Mozilla has responded to user backlash over the Firefox web browser’s new Terms of Use, which critics have called out for using overly broad language that appears to give the browser maker the rights to whatever data you input or upload. The company says the new terms aren’t a change in how Mozilla uses data, but are rather meant to formalize its relationship with the user by clearly stating what users are agreeing to when they use Firefox.
On Wednesday, the browser maker introduced a new Terms of Use and updated Privacy Notice for Firefox, saying it wanted to offer users more transparency over their rights and permissions in the agreements, as well as provide a more detailed explanation of its data practices.
“We tried to make these easy to read and understand — there shouldn’t be any surprises in how we operate or how our product works,” the company’s blog post stated.
However, there was some confusion about this — so much confusion, in fact, that the company has had to update its blog post to state that its terms do not give Mozilla ownership of user data or a right to use it beyond what’s stated in the Privacy Notice.
Users who read through the new terms were upset by the changes, pointing to the vague and seemingly all-encompassing language Mozilla used that said (emphasis ours): “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.”
As a number of critics pointed out, this statement seems fairly broad.
Brendan Eich, co-founder and CEO of a rival browser maker Brave Software, responded to Mozilla’s updated terms by writing, “W T F” in a post on X. He also suggested that Mozilla’s wording was related to a business pivot to allow Firefox to monetize by providing data for AI and other uses.
TechCrunch asked Mozilla to clarify if the terms now indicate user data was being provided to AI companies or advertisers. The company told us that its Privacy Notice still applies when using its AI features, and content data is not sent to Mozilla or elsewhere. Plus, data shared with advertisers is de-identified, it said.
“These changes are not driven by a desire by Mozilla to use people’s data for AI or sell it to advertisers,” Brandon Borrman, Mozilla’s VP of Communications, said in an email to TechCrunch. “As it says in the Terms of Use, we ask for permission from the user to use their data to operate Firefox ‘as you indicate with your use of Firefox.’ This means that our ability to use data is still limited by what we disclose in the Privacy Notice.”
The Privacy Notice says that Firefox may collect technical and interaction data about how AI chatbots are used.
The spokesperson told TechCrunch that if users choose to opt in to use third-party AI chatbots with Firefox, the third party will process their data in accordance with their own policies. Other AI features in Firefox operate locally on users’ devices, the spokesperson said, and don’t send “content data to Mozilla or elsewhere.”
Mozilla also clarified how it works with advertisers, explaining that it does sell advertising in Firefox as part of how it funds development of the browser.
“It’s part of Mozilla’s focus to build privacy-preserving ads products that improve best practices across the industry,” the spokesperson said. “In cases where we serve ads on Firefox surfaces (such as the New Tab page) we only collect and share data as set out in the Privacy Notice, which states that we only share data with our advertising partners on a de-identified or aggregated basis.”
The company said that users can opt out of having their data processed for advertising purposes by turning off a setting related to “technical and interaction data” on both desktop and mobile at any time.
Mozilla also further clarified why it used certain terms, saying that the term “nonexclusive” was used to indicate that Mozilla doesn’t want an exclusive license to user data, because users should be able to do other things with that data, too.
“Royalty-free” was used because Firefox is free and neither Mozilla nor the user should owe each other money in exchange for handling the data in order to provide the browser. And “worldwide” was used because Firefox is available worldwide and provides access to the global internet.
Despite Mozilla’s assurances that the new policies aren’t changing how Mozilla uses data, people will likely continue to question why the terms use such broad language. As a result, some may shift their browser use elsewhere.
That could be bad news for Firefox; its browser only has a 2.54% share of the worldwide browser market as it is, coming in behind Chrome (67%), Safari (17.95%), and Edge (5.2%).
Updated after publication to attribute the statement more accurately to Mozilla’s VP of Comms Brandon Borrman, rather than the spokesperson who had emailed the statement, Kenya Friend-Daniel.
