonVPN], or their password manager [https://proton.me/pass Proton Pass]. However, nobody should be trusting an marketing strategy. But for now, they should be "trustworthy" as of the current writing.

For now this will be a list of "trusted*" corporations that we the contributors put into.

*[https://proton.me/ Proton AG]
*[https://tuta.com/ Tuta]

===Why should I not trust Governments? (Anywhere, technically)===
There are many reasons why, for example, The United States of America, their [[wikipedia:National_Security_Agency|National Security Agency]], back in 2013, When [[wikipedia:Edward_Snowden|Edward Snowden]] leaked classified information regarding the active surveillance that was deemed unconstitutional, according [https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/nov/01/snowden-nsa-files-surveillance-revelations-decoded The Guardian]. Another example, China, [[wikipedia:National_Intelligence_Law_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China|anything established or headquartered in China must provide data to intelligence agencies]], which may include [[ByteDance|Bytedance]] such as [[TikTok]]. In Russia, there is a new app call "[https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/21/tech/max-messenger-app-russia-smartphones-intl Max]" that is made by the state government, and is considered as a replacement to the "VK" messenger, what's concerning, for now, is that it may track Russian citizens. In the European Union, in the year 2022, the "[https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_920 ProtectEU]" project, they wanted every encryption to be backdoored<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chiara |first=Castro |date=May 8th, 2025 |title=Chat Control 2.0? Experts urge the EU not to undermine encryption with new ProtectEU plan |url=https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/chat-control-2-0-experts-urge-the-eu-not-to-undermine-encryption-with-new-protecteu-plan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250508124026/https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/chat-control-2-0-experts-urge-the-eu-not-to-undermine-encryption-with-new-protecteu-plan |archive-date=May 8th, 2025. |access-date=August 31st, 2025. |work=TechRadar}}</ref>, and nowadays, it is supported by [https://fightchatcontrol.eu/ 15 member states].

The issue is that we shouldn't trust our own governments just because they are 'honest', which they aren't, we gotta be speculative on the things that they pose a danger to. Do note that we do not endorse any sort of sensitive activity when it comes to, say, endorsing or promoting [[wikipedia:Anarchism|anarchism]], that is a separate issue that you must figure it out. Ideally, there is no such thing as a true good government.

== Manual One (1) - The basics ==
let's start off with the things you use.

=== Google LLC ===
We all know why, but let me list some reasons why not to use them and list some adversarial traits that may have been documented.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Google Adversarial Attack Tree
!Traits
!Aftermath
!Mitigation's
!Notes
|-
|Advertising
|Selling your data to third party data brokers
|Opt-out, Adblockers.
|While opting out maybe isn't as effective as it should be, but it will do the job.
|-
|Backdoored Software/Services<ref>{{Cite web |first=GNU is Not Unix |title=Google's Software is Malware |url=https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-google.en.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250520022029/https://www.gnu.org/proprietary/malware-google.en.html |archive-date=May 20th, 2025 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |website=GNU Operating System}}</ref>
|Law enforcement (or your government) can actually subpoena your data to be handed over, soon, you might get arrested for something you didn't or did do.
|Keep illegal activities away from Google, Create a purpose for a Google account, keep it minimal as possible, aka low profile.
|Do not put all eggs in one basket, keep them in a separate account and do not defeat the purpose of such accounts, do it somewhere else.
|-
|Remote installation of what was once disabled (Systemic issue, check google play store for further details)
|Once you have disabled or uninstalled a google software from your phone, it can be re-enabled and/or reinstalled by tomorrow.
|No new information is available on how to mitigate this issue.
|While invasive, there are some apps that cannot be deleted whatsoever, which is just another example of what will happen if it becomes the next [[Apple]].
|-
|Location Tracking (Many sources)<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hautala |first=Laura |date=Aug. 20, 2018 |title=Google sued over tracking user location amid privacy concerns |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/google-sued-over-keeping-location-data-amid-privacy-concerns/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920093729/https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/google-sued-over-keeping-location-data-amid-privacy-concerns/ |archive-date=September 20th, 2021 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |work=Cnet}}</ref>
|It can profile and track whenever you go, full surveillance on your habits when going outside.
|Turn off location tracking (Ineffective because of dark-patterns)
|Not exactly sure if turning it off is good or not, as we can agree that it does have dark-patterns in many ways.
|-
|The walled garden<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jatain |first=Vishveshwar |date=16th of June, 2021 |title=The walled gardens of ad tech, explained |url=https://blockthrough.com/blog/the-walled-gardens-of-the-ad-tech-industry-explained/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616182313/https://blockthrough.com/blog/the-walled-gardens-of-the-ad-tech-industry-explained/ |archive-date=June 16th, 2021 |access-date=August 31st, 2025 |work=Blockthrough}}</ref>
|It makes you tightly integrated into the Googles ecosystem, in any shape of form of escaping this walled garden, it becomes impossible, due to laziness or highly dependent on.
|Breaking out the habit of staying in one ecosystem. Break the laziness and start working on removing yourself from it, and look for other options instead.
|None. It is obvious.
|-
|
|
|
|
|}

<references />

User:Jerry468/sandbox

2025-08-28T14:30:21Z

Jerry468: Added Introduction 3 and quick fix up for introduction 2.

User:Jerry468/sandbox

2025-08-27T17:57:13Z

Jerry468: Just so you know, I may return to this once I have time.

User:Jerry468/sandbox

2025-08-26T16:47:46Z

Jerry468: Edited the notice page.

User:Jerry468/sandbox

2025-08-26T16:44:18Z

Jerry468: A consumer privacy guide, intended for internet online consumers or people looking for an alternative.

{{GuideNotice}}
{{StubNotice}}
{{Alert|Your alert message here}}

== Introduction One (1) - Why was this made? ==
Simply because of the lack of new guides being added, or simply, because other guides on the [[wikipedia:Clearnet_(networking)|clearnet]] are, most likely, unreliable. There are many reasons why, however, I (The original author, aka contributor) want to make it clear that this is simply a guide for anyone seeking privacy, and/or anonymity, even though we (The Consumer Rights Wiki) already have a page dedicated to this in the [https://consumerrights.wiki/Main_Page main page], but that is a issue on it's own as it isn't universal. It was made, and in summery, to provide an alternative to other mainstream platforms such as [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/ PrivacyGuides.org] and [https://www.privacytools.io/ PrivacyTools.io], to improve on those ideas and to provide basic to advanced consumer-level privacy and anonymity services, and software, that I (Original Author), recommend based on my (Original Author) experience and other sources that I may have viewed on the [[wikipedia:Darknet|DarkNet]] (Which may be depending on the credibility on the sources, it still provides the valuable information out, as of current writing).

Summary: It was made to provide an alternative to popular mainstream privacy sources such as [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/ PrivacyGuides.org] and [https://www.privacytools.io/ PrivacyTools.io], to combat inaccuracies and misleading information. While there is a Consumer Tools page, it is not universal and is short to be fully used for consumer privacy and security, which is lacking. This guide is designed for average daily consumer that just wants to get away with Big Tech, or consumer violations.

=== Why not security? Why isn't it mentioned? ===
It can go both ways, either you use a Operating System (E.g [[Apple|MacOS]]) that is still maintained and is considered the "best of the best" in terms of security, while it is moderately privacy friendly, it still can perform actions actions that may be considered "Privacy Invasive" or "Surveillance Software" such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Surveillance scanning your files] such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Backdoors documents] uploaded to cloud for example, or having access to your local files.<ref>{{Cite news |first=ldsandon |date=February 24th, 2016. |title=Scaring: Windows 10 lets Microsoft access your own local files |url=https://www.sandon.it/node/104 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325072357/http://www.sandon.it/node/104 |archive-date=March 25, 2016 |access-date=August 26th, 2025 |work=Sandon}}</ref>

Either way, security is also important in this guide, also. But, what is important is you, the consumer, should understand that, while it may become popularized in the future (Privacy & Anonymity), there are other software services that offer security (Maintained, or Design)

User:Jerry468/sandbox

2025-08-26T16:43:16Z

Jerry468: A simple, yet, unfinished guide on consumer privacy, I will do it when I have time.

