The argument that “It is just a new, additional means of tracking users” also doesn’t really make sense - even if we assume that this is new means of tracking.
It is a new means of tracking. It is extra telemetry provided by Mozilla to advertisement partners.
it doesn’t make a difference.
It makes a difference because Mozilla went out of its way to inject this tracking into a browser that is supposedly made for users.
It does not escape me, by the way, that Mozilla is now a de jure advertising corporation: since FakeSpot they’ve sold private data to third party advertisers, and since Anonym they’ve operated an advertising-specific wing.
Because of this this, Mozilla can no longer make any statements about online advertising without a huge conflict of interest, which they should disclose.
I’m not a fan of Mozilla accepting money from Google, but it’s absolutely preferable to having a clause in their privacy policy that allows them to sell geolocation data directly to advertising partners. Pre-2023, I don’t think they did that.
It is a new means of tracking. It is extra telemetry provided by Mozilla to advertisement partners.
It makes a difference because Mozilla went out of its way to inject this tracking into a browser that is supposedly made for users.
It does not escape me, by the way, that Mozilla is now a de jure advertising corporation: since FakeSpot they’ve sold private data to third party advertisers, and since Anonym they’ve operated an advertising-specific wing.
Because of this this, Mozilla can no longer make any statements about online advertising without a huge conflict of interest, which they should disclose.
How do you think Mozilla was funded before Fakespot and Anonym were acquired?
I’m not a fan of Mozilla accepting money from Google, but it’s absolutely preferable to having a clause in their privacy policy that allows them to sell geolocation data directly to advertising partners. Pre-2023, I don’t think they did that.
And where did that Google money come from?
(It’s a rhetorical question of course: it came from Firefox users clicking on ads.)