This week, we introduced updates to Firefox’s Terms of Use (TOU) and Privacy Notice. We’ve listened to community concerns, particularly about licensing language, and are refining our wording to provide better clarity. Our goal is to be transparent about how Firefox operates while ensuring users fully understand their rights.
What’s Changing?
- Licensing Clarification: Mozilla only requires the rights necessary to operate Firefox. This includes processing data as described in our Privacy Notice. You retain full ownership of your content, and Mozilla does not claim any rights beyond what is needed to fulfill your requests.
- Policy Reference Removed: We’ve removed the reference to the Acceptable Use Policy to avoid confusion.
Privacy FAQ Update
We’ve also updated our Privacy FAQ to clarify the legal nuances of data practices, particularly around the term “selling.” Mozilla does not sell your personal data in the way most people think. However, privacy laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) define “sale” in broad terms, including sharing data in certain contexts.
Why the Change?
Some jurisdictions consider data sharing a “sale,” even without direct payment. For example, CCPA defines a sale as transferring, disclosing, or making data available in exchange for “monetary or other valuable consideration.” Similar privacy laws exist in Virginia, Colorado, and other states. Given these evolving legal interpretations, we’ve updated our language to reflect the reality of how privacy laws work while maintaining our commitment to protecting user data.
To keep Firefox commercially viable, we share limited, de-identified, or aggregated data with partners for features such as sponsored suggestions in search and optional ads on the New Tab page. Our Privacy Notice fully details these practices, and we take extensive steps to ensure that shared data is stripped of any personally identifiable information or processed through privacy-preserving technologies like OHTTP.
Your Control
Firefox is built with strong privacy protections by default, and we provide users with clear options to adjust their data settings at any time. We remain committed to privacy, transparency, and giving users control over their browsing experience.