{{GuideNotice}}
{{StubNotice}}
{{Alert||message=This guide is either designed for online consumers online, or for people looking for an alternative. I (Original Author) am not responsible for any of the damages or such endorsements of sensitive activities. This disclaimer is here for a reason: It either gets it's own page as a recognized long-page source version of the Consumer Tools in the main page, or no. Either way, it goes in separate ways.}}

==Introduction One (1) - Why was this made?==
Simply because of the lack of new guides being added, or simply, because other guides on the [[wikipedia:Clearnet_(networking)|clearnet]] are, most likely, unreliable. There are many reasons why, however, I (The original author, aka contributor) want to make it clear that this is simply a guide for anyone seeking privacy, and/or anonymity, even though we (The Consumer Rights Wiki) already have a page dedicated to this in the [https://consumerrights.wiki/Main_Page main page], but that is a issue on it's own as it isn't universal. It was made, and in summery, to provide an alternative to other mainstream platforms such as [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/ PrivacyGuides.org] and [https://www.privacytools.io/ PrivacyTools.io], to improve on those ideas and to provide basic to advanced consumer-level privacy and anonymity services, and software, that I (Original Author), recommend based on my (Original Author) experience and other sources that I may have viewed on the [[wikipedia:Darknet|DarkNet]] (Which may be depending on the credibility on the sources, it still provides the valuable information out, as of current writing).

Summary: It was made to provide an alternative to popular mainstream privacy sources such as [https://www.privacyguides.org/en/ PrivacyGuides.org] and [https://www.privacytools.io/ PrivacyTools.io], to combat inaccuracies and misleading information. While there is a Consumer Tools page, it is not universal and is short to be fully used for consumer privacy and security, which is lacking. This guide is designed for average daily consumer that just wants to get away with Big Tech, or consumer violations.

===Why not security? Why isn't it mentioned?===
It can go both ways, either you use a Operating System (E.g [[Apple|MacOS]]) that is still maintained and is considered the "best of the best" in terms of security, while it is moderately privacy friendly, it still can perform actions actions that may be considered "Privacy Invasive" or "Surveillance Software" such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Surveillance scanning your files] such as [https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Host_Operating_System_Selection#Windows_Backdoors documents] uploaded to cloud for example, or having access to your local files.<ref>{{Cite news |first=ldsandon |date=February 24th, 2016. |title=Scaring: Windows 10 lets Microsoft access your own local files |url=https://www.sandon.it/node/104 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325072357/http://www.sandon.it/node/104 |archive-date=March 25, 2016 |access-date=August 26th, 2025 |work=Sandon}}</ref>

Either way, security is also important in this guide, also. But, what is important is you, the consumer, should understand that, while it may become popularized in the future (Privacy & Anonymity), there are other software services that offer security (Maintained, or by Design), and other "by design" features such as [[wikipedia:Plausible_deniability|plausible deniability]], or [[wikipedia:Virtualization|virtualization]]. Either way, I am getting off topic.

In short: Security is not mentioned as every software you use is maintained, and/or has a aforementioned features.

=== Why should I trust this page? ===
Because whatever I (original author) or we (contributors to the wiki) say '''does or does not''' have merit on it's own. We recommend that you do research on your own to see if it is outdated or inaccurate. But were not here to endorse sensitive activities, nor give legal advice, and for that case, please speak to your local attorney/lawyer for the purpose of checking a certain kind of a legal status, or if there is a sort of crime or legislation that may have been enacted upon by your national or international government (e.g European Union, Germany).

And for this case, this guide isn't perfect, and it may be on-going and may have missing details. Please, treat it with grain of salt. Thank you.

== Introduction Two (2) - Recommended sources ==
While there are other (un)credible sources that may have spread things like [[wikipedia:Fear,_uncertainty,_and_doubt|FUD]] or conspiracy theories that many of those people dismiss. However, in this guide, it is supposed to be wiki-friendly, following the guidelines (and maybe even violated ones, for good reason to prevent a paradox) as it should be. However, the writing, whenever that be first or third person, is technically

I will simply do it later.

<references />

Europe-based news sites enact consent-or-pay for data tracking

2025-08-26T12:15:04Z

Jerry468: Added a "Why is it an issue" as a form of a example of why it is a problem, but this isn't a theme page, it's an incident. So imagine it as a form of a summary of why it is a problem. There is already a theme page discussing so, why not?

