STOCKHOLM, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Vienna-based advocacy group NOYB on Wednesday said it has filed a complaint with the Austrian data protection authority against Mozilla accusing the Firefox browser maker of tracking user behaviour on websites without consent.

NOYB (None Of Your Business), the digital rights group founded by privacy activist Max Schrems, said Mozilla has enabled a so-called “privacy preserving attribution” feature that turned the browser into a tracking tool for websites without directly telling its users.

Mozilla had defended the feature, saying it wanted to help websites understand how their ads perform without collecting data about individual people. By offering what it called a non-invasive alternative to cross-site tracking, it hoped to significantly reduce collecting individual information.

  • Icalasari
    58•2 months ago

    Hope this results in Firefox changing it to be opt in and not result in Firefox going the way of the dodo - We can’t have Chromium be the only option, and without somebody developing base Firefox, the forks are going to die off

    • @[email protected]
      5•2 months ago

      There’s always the Ladybird browser and an independent open source browser engine called Servo that’s under The Linux Foundation

      • @[email protected]
        -1•2 months ago

        If the Servo engine + accompanying browser will look like a Terminal pulled out of darkness into a desktop environment or an app developed in 1998 by Microsoft/any other UI designer at the time this is nothing I’d would want to use at work nor at home even if I am paid to use it…

        • @[email protected]
          1•2 months ago

          I appreciate your apprehension. Fortunately, you don’t need to speculate. Go try it and find out.

          • @[email protected]
            1•2 months ago

            Currently: If it’s on Windows, sure. If it’s Linux only, no because I have no desktop environment on my server.

    • @[email protected]English
      4•2 months ago

      I could see tor browser continuing to be developed. There are enough users who are technical enough to take on a browser project.

      • sunzu2
        9•2 months ago

        Yeah but Firefox and signal are both stalling and taking weird routes otherwise. It feels like people in charge either don’t understand the usebase or just botching it on purposes while getting paid out.

        It is OS so if it gets that bad, adults will need to pitch and pay a team to get the job done to cater to our needs. Devs can’t slave for us for free at some point enjoyers will have to pay for all Foss goodness.

        Shit ain’t free and you don’t win wars without funding. While most of US is poor AF or don’t give a fuck, I am pretty sure avg fediverse enjoyer is in a bit stronger economic position.

        Either way, we know big tech is coming for all of us…

        • @[email protected]English
          2•2 months ago

          How is Signal taking weird routes? I know about their weird payment system thing with their own shitcoin, but has anything been added more recently? I’m quite happy that they finally added usernames.