I've uninstalled Firefox and will be removing it from all of my computers. I had just started slowly migrating back to it with the performance enhancements in the latest update, but honestly I don't think I can get past a breach of trust at this level.
Google does track a lot of my data but they provide useful services in exchange, and in addition they make it pretty easy to see what data they have on me. Also Google's data is its competitive advantage so our interest in protecting my data from 3rd parties is aligned.
In short, Google tracks me sure, but they're pretty transparent about it. I do think some of the things Google does with Chrome and it's market position is less than stellar so I'm still exploring other options. If you have any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.
I ended up going back to Vivaldi.
They may be transparent about the fact that they're tracking you, but not about what they're tracking or when they're tracking it. And there's no way for you to find out because the vast majority of their software is not open source.
In a previous discussion, a Mozilla employee gave me as official statement that if I don’t trust Google, I shouldn’t use Firefox.
If I have to trust Google anyway, I can at least use the better browser.
Disclaimer: Until today, I’ve defended Mozilla in all such discussions, and kept the same PoV that you have presented here, but I just can’t do that anymore, when Mozilla is now just as evil as Google.
1. Mozilla obtained specific legal / contractual protections around any data that we store in GA, as covered in this adjacent thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15932224.
2. We did briefly run an experiment with Cliqz, but that integration was only ever offered to <1% of new, German-language installations of Firefox. I still need to read up on the technical details of that experiment, but it's misleading to claim that Firefox in general has any interaction with Cliqz.
3. As a Mozilla employee myself, I'd be very interested in a citation for that statement re: Google.
Which requires that users trust Google.
The reason I use Mozilla products is exclusively because I do not trust Google. If Mozilla requires that I trust Google to keep my data safe (which Mozilla transmitted to them), then I have no reason to use Mozilla products.
> 2. We did briefly run an experiment with Cliqz, but that integration was only ever offered to <1% of new, German-language installations of Firefox. I still need to read up on the technical details of that experiment, but it's misleading to claim that Firefox in general has any interaction with Cliqz.
Mozilla also invested into CliqZ, and a family member of mine was affected by the experiment – I live in Germany.