{{Stub}}
[[File:Screenshot 2025-08-15 at 17-48-22 The Mirror News Sport Celebrity & Entertainment.png|alt=Picture of The Mirror's privacy settings when you go to their website, showing a 'partners' section that tells you who they share your data with. (taken 15 August 2025)|thumb|Picture of The Mirror privacy settings when you go to their website. (taken 15 August 2025)]]
The Mirror and The Independent are UK-based news sites that have recently enacted the [[consent-or-pay]] model, creating a binary choice where readers must either consent to cookies or pay to avoid the data tracking.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> This consent-or-pay model began rolling out on various websites when the UK and EU passed the [[General Data Protection Regulation|General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)]].

==Background==
After the GDPR passed in 2018, some companies responded to the regulation by enacting consent-or-pay, a model where users can either consent to data tracking via cookies or must pay a small sum to reject all cookies. The purpose of the payment is to offset the loss of ad revenue per viewer.

== Why is it an issue ==
Because it violates the the [[General Data Protection Regulation|GDPR]], and it is also a ethical issue regarding privacy<ref>{{Cite news |last=Unknown |first=Unknown |date=November 28, 2023 |title=Meta's 'Pay or Okay' Model: Legal and Ethical Implications for Publishers |url=https://www.uniconsent.com/blog/risks-of-pay-or-consent-models |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250427063707/https://www.uniconsent.com/blog/risks-of-pay-or-consent-models |archive-date=April 27th, 2025 |access-date=26th, August, 2025 |work=UniConsent}}</ref>. The European Union at EDPB, adopted the "Opinion" following the requests of Dutch, Norway, and Hamburg DPA's (Data Protection Authorities) regarding the consent or pay models deployed by large, popular platforms such as [[Facebook]] and other platforms.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 April 2024 |title=EDPB: ‘Consent or Pay’ models should offer real choice |url=https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2024/edpb-consent-or-pay-models-should-offer-real-choice_en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726233856/https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2024/edpb-consent-or-pay-models-should-offer-real-choice_en |archive-date=July 26th, 2024 |access-date=August 26th, 2025 |website=European Data Protection Board (EU)}}</ref>

==The Mirror==
The Mirror is the example I gave as the picture. This displays a site where you are told that you need to pay to reject cookies for £1.99 per month to not get tracked via cookies.. It is also worth noting that the site which tells you that you need to pay to reject cookies says this.

<blockquote>''We have introduced these choices in accordance with data protection regulations.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=15 August 2025 |title=The Mirror |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/}}</ref>''</blockquote>

This makes no sense as The Telegraph, which is another UK-based newspaper, does not force you to accept cookies without paying for it.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=15 August 2025 |title=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/}}</ref> Additionally, the fact that you have to pay to avoid this doesn't help the cause, either.

==The Independent==
The independent is another example of something that you need to pay for to reject cookies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 August 2025 |title=The Independent |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/}}</ref> It says that 'Free-thinking, independent journalism needs your support'.

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Incidents]]

Talk:De-anonymization

2025-08-25T16:11:14Z

Jerry468: /* A quick addition to the "How your data is anonymized" part. */ new section

== A quick addition to the "How your data is anonymized" part. ==

Before it is de-anonymized, it must be anonymized first, or at the very least, it kinda depends, as it still derives from the data collection practice from other software companies like Brave or Mozilla. Please take this with a grain of salt as it has been used as an example. [[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] ([[User talk:Jerry468|talk]]) 16:11, 25 August 2025 (UTC)

De-anonymization

2025-08-25T15:56:16Z

Jerry468: While this is my first time contributing, while it may be irrelevant, or maybe in some mistakes I may have did, it still fits the article about De-anonymization and how anonymized data is processed. My apologies for the mistake I may have did.

{{StubNotice}}

De-anonymization is a practice used to relate pieces of previously-anonymized user data in order to assemble a complete user profile.

==How it works==
The core of de-anonymization involves making inferences to connect different types of obfuscated data, sometimes even across platforms.

