Mozilla has given itself rights to Firefox users’ data and assured that there is no other way

Mozilla has published new versions of its Terms of Service and Privacy Notice. The company explained this move as an effort to ensure transparency of its commitment to protecting user privacy. Some of the wording in these documents sounds scary, but the company assured that otherwise the browser will lose its core functionality.

Image source: mozilla.org

Among the new provisions is that users grant Mozilla a “non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license” to use data downloaded or entered through the browser. The vague language has raised concerns among users because it doesn’t make clear what data the company wants to access, which could include personal information, saved passwords, and browsing history.

«When you upload or input information through Firefox, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you specify when using Firefox,” the document says. The clause sparked heated debate online, including on Reddit. Such rhetoric is traditionally associated with tech giants and contrasts with the openness ideals that Mozilla claims to uphold. The situation was made worse by another clause: “Mozilla has the right to suspend or terminate anyone’s access to Firefox at any time for any reason, including if Mozilla decides to discontinue Firefox.”

The company also removed the FAQ question “Does Firefox sell your data?”, which had answered “No. We never have and we never will. And we protect you from the many advertisers who do. Firefox products are designed to protect your privacy. That’s a promise.” Users rightly decided that this promise no longer holds.

The company itself, however, found no reason to dramatize the situation. Mozilla continues to insist that Firefox remains an open source program, and the new terms apply only to the official version of the browser. “We noticed a little confusion in the license-related wording and want to clarify. We need a license to make some of Firefox’s core functionality possible. Without it, for example, we would not be able to use the information you entered into Firefox. It does NOT (sic) give us ownership of your data or the right to use it for anything other than what is stated in the Privacy Notice. The new policy simply allows Firefox to work as it always has, helping users visit web pages, allowing the browser to save your personal information, such as form data, or access a file you wanted to upload to a site,” reads a post on the Mozilla blog dedicated to the incident.