Mozilla now grants itself royalty free right to anything you type, then clarifies it is necessary. Not sure what legal experts will say for such a private browser…
It’s incredibly confusing how they worded it. Seems like they’re hoping on the AI train soon.
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That’s what I’m thinking too. Sounds like the kind of ToS an AI agent service that browses for you would have.
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Their response :
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.
Sounds like vague or BS. They don’t need a license to use a search engine in the search bar.
Now, they might mean that Mozilla using the data for themselves. They should get consent for that.
IANAL, but the contract take precedent over any “clarification”.
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The vague “legalese” in these contract are usually meant to keep themselves safe from litigation anyways. The more specific they are, the more ways they can get sued in the future 
Mozilla has been struggling with an ethical business plan for Firefox. I am not suprised if they’re getting desperate!
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So does this affect forks of Firefox like LibreWolf or IronFox?
I’m inclined to say no but we would need to wait for an official response from these projects
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I am flabbergasted with the absurdity of it. Are the people and companies supposed to be smart also getting stupider? Or just now showing their true colors?
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Sarah Jamie Lewis wrote a thread on this:
I’m inclined to side with Sarah on this one.
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At first I thought she was a Mozilla/Firefox rep. - was confused for 30 secs there.
But yeah - I concur too. I think all reasonable folks are understanding it the same way.
Either way, Ladybird can’t get here fast enough.
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Haha no, not a Mozilla rep. She’s a security researcher and works on privacy topics.
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Switch to zen browser
Tuta
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I honestly think one of the reasons people get burnt out by trying to make their online presence private is influencers and content creators are trying to make everything sensational. The FUD spread by combining this with a purposefully taken screencap of Mozilla deleting “Never have Never will” is surreal. FWIW, they moved it to a different section of FAQ.
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So if I use Firefox with a Firefox account (for sync), but no other services from Mozilla, does this change impact me in any way?
Mozilla really needs to stop pissing off its community. It seems they don’t care.
To be fair, have corporate millionaires running your company, then expect corporate BS. Not surprised but sad.
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I don’t get it: When you upload or input information through Firefox... - so when I enter my password on some site - i input information through Firefox, and give them all the rights to use my password?
when I chat through web - I give mozilla rights to read and use all my messages?
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Personally, I’ve stopped using Firefox completely. I can no longer justify using it for ideological reasons when it is so far behind in security and seemingly doesn’t particularly align with my values anymore anyways. Hopefully, Ladybird and/or Servo can be sensible alternatives to Chromium in the future.
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but what is a real viable alternative?
chromium? don’t chromium-based browsers still have worse ToS/policies? so choosing between evils - firefox is still the better option?
also doesn’t chromium has that manifest thing that blocks adblockers like ublock origin?
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Also, interesting thing, ToS says: Your use of Firefox must follow Mozilla’s Acceptable Use Policy
and that link for Acceptable Use Policy is talking about mozilla services only.
So is Firefox now a service?
in that case:
- (you are forbidden to) Upload, download, transmit, display, or grant access to content that includes graphic depictions of sexuality or violence,
therefore you are forbidden not just to watch porn through firefox, but even to watch some of shady youtube ADs 
This is disappointing. I’ll continue using Firefox because no other browser has the features I want in the way I want them, but I’m keeping an eye on Ladybird. The other options are…Brave, Vivaldi, various soft forks of Firefox, Dillo, and some other niche browsers incapable of running modern web apps. None of those are appealing to me.
I might be using TOR Browser more.
Privacy was all I ever wanted out of Firefox. Is it that hard to look after your users?
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