== How data is anonymized ==
{{Notice|Note from Collaborator: While maybe irrelevant, it is important to understand how data is collected when it comes to it being anonymized.}}
Anonymization, in practice, also involves around collecting user data that is said to be "aggregated/de-identified basis" which involves the usage of [[wikipedia:K-anonymity|k-anonymity]]. There are also forms of data collection that also used in different methods such as [[wikipedia:T-closeness|''t''-closeness]], [[wikipedia:L-diversity|''l''-diversity]], and [[wikipedia:Differential_privacy|differential privacy]], however there are other forms of data collection that is also used, which have yet to be disclosed to the customers.

==Why it is a problem==
Many privacy policies describe the disclosure of anonymized data to third parties in an effort to "limit unwarranted data collection". However, de-anonymization circumvents these privacy measures, allowing these third parties to engage in practices such as data sales or targeted advertising as normal. This is however, an issue when it comes to privacy, as an adversary (e.g telemarketer) will be able to conduct an research on those records in order to attempt to reveal the data that is aggregated.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-anonymity#Critiques_of_k-anonymity]

==Examples==
{{reflist}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Narayanan & Shmatikov |first=Arvind & Vitaly |title=How To Break Anonymity of the Netflix Prize Dataset |date=November 11, 2006 |publisher=The University of Texas at Austin |location=United States, Taxes, Austin.}}</ref>
[[Category:Common terms]]

Talk:Main Page

2025-08-23T17:48:05Z

Jerry468: /* Hi, I am new here! */ new section

<div class="plainlinks" style="text-align: center; margin: {{#ifeq:{{{navbox|<noinclude>yes</noinclude>}}}|yes|2px}} 0 0.5em; padding: 0.5em; {{{style|border: 1px solid #A0A5AD;}}} {{{backgroundstyle|background-color: var(--background-color-progressive-subtle, #eaf3ff); color: inherit;}}}">'''Welcome!''' To reach the moderator team, please add a new topic at [[Consumer Rights Wiki talk:Moderators' noticeboard|Moderators' noticeboard]].</div>
==Looking good==

Looks like we are doing alright so far with this page; lol... people go ahead of me - [[User:Atsumari|Atsumari]] ([[User talk:Atsumari|talk]]) 02:51, 1 February 2025 (UTC)

==Can we categorize this?==

Just to clean up [[Special:UncategorizedPages]]. I suggest putting this page under [[:Category:CAT]]. [[User:Waldo|Waldo]] ([[User talk:Waldo|talk]]) 08:07, 20 January 2025 (UTC)

Moved this into the CAT category so it isn't eaten by special pages as requested; looks like it may have already been in the root namespace but just for clarity sake until we build a full on mainpage. Thanks for the catch <3 - [[User:Atsumari|Atsumari]] ([[User talk:Atsumari|talk]]) 11:36, 25 January 2025 (UTC)

==Anonymization of non-logged in user IPs==

I would like to request that users who make edits without user accounts do not have their full IP published in the edit log.

:I made a suggestion on the Discord server on your behalf. [[User:Waldo|Waldo]] ([[User talk:Waldo|talk]]) 10:44, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

:For that there is an extension called AnonPrivacy https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:AnonPrivacy [[User:Fen|Fen]] ([[User talk:Fen|talk]]) 22:02, 15 July 2025 (UTC)
::Greetings, I made the suggestion to the team on your behalf. At the momment, there is no plan or intention to anonymize IPs for non-logged in users. It helps with accountability as knowing the IP will be visible deterring bad behavior. It also makes moderation easier. Realistically the only alternative is hashing the ip which complex and destroys the core principles that the wiki is about. [[User:Fen|Fen]] ([[User talk:Fen|talk]]) 23:16, 15 July 2025 (UTC)

: Anyone who does not want their IP publicly logged should create an account. It is quick and easy. Besides, public IPs have in the past exposed edits from companies such as Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) ([https://www.thelocal.de/20120312/41281/ source]). [[User:Elominius|Elominius]] ([[User talk:Elominius|talk]]) 01:40, 17 August 2025 (UTC)

