this post was submitted on 27 May 2024
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Firefox

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to me, it's very sad that firefox tracks search data (lemmy.world)
submitted 5 months ago by swooosh@lemmy.world to c/firefox@lemmy.ml
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If I want to opt out, I can only opt out by disabling all usage telemetry according to the official doc https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/share-data-mozilla-help-improve-firefox . That means that my usage habits and the usage habit of all people that do not want to share their search terms with firefox, i.e. all somewhat privacy interested people is just thrown into the void. For future browser decisions, this means that the browsing behavior of a whole group is neglected. This makes me sad.

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[–] 30p87@feddit.de 31 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I read Mozillas Telemetry docs and Privacy Notice, and the only search data they collect is the general topic, and only in the US. Just claiming they track all your search and use habits because there's telemetry at all is bullshit.

[–] drspod@lemmy.ml 18 points 5 months ago

That wasn't the point of OP's post. They're saying that people who want to opt out from this search data telemetry must also opt out of all telemetry, which means privacy conscious users will be under-represented in Mozilla's telemetry data (selection bias). This could lead to worse privacy-related decisions from Mozilla in future.

[–] LWD@lemm.ee 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Can you upload and share a copy of your telemetry data or at least a copy of the search topics that have been associated with your Firefox browser?

I'm interested in perusing what kind of topics are collected.

Mozillas Telemetry docs and Privacy Notice

These both appear to be the same link, and neither of them mention "topics" or "search" as far as I can tell.

[–] HouseWolf@lemm.ee 7 points 5 months ago

As much as I appreciate Mozilla halting Chromiums complete stranglehold on the web. I even used to donate what I could to the project a while back, But they've also been fucking up so much lately I can't even in good faith recommend vanilla Firefox anymore.

But forks like LibreWolf still require Mozilla to stay afloat as they're not maintaining the back end only scraping the crud off the top.

So it's really starting to feel like a lose/lose situation.