Mozilla, a developer of the Firefox browser, updated its Terms of Use a second time within a year on Friday after over broad dialect that appeared to grant the organization the rights to all details uploaded by users.
The updated Terms of Use then state:
You grant Mozilla the authority to run Firefox. Processing your files as described in the Firefox Privacy Notice is one of the steps. Additionally, it includes a non-exclusive, royalty-free, international license to use the information you input in Firefox to accomplish your requests. This does not transfer rights to that content to Mozilla.
This clause was added in a prior version that became effective on February 26.
You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, global license to use the information you provide when you use Firefox to navigate, interact with, and publish content as you choose to.
The advancement came a day after the firm released a new Terms of Use for Firefox and an updated Private Notice to give people more control over their data practices.
Ajit Varma, VP of Product at Mozilla, in a statement that “we’ve been listening to some of our society’s issues with some of the TOU, particularly regarding licensing. Our goal was to be as precise as we could on how Firefox should operate, but by doing so we also created some misunderstandings and worry.
Mozilla made the changes because it doesn’t sell or buy user data and because some jurisdictions define the term” sell” more broadly than others, including the various ways a consumer’s personal information transfers hands with another party in exchange for money or other advantages.
In order to remain” economically viable,” it added that it already collects and shares some information with its companions from recommended ads displayed on New Tab and sponsored ideas in the search bar.
Mozilla also pointed out that while it does not access users ‘ conversations with third-party artificial intelligence ( AI ) chatbots enabled via the sidebar ( and through a shortcut ), it does collect technical and interaction data to understand how this feature is used to enhance the Firefox browser.
This includes the length of the selected words, the frequency that each third-party bot supplier is chosen, and how frequently suggested prompts are used.
When we share information with our lovers,” we put a lot of effort into making sure that the data we share is free of potentially identifying information, is shared only in bulk, or is obtained using our privacy-preserving technologies ( like OHTTP),” Varma said.
Mozilla’s Conditions of Use are in response to Google’s new ad tracking plan, which has drawn scrutiny from regulators and auditors who claim it raises privacy concerns.
The Ads platforms program’s rules, which went into effect on February 16, 2025, make it possible to apply IP addresses to identify people and communicate with them across channels without having to re-identify them. The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office ( ICO ) has described it as an “irresponsible” change.
Organizations that want to use fingerprinting in marketing must show how they are adhering to data protection laws, according to ICO in a statement. ” These include providing users with clarity, securing freely-given acceptance, ensuring reasonable processing, and upholding info right like the right to destruction,” the statement reads.