==Add a patent as a source==

My interest in this woke up when editing [[Figma threatens companies using "Dev Mode"|this article]], and following the [[wikipedia:Template:Cite_patent|Wikipedia page to cite from a patent]], when previewing the article the reference wasn't rendered properly. I don't know if I screwed up something or really the site doesn't support yet the use of this format. Hope someone could illustrate me on how to move on with this [[User:Fjordpining|Fjordpining]] ([[User talk:Fjordpining|talk]]) 06:33, 18 July 2025 (UTC)

==stating "Recently updated" not particularly helpful==

On [https://consumerrights.wiki/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Special%3ARecentChanges| the "create account" page], near the bottom, it says, "We have recently updated our privacy policy." How recently? It doesn't say. The logical assumption which must be made is that it has changed seconds ago, and must be reread. How about instead displaying something along the lines of, "Our privacy policy was last updated on <date>", even if there does not exist a way to automate the display of the date, and the "create account" page (or the page of any other such notice) must be edited by hand?

:this is valid, and we'll try and get it fixed shortly [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 08:29, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
==Dependence on phone app for basic functions, make an article?==

I'm on Frontier internet, only gig around and I think they know it. We got fiber a few years ago and if you want wi-fi you either go with the Amazon Eeros(?) or learn how to do your own router. The Eeros seems that you can only access settings with a phone app, no desktop. Would this qualify it for an article on here? I've also heard about sleezy back door things happening either from Amazon or the IP itself, that they can access settings the customer cannot. Anyhow I don't want to just go ahead and write some poorly put together article and it shouldn't even be on here. [[User:Sawbones|Sawbones]] ([[User talk:Sawbones|talk]]) 17:57, 14 August 2025 (UTC)

:This probably depends on the level of coverage. have there been any news articles (local or otherwise) which are complaining about this? Forcing the customer to use unneccesarily invasive software to access a service is something which definitely fits within the wiki's scope, and anything which is happening across a whole ISP would be large-scale enough, but the final thing an article needs is good sources [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 08:27, 15 August 2025 (UTC)

==Cruzaders kings 2 incident.==

Hi everyone, as a fan of Paradox games and somebody that really wants to write in this wiki i wanted to ask something... what right exactly the paradox incident covers? i want to do it, but i dont understand quite exactly what i should do at writting it, why its an anti ownership or anti consumer practice, i need to understand that first to start it, because if i dont recognize well the systematic issue i think that i cannot treat it. [[User:Predatitor41|Predatitor41]] ([[User talk:Predatitor41|talk]]) 01:26, 15 August 2025 (UTC)

:I think I see the one you mean on the article suggestions. I'm honeslt not sure why it should be there either, it doesn't seem to fit. They sell a lot of DLC and it's quite expensive, but there's nothing particularly deceptive going on there from what I can tell. [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 08:29, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
::It looks like it was eliminated of suggestion articles, i dont know why but it looks like it was discarded. [[User:Predatitor41|Predatitor41]] ([[User talk:Predatitor41|talk]]) 14:44, 15 August 2025 (UTC)
:::I removed it for reasons stated previously - it (at least the way it was phrased in the entry) did not seem like something which would fit on the wiki [[User:Keith|Keith]] ([[User talk:Keith|talk]]) 14:48, 15 August 2025 (UTC)

== Replace PrivacyTools.io with PrivacyGuides ==

As per PrivacyGuides FAQ page https://www.privacyguides.org/en/about/privacytools/

"In September 2021, every active contributor unanimously agreed to move from PrivacyTools to work on this site: Privacy Guides. This decision was made because PrivacyTools’ founder and controller of the domain name had disappeared for an extended period of time and could not be contacted.

Having built a reputable site and set of services on PrivacyTools.io, this caused grave concerns for the future of PrivacyTools, as any future disruption could wipe out the entire organization with no recovery method. This transition was communicated to the PrivacyTools community many months in advance via a variety of channels including its blog, Twitter, Reddit, and Mastodon to ensure the entire process went as smoothly as possible. We did this to ensure nobody was kept in the dark, which has been our modus operandi since our team was created, and to make sure Privacy Guides was recognized as the same reliable organization that PrivacyTools was before the transition.

