Firefox
❗Article Status Notice: This Article is a stub
This article is underdeveloped, and needs additional work to meet the wiki's Content Guidelines and be in line with our Mission Statement for comprehensive coverage of consumer protection issues. Learn more ▼
Firefox is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation. It is officially available on Windows (10 and above[1]), macOS and Linux.[2]
Basic Information | |
---|---|
Release Year | 2004 |
Product Type | Browser, Web Browser |
In Production | Yes |
Official Website | https://www.firefox.com/ |
Consumer impact summary
User privacy
Despite marketing itself as a security browser, by default "technical and interaction data" is sent to Firefox.[3] 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 about:config
. Some of these examples include:
- Integrated Pocket technology as a built-in extension, which in its Privacy Policy uses Google Analytics.[4]
- Google Analytics in the browser.[5] 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
about:config
.
Incidents
This is a list of all consumer protection incidents related to this product. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Firefox category.
Mozilla introduces TOS to Firefox (02/27/2025)
- Main article: 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. [6] Their reasoning is to "give [the user] more transparency over [their] rights and permissions as [they] use Firefox".[7] 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.
Alternatives
See also
References
- ↑ "Firefox users on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 moving to Extended Support Release". Mozilla Support. 21 Feb 2025. Archived from the original on 29 Jul 2025. Retrieved 20 Aug 2025.
- ↑ "Firefox for desktop". Firefox. 20 Aug 2025. Archived from the original on 29 Jul 2025. Retrieved 20 Aug 2025.
- ↑ "Manage technical and interaction data collection settings in Firefox". Mozilla Support. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
- ↑ "Pocket". Pocket. August 27, 2025. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
- ↑ "Google Analytics is used to track users. #3145". GitHub. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
- ↑ "Firefox Terms of Use". Mozilla. 2025-02-26. Retrieved 2025-08-18.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Varma, Ajit (2025-02-26). "Introducing a terms of use and updated privacy notice for Firefox". Mozilla Blog.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)