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Mozilla announces an important update for users.
Firefox CTO Bobby Holley has dismissed concerns that the privacy-focused browser will be used by advertisers to collect user data. The company's goal is to create a privacy-preserving mechanism that will satisfy both advertisers and users, while avoiding predatory data collection practices.
After the backlash over the introduction of Firefox's new "Privacy-Preserving Attribution" (PPA) feature, which collects and aggregates anonymized user interaction data for advertisers, Holley acknowledged that the company should have better communicated this.
In a detailed post on Reddit, Holley explained that Mozilla is committed to solving the problem of "mass Internet surveillance." Mozilla previously dealt with this problem by using anti-trackers that blocked the most common methods of surveillance. However, this approach has two significant limitations.
First, advertisers have significant economic incentives to circumvent any counter-measures, which leads to an endless arms race. Second, blocking helps, but Mozilla wants to "improve privacy for everyone," not just Firefox users.
"No matter how you think of advertising as an economic model, it's a powerful industry that's not going to disappear," Holley said.
Instead of the current situation on the Internet, where advertisers collect extensive personal data, Mozilla is working on creating a system that can meet the goals of advertisers, while protecting the privacy of users.
"We are working with Meta on this issue, because any successful mechanism should be useful to advertisers, and developing something that Mozilla and Meta are both happy with is a good indicator that we have achieved our goal," says Holly.
He claims that the PPA feature introduced in Firefox version 128 does not compromise on privacy and provides advertisers with only minimal functionality. The experimental prototype was developed for several years and is not related to the recent acquisition of Anonym. The confidential properties of this technology have been verified by leading cryptographers.
The temporary prototype is also limited to a few test sites and assumes a very low amount of data.
"It's about counting (aggregated impression and conversion data), not targeting," the CTO said.
Holley also defended the inclusion of the new default feature and considered consent dialogs "a hindrance to better default settings."
"Digital advertising is not going to disappear, but the elements of surveillance can disappear if we do everything right. A truly private attribution mechanism will make it possible for businesses to stop spying on people and allow browsers and regulators to deal much more aggressively with those who continue to do so, " he concluded.
However, some users still express concerns about transmitting any information to advertisers, even anonymized ones.
"If you give advertisers the finger, they'll bite off the whole arm. If this system can be hacked in any way, it will be hacked. If a person can be bribed to deanonymize data, this will happen, and if this is not possible, they will find a replacement, " one Reddit user worries.
Holley explained that the feature does not include surveillance, and no one outside the local machine receives individualized data, only aggregated invoices.
Holley also assured users that there is no money exchange between Meta and Firefox, as this is a collaboration of engineers. Firefox doesn't expect revenue from a PPA. Holley mentioned that if users choose to block ads using various solutions, API calls will also be blocked.
Mozilla has posted a detailed explanation on GitHub. The company believes that "a good attribution system will provide advertising businesses with a real alternative to more controversial practices, such as surveillance, which will allow browsers to further restrict such practices."
"The fundamental principle of the Mozilla manifesto is that user privacy is fundamental and mandatory. The surveillance practices that are common in modern digital advertising are a serious problem in this regard, and we want to do something about it.
With Firefox 128, we're testing a research prototype of a technology that we hope will one day replace these surveillance practices. The privacy guarantees of this technology are reinforced concrete: unlike other proposed designs, no one outside the user's device will know anything about their individual activity," a Mozilla representative said.
The prototype can be disabled directly and is only enabled when telemetry is enabled.
"Online advertising will not disappear, and many sites depend on advertising for their existence. To avoid conflicts of interest between sites and users, we want to create a long-term solution that will allow companies to achieve their goals without collecting personal data. This will be a significant step forward for online privacy," the spokesperson said.
Source
Firefox CTO Bobby Holley has dismissed concerns that the privacy-focused browser will be used by advertisers to collect user data. The company's goal is to create a privacy-preserving mechanism that will satisfy both advertisers and users, while avoiding predatory data collection practices.
After the backlash over the introduction of Firefox's new "Privacy-Preserving Attribution" (PPA) feature, which collects and aggregates anonymized user interaction data for advertisers, Holley acknowledged that the company should have better communicated this.
In a detailed post on Reddit, Holley explained that Mozilla is committed to solving the problem of "mass Internet surveillance." Mozilla previously dealt with this problem by using anti-trackers that blocked the most common methods of surveillance. However, this approach has two significant limitations.
First, advertisers have significant economic incentives to circumvent any counter-measures, which leads to an endless arms race. Second, blocking helps, but Mozilla wants to "improve privacy for everyone," not just Firefox users.
"No matter how you think of advertising as an economic model, it's a powerful industry that's not going to disappear," Holley said.
Instead of the current situation on the Internet, where advertisers collect extensive personal data, Mozilla is working on creating a system that can meet the goals of advertisers, while protecting the privacy of users.
"We are working with Meta on this issue, because any successful mechanism should be useful to advertisers, and developing something that Mozilla and Meta are both happy with is a good indicator that we have achieved our goal," says Holly.
He claims that the PPA feature introduced in Firefox version 128 does not compromise on privacy and provides advertisers with only minimal functionality. The experimental prototype was developed for several years and is not related to the recent acquisition of Anonym. The confidential properties of this technology have been verified by leading cryptographers.
The temporary prototype is also limited to a few test sites and assumes a very low amount of data.
"It's about counting (aggregated impression and conversion data), not targeting," the CTO said.
Holley also defended the inclusion of the new default feature and considered consent dialogs "a hindrance to better default settings."
"Digital advertising is not going to disappear, but the elements of surveillance can disappear if we do everything right. A truly private attribution mechanism will make it possible for businesses to stop spying on people and allow browsers and regulators to deal much more aggressively with those who continue to do so, " he concluded.
However, some users still express concerns about transmitting any information to advertisers, even anonymized ones.
"If you give advertisers the finger, they'll bite off the whole arm. If this system can be hacked in any way, it will be hacked. If a person can be bribed to deanonymize data, this will happen, and if this is not possible, they will find a replacement, " one Reddit user worries.
Holley explained that the feature does not include surveillance, and no one outside the local machine receives individualized data, only aggregated invoices.
Holley also assured users that there is no money exchange between Meta and Firefox, as this is a collaboration of engineers. Firefox doesn't expect revenue from a PPA. Holley mentioned that if users choose to block ads using various solutions, API calls will also be blocked.
Mozilla has posted a detailed explanation on GitHub. The company believes that "a good attribution system will provide advertising businesses with a real alternative to more controversial practices, such as surveillance, which will allow browsers to further restrict such practices."
"The fundamental principle of the Mozilla manifesto is that user privacy is fundamental and mandatory. The surveillance practices that are common in modern digital advertising are a serious problem in this regard, and we want to do something about it.
With Firefox 128, we're testing a research prototype of a technology that we hope will one day replace these surveillance practices. The privacy guarantees of this technology are reinforced concrete: unlike other proposed designs, no one outside the user's device will know anything about their individual activity," a Mozilla representative said.
The prototype can be disabled directly and is only enabled when telemetry is enabled.
"Online advertising will not disappear, and many sites depend on advertising for their existence. To avoid conflicts of interest between sites and users, we want to create a long-term solution that will allow companies to achieve their goals without collecting personal data. This will be a significant step forward for online privacy," the spokesperson said.
Source
