Android is now warning of Firefox sharing data
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This is not at all a pot kettle situation, there is no reason to warn about Firefox.
There is: default search results on FF have always legally been sold to Google, the public didn't know since there were no terms of service or mention by FF whenever they uploaded the android version on the playstore that their users data would be collected and some be sold. Position is one of the data that may be sold as it could be used by Google to dermine which localised version of the search result is the best one to serve
And it's not going to be Google in the future: it could be Bing, startpage, ecosia, qwant etc... As long as someone pays, then the results are sold and there needs to be a warning to users.
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Isn't that just because Firefox got access to location data because some site asked for it?
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wait, mozilla has a location provider?
maybe there is open street map, idk what's the difference between a map and a location providerNah, open street maps is part of an open source map initiative with Meta and Microsoft, we're safe there....
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Fennec is great on Android
Great app also maintained by Mozilla
(wait, don't tell me y'all don't know lol)
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Firefox engines have telemetry since old ages. Do you know what even crazier ??? even other firefox browser like fennec has Mozilla telemetry.
PSA : disable it with Blocker (ROOT) for more privacyFennec is maintained by Mozilla
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There is: default search results on FF have always legally been sold to Google, the public didn't know since there were no terms of service or mention by FF whenever they uploaded the android version on the playstore that their users data would be collected and some be sold. Position is one of the data that may be sold as it could be used by Google to dermine which localised version of the search result is the best one to serve
And it's not going to be Google in the future: it could be Bing, startpage, ecosia, qwant etc... As long as someone pays, then the results are sold and there needs to be a warning to users.
the public didn’t know
That's not true, for many years Firefox was basically financed by Google for being the default search engine, because Google didn't want Microsoft to monopolize Internet Browsers. Everybody who had the slightest interest knew that.
But that's completely irrelevant, it's a very marginal source of revenue today, and Firefox does not sell user info to Google. So it's on Google to warn about using Google search.
The only reason for the change in Firefox privacy terms was for clarification. For instance any information given to Firefox, does not grant Firefox ownership of it. (opposite of for instance Facebook)
That's a guarantee of user protection, not the opposite. Firefox has a very limited scope of "using" user data, like for instance storing links with Firefox, so they work across multiple devices.
There is no "harvesting" of user behavior or information.https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/03/mozilla-rewrites-firefoxs-terms-of-use-after-user-backlash/
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Either die a hero……
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Firefox engines have telemetry since old ages. Do you know what even crazier ??? even other firefox browser like fennec has Mozilla telemetry.
PSA : disable it with Blocker (ROOT) for more privacy -
Librewolf for Linux. And ironfox on android
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NnnnnoooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOO
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On Desktop I use Zen Browser. On Android I still use Brave, but I'm considering switching to a non chromium browser there some time.
I moved from Firefox on Android to Brave recently because it was too often breaking sites or taking much longer to load. Firefox just added a report broken sktes feature to the app though so maybe I'll go back. Be the change I want to see in the world and whatnot.
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Hopefully soon Librewolf, Fennec F-droid and other forks will become mainstream.
I haven't switched to Librewolf on pc yet; hoping that turning off the telemetry/etc options in ff is enough, but I'm starting to think it might not be long.
I was that same way with Firefox for a while, but after I gave Librewolf a long-term test drive I stuck with it.
If you’re used to Firefox with the privacy stuff cranked up, from a user perspective Librewolf is basically just that. But I like knowing that some of the Mozilla stuff is actually removed.
They also roll out updates quickly. I’m pretty sure I updated Firefox and Librewolf to 136.0.1 today just hours apart.
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Yes, I agree. That's why I'm weirded out by people saying "Firefox bad, use Librewolf" and the like.
I still think a solution that relies on donation (maybe with some corporate support) would be very good for everyone involved. Unfortunately, Mozilla is not a player in this, so we're stuck with basically three engines, one that can't be used, one that's openly hostile, and one that's becoming hostile.
Not great.
You just described Servo. It will happen. The Linux Foundation is backing it up now... after Mozilla dropped it.
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Ironfox?
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Its app that you can downloaded in F-Droid, basically it's a app that can control other app components. But before that you must Root/Unlock bootloader
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So if Mozilla wants to monetize location data, what does this mean for all the custom ROMs that use Mozilla's location provider instead of Google's?
This might mean that we would have no true free location provider left.
Edit: just was thinking, what does this mean for Firefox forks that also use Mozilla's location service?
No custom ROM use MLS anymore. It was shut down a few years ago.
Anyway, in general, apps get their location data from Play Services.
Apps that don't use Play Services get data from the default provider, which is always Google.
The successor of MLS is BeaconDB.
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Librewolf is Firefox plus some light patches, and as such depends entirely from Firefox.
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Okay, turned it off. If a site needs my location it can ask me and I can politely tell it to fuck off unless it has a warrant.
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Any good browser suggestion??
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Any good browser suggestion??
I like Zen. Waterfox is also good.
