Mozilla declares that Firefox's controversial terms of use will not steal user data
When the terms of use for the long-established browser Firefox first came into effect on February 25, 2025, users expressed concerns that there were problems with the content. Later, Mozilla, the developer of Firefox, explained the terms of use again and revealed that some of the content had been updated.
An update on our Terms of Use
The Terms of Use, which went into effect on February 25, state the rights and permissions that users grant to Mozilla, stating, 'You grant Mozilla all rights necessary to operate Firefox, including processing data as described in
Concerns were raised about this statement, such as whether it implied a license for the information you input when using Firefox, or whether it was like a camera manufacturer asserting a license for the photos you take. Mozilla quickly responded with a comment explaining that 'the license is necessary to run some of Firefox's basic functions, and does not give Mozilla any rights to use your data for purposes other than those described in our data ownership or privacy notices.'
Regarding the above, Mozilla has made changes to the English version of its terms of use . The Japanese version has not changed at the time of writing, but it is expected that it will be revised to match the English version in the future. The new text is as follows:
'You grant Mozilla the rights necessary to operate Firefox, including to process data as described in the Firefox Privacy Notice. You also grant Mozilla a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to process content you input into Firefox as instructed by you. This does not give Mozilla any ownership rights in the content.'
Additionally, the reference to the Acceptable Use Policy was removed because it was deemed more confusing than clear. Previously, it said that Firefox must be used in accordance with Mozilla's Acceptable Use Policy, which included a statement that Firefox should not be used to grant access to pornography, raising concerns that viewing pornography on Firefox was a violation of the terms of use.
Even though the 'Firefox Terms of Use' has come into effect, concerns are being raised such as 'Will watching pornography be a violation of the terms?' and 'Will Mozilla be given excessive authority?' - GIGAZINE
In addition, Mozilla has explained the concerns that users' information may be sold because it had revised the statement 'We will never sell your data.'
'Mozilla does not sell or buy your data. We changed the wording because certain jurisdictions interpret the word 'sale' broadly. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act defines 'sale' as 'any act by which a business sells, rents, or discloses a consumer's personal information to another third party in exchange for monetary or other valuable consideration.' Firefox may share data with partners, such as to serve ads, which falls under the broad definition of sale, but when sharing data, we always remove any information that could potentially identify an individual.''
Mozilla said, 'We have listened to concerns from the community about some of the new terms of service, particularly the license. Our intention was to be as clear as possible about Firefox's features, but in doing so we have also created some confusion and concerns. With that in mind, we have updated the language to be more clear.'
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in Software, Posted by log1p_kr