Mozilla Revises Firefox Terms of Use After Inflaming Users Over Data Usage
Image: iStock Mozilla wants to set the record straight: The company needs a license “to make some of the basic functionality” of its Firefox open source browser possible, but that does not give it ownership of a user’s data. The clarification comes days after the company introduced Terms of Use (TOU) for Firefox, along with an updated Privacy Notice, explaining that while it has historically relied on its open source license for Firefox, “we are building a much different technology landscape today.” Must-read big data coverage Firefox TOU: A ‘nonexclusive, royalty-free worldwide license’ The Firefox TOU caused some confusion because initially it read, as quoted in The Register: When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you indicate with your use of Firefox. That phrasing set off a firestorm, and Mozilla subsequently removed that language. “Our intent was just to be as clear as possible about how we make Firefox work, …
