Firefox browser maker Mozilla on Friday updated its Terms of Use a second time within a week following criticism overbroad language that appeared to give the company the rights to all information uploaded by users.
The revised Terms of Use now states –
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.
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A previous version of this clause, which went into effect on February 26, said –
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.
The development came days after the company introduced a Terms of Use for Firefox for the first time, along with an updated Privacy Notice that aims to give users more transparency in its data practices.
“We’ve been listening to some of our community’s concerns with parts of the TOU, specifically about licensing,” Ajit Varma, VP of Product at Mozilla, said in a statement. “Our intent was just to be as clear as possible about how we make Firefox work, but in doing so we also created some confusion and concern.”
Mozilla emphasized that it doesn’t sell or buy data about its users, and that it made the changes because certain jurisdictions define the term “sell” more broadly than others, incorporating the various ways by which a consumer’s personal information changes hands with another party in exchange for monetary or other benefits.
On top of that, it said it already collects and shares some data with its partners from optional ads served on New Tab and sponsored suggestions in the search bar as a means to stay “commercially viable.”
Mozilla also pointed out that while it does not access users’ conversations with third-party artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots enabled via the sidebar (and through a shortcut), it does gather technical and interaction data on how this feature is used to help improve the Firefox browser.
This includes how often each third-party chatbot provider is chosen, how often suggested prompts are used, and the length of selected text.
“Whenever we share data with our partners, we put a lot of work into making sure that the data that we share is stripped of potentially identifying information, or shared only in the aggregate, or is put through our privacy preserving technologies (like OHTTP),” Varma said.
The pushback against Mozilla’s Terms of Use follows Google’s new ad tracking policy that has drawn scrutiny from regulators and watchdogs who say it raises privacy concerns.
The Ads platforms program policies, which went live on February 16, 2025, allow the use of IP addresses to fingerprint users and reach them across platforms without the need to re-identify them. The U.K. Information Commissioner’ Office (ICO) has called it an “irresponsible” change.
“Organisations seeking to deploy fingerprinting techniques for advertising will need to demonstrate how they are complying with the requirements of data protection law,” ICO said in a statement. “These include providing users with transparency, securing freely-given consent, ensuring fair processing and upholding information rights such as the right to erasure.”
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Some parts of this article are sourced from:
thehackernews.com
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