After the organizational move was completed, the founder of PrivacyTools returned and began to spread misinformation about the Privacy Guides project. They continue to spread misinformation in addition to operating a paid link farm on the PrivacyTools domain. We are creating this page to clear up any misconceptions."

The current PrivacyTools.io site has obvious but undisclosed sponsored promotions of Nord Security products (NordVPN, Surfshark, Incogni) and maybe others as well. The events that transpired that led to the forming of PrivacyGuides are verifiable through searching community posts at the time and other sources. For those that remember the "leading" members of PrivacyTools at the time (Jonah Aragon, Daniel Gray, Niek-de-Wilde, freddy...), all of them were the ones who made PrivacyGuides and moved along with the whole community. Their forum and other channels are filled with community discussion and all recommendation additions and removals are debated in public as was the case with PrivacyTools in the past. Meanwhile today PrivacyTools.io doesn't even have an "About" page or anything,and while there is a Github page linked on the site, there doesn't seem to be a way to actually contribute (https://github.com/privacytoolsIO/privacy-tools/discussions/18).

== Addition of NOYB.eu to the Consumer Tools section ==

Suggestion to add https://noyb.eu/en to one of the subsections of the Consumer Tools sections. Possibly in the "Legal & complaint filing" subsection. It's a non-profit, specifically about data privacy and protection within the EU. [[User:Socks|Socks]] ([[User talk:Socks|talk]]) 17:05, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

== Need to confer with Champion Power Equipment employees ==

I'm a small engine mechanic and I'm going to start a post about the dual fuel generators they produce. They are flawed regardless of intentions, and would like exact specs if anyone has that information, Mainly need the cylinder, and piston specs as well as the dry fuel ratio.

The case is a denied warranty for one of our customers that I'm sure has to be a common issue with this design.

I plan to research online but It would be faster to have people who have direct access to the information, We were and still are a warranty center for them but one of champion's employees insulted us and our competence on the case I'm referring to, and we haven't gotten any contact from champion since so not really in the situation to reach out for information that they'd most likely deny or ignore us on.

If anyone on here is an employee in their parts department, or a similar department with access to publicly known part numbers and specs please reach out, the small engine industry is a problem lately that's only getting worse. It would be nice to document issues that arise It would also be nice to have someone with engineering experience and credentials to verify data and calculate it themselves, especially in the gas powered equipment sector/industry [[User:The Wang|The Wang]] ([[User talk:The Wang|talk]]) 20:20, 16 August 2025 (UTC)

== Will this wiki publish regular backups? ==

The Wikimedia Foundation regularly publishes [https://dumps.wikimedia.org/ compressed archives] of its wikis. This sets an example I wish every website with text-based user-generated contributions would follow. It is important to preserve the contribution history should this site go offline. Besides, text is well compressable.

Many websites in the past have shut down with little to no warning, resulting in the loss of years of volunteer contributions. We need to pre-empt this.

<blockquote>
Issue: No Backup, No Distribution
For reasons and examples stated in this article, any centralized web-based service will go offline some day. Some sooner, some later. Popularity is not even a guarantee that a service gets continued
</blockquote>

Source: [https://karl-voit.at/2020/10/23/avoid-web-forums/ Karl Voit].

[[User:Elominius|Elominius]] ([[User talk:Elominius|talk]]) 03:59, 17 August 2025 (UTC)

== Suggestion: install view counters ==

Please install [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:HitCounters HitCounters] for MediaWiki. This extension shows the view counts an article is getting. It would be nice to see it. [[User:Elominius|Elominius]] ([[User talk:Elominius|talk]]) 08:15, 17 August 2025 (UTC)

== Hi, I am new here! ==

So I was wondering about the overall things of the consumer wiki by Louis Rossman (Apologies if I get the name wrong), and so I decided to join on the bandwagon. But I do have a question: Why is this wiki centered around the US? I live in a different continent, predominately, Europe. I do have a reason since most of which the "Consumer Tools" is centered around the US, such as the Better Business Bureau, FDA, and others. Since my homeland doesn't exactly have those said agencies like you guys do, and that is what I have been wondering about.

Thank you, uh, sincerely, anonymous. [[User:Jerry468|Jerry468]] ([[User talk:Jerry468|talk]]) 17:48, 23 August 2025 (UTC)