Lunduke
News • Science & Tech
Mozilla Firefox Goes Anti-Privacy, Pro-Advertising
After buying advertising company, the browser maker goes all-in on data collection.
July 15, 2024
post photo preview

Mozilla is positioning itself as an Advertising and Artificial Intelligence company, and is actively sacrificing the security and privacy of Firefox users to be successful in that business.

Need proof of such an outlandish claim?

Look no further than the recent release of Firefox version 128... and the inclusion of "Privacy-Preserving Attribution".

What in the heck is "Privacy-Preserving Attribution"?

"Hey!  Privacy preserving!  That sounds fantastic!  What's the problem?"

This is, in essence, a bit of functionality -- specifically designed for online advertisers, and websites which implement advertising -- which collects and reports browsing activity back to the advertising companies.

"But it uses the word 'Privacy'!  That means it's private!  And that's good!"

Naming this bit of functionality "Privacy-Preserving Attribution" was a stroke of deceptive genius... as it truly does not preserve privacy.  By design.

This is an example of doublespeak, in line with : "War is Peace", "Freedom is Slavery", and "2 + 2 = 5".

To fully understand the issue, let's look at how "Privacy-Preserving Attribution" works (from a very high level).  Step-by-step.

  1. The Firefox web browser collects your data as you browse a website.
  2. That data is sent to a Mozilla server.
  3. Mozilla then bundles all the data from multiple users together -- into batches -- and sends those batches of data to the servers of advertisers.

Now, in theory, this would allow some of the data being sent to advertisers... to be potentially a bit more private.  Or, at least, slightly obfuscated by having the data of multiple users smashed together.

Unfortunately there are three key problems:

  1. The data being sent to the Mozilla server is neither anonymous, nor private.  Mozilla knows everything.
  2. Mozilla now owns an advertising company.  Mozilla is the advertiser.  Which means Mozilla is sending your private, identifiable data from one of their servers... to another one of their servers.
  3. Even if neither of those two points were true, there is enough data sent -- even in batches -- to reconstruct personal, identifiable information.

As you can see, "Privacy-Preserving Attribution" appears to be custom designed to give the appearance of privacy... without actually providing true privacy.

The Path of Mozilla

Let's put all of this into the context of what has been happening with Mozilla over the last few years.

What can we determine from all of this?

It certainly is obvious -- especially considering the actions over the last few months -- that Mozilla is being driven towards an anti-privacy, pro-AI, pro-Advertising business.

If their recent activities are any indication of their future actions, it seems reasonable to expect more AI and Advertising announcements over the next few months.

Which, for people who use Firefox as a "pro-privacy" browser, may not be welcome news.

community logo
Join the Lunduke Community
To read more articles like this, sign up and join my community today
23
What else you may like…
Videos
Podcasts
Posts
Articles
November 19, 2024
The Pokemon Go Spying Conspiracy Theory? Yeah. It's Verified.

Pokemon Go using your phone camera to build a CIA-backed 3D Map AI system.

It sounds like an insane movie plot. But it's real.

In 2016, this was "Lunduke's crazy conspiracy theory about Pokemon Go being used to spy on everyone, backed by the CIA". Now, in 2024, Niantic Labs (the makers of Pokemon Go), proudly brags about using Pokemon Go to spy on you... and using that covertly obtained information to build a massive, 3D artificial intelligence mapping system of private spaces.

"We receive about 1 million fresh scans each week, each containing hundreds of discrete images."

In other words: Lunduke was right.

The CIA, NSA, and Pokémon Go:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/5756204/the-cia-nsa-and-pok-mon-go

Building a Large Geospatial Model to Achieve Spatial Intelligence:
https://nianticlabs.com/news/largegeospatialmodel

00:19:04
November 19, 2024
DOJ: Google Must Sell Off Chrome

And that's only one impact of Google being officially ruled a monopoly.

00:15:13
November 18, 2024
Mozilla's "Dreams" Do Not Include Firefox ... or Even Web Browsing

A survey about Mozilla's future doesn't mention Firefox... but it does have 8 gender options.

The "What Is Your Dream for Mozilla?" Survey: https://mozillafoundation.tfaforms.net/101

00:15:34
November 22, 2023
The futility of Ad-Blockers

Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.

It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

The futility of Ad-Blockers
November 21, 2023
openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"

Those in power with openSUSE make it clear they will not allow me anywhere near anything related to the openSUSE project. Ever. For any reason.

Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"
September 13, 2023
"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

Has anyone else noticed how all the responses to comments on Jaguar's new ad reveal, are all obviously AI generated happy-talk nonsense?

I'm just going to leave this here: https://xkcd.com/129/

15 hours ago

Braxman opens up about how he grew up in an authoritarian state. He understands how citizens are manipulated, and how important free speech is in every aspect of society.

Here, he explains how algorithms and social proof are used to convince us that having our devices track our every move and spy on us is actually good. It keeps us safe... and makes us easier to manipulate.

He talks about the importance of privacy, and why we should care.

This is partially marketing for his new Brax3 phone, and partially his story of why he hates surveillance.

Edit: I have purchased one of the Kompact phones off Kickstarter, and I await the Brax3 phone. I'll give each of them a try, and then see about passing them along for further review.

https://odysee.com/@RobBraxmanTech:6/mind:78

November 20, 2024
Lunduke's Quest - November 20, 2024
Read full Article
November 12, 2024
post photo preview
Last week at The Lunduke Journal (Nov 3 - Nov 9, 2024)
Gimp 3.0! NOTEPAD.EXE AI! Mozilla Layoffs!

There was some interesting news this week in the world of computing.

But the only one I can think about is NOTEPAD.EXE getting Artificial Intelligence.

I mean.  What the fart?!

The Shows

The Articles

Read full Article
November 09, 2024
post photo preview
Funny Programming Pictures Part LXIII
Now with 14% more Unicode jokes!

My favorite picture this week is the one thaNO CARRIER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read full Article
See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals