Vienna-based advocacy group NOYB on Wednesday said it has filed a complaint. They have filed a complaint with the Austrian data protection authority against Mozilla. Through this complaint, they accused the Firefox browser maker of tracking user behavior on websites without consent. NOYB (None Of Your Business) is a digital rights group founded by privacy activist Max Schrems. NOYB (None Of Your Business) said Mozilla has enabled a so-called privacy preserving attribution (PPA) feature. This feature is the one that turned the browser into a tracking tool for websites without directly telling its users.
Mozilla hit with privacy complaint over firefox user tracking
“Mozilla’s limited test of PPA is a part of our effort to improve invasive advertising practices by providing technical alternatives,” a spokesperson told Reuters. “These techniques prevent any party, including Mozilla, from identifying individuals or their browsing activity.” It is to be noted that this may be less invasive than unlimited tracking. However, it still interferes with user rights under the EU’s privacy laws. NOYB said that Firefox has turned on the feature by default.
“It’s a shame that an organization like Mozilla believes that users are too dumb to say yes or no,” said Felix Mikolasch, data protection lawyer at NOYB. “Users should be able to make a choice and the feature should have been turned off by default.” Open-source Firefox was once a top browser choice among users due to its privacy features.
But now this browser lags market leader Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari, and Microsoft’s Edge. This is because of a low single-digit market share. NOYB wants Mozilla to inform users about its data processing activities, switch to an opt-in system and delete all unlawfully processed data of millions of affected users. NOYB, in June filed a complaint against Alphabet for allegedly tracking users of its Chrome browser. The company has also filed hundreds of complaints against big tech companies, some leading to big fines.
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