Digital rights group NOYB (None Of Your Business) has filed a complaint with Austria’s data protection authority against Mozilla, claiming the Firefox browser maker tracks Internet user’s behavior without consent.
The digital rights group, founded by privacy activist Max Schrems in Vienna, accuses Mozilla of enabling a feature called “privacy-preserving attribution” (PPA) that turns Firefox into a tracking tool without users’ awareness.
Mozilla activated PPA by default in a recent Firefox update, without notifying users or seeking their approval. Traditionally seen as a privacy-first browser, Firefox’s decision to include a tracking system without user consent has alarmed privacy advocates.
Felix Mikolasch, a data protection lawyer at noyb, criticized Mozilla for following in Google’s footsteps by turning the browser into a tool for ad measurement. Felix Mikolasch argued that although Mozilla’s intentions may have been to reduce the invasiveness of online tracking, this new feature merely adds another layer of tracking instead of eliminating it.
PPA allows websites to request Firefox to store ad interaction data, which is then bundled and shared. While less invasive than traditional tracking cookies, the feature still violates user rights under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as users are tracked by default. Worse, the only way to opt-out is through a hard-to-find browser setting. Mozilla’s failure to disclose this feature in its data policies has led to widespread criticism.
Firefox is estimated to have 178 million users and 3.36 percent web market share across all digital platforms as of December 2023. On desktop PCs, Firefox has a 6.5 percent usage share, making it the fourth most popular browser after Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Safari.
Mozilla Foundation says its revenue in 2022 was $593 million.
Mozilla has defended the feature, stating it helps websites understand ad performance without collecting personal data. However, NOYB argues that even this approach infringes on user privacy under EU laws, noting that the feature is turned on by default. NOYB demands Mozilla switch to an opt-in system and delete unlawfully collected data.
This complaint follows NOYB’s history of challenging major tech companies, including a June complaint against Alphabet for alleged tracking via its Chrome browser.
NOYB says Chrome tracks every website you visit to generate a list of advertising topics. These include “Student Loans & College Financing”, “Undergarments” or “Parenting”, “Jobs & Education” and “Finance/Credit & Lending/Credit Reporting & Monitoring”. Advertisers then receive this information from the Chrome browser.
Baburajan Kizhakedath