Mozilla recently removed every version of uBlock Origin Lite from their add-on store except for the oldest version.
Mozilla says a manual review flagged these issues:
Consent, specifically Nonexistent: For add-ons that collect or transmit user data, the user must be informed...
Your add-on contains minified, concatenated or otherwise machine-generated code. You need to provide the original sources...
uBlock Origin's developer gorhill refutes this with linked evidence.
Contrary to what these emails suggest, the source code files highlighted in the email:
- Have nothing to do with data collection, there is no such thing anywhere in uBOL
- There is no minified code in uBOL, and certainly none in the supposed faulty files
Even for people who did not prefer this add-on, the removal could have a chilling effect on uBlock Origin itself.
Incidentally, all the files reported as having issues are exactly the same files being used in uBO for years, and have been used in uBOL as well for over a year with no modification. Given this, it's worrisome what could happen to uBO in the future.
And gorhill notes uBO Lite had a purpose on Firefox, especially on mobile devices:
[T]here were people who preferred the Lite approach of uBOL, which was designed from the ground up to be an efficient suspendable extension, thus a good match for Firefox for Android.
New releases of uBO Lite do not have a Firefox extension; the last version of this coincides with gorhill's message. The Firefox addon page for uBO Lite is also gone.
Your own 2023 article doesn't say anything about policies allowing Mozilla to sell private data, and Mozilla's own website openly and proudly claims they neither buy nor sell their users' data.
And Anonym is a company purpose-created to try to transform the advertising industry into a more privacy-respecting industry. Its mission could not align more with Mozilla's. They in particular developed PPA, the feature Firefox was getting so much bad press about last week - and which ended up being none of the things the dozens of articles posted about it claimed. It is, in fact, a complete non-factor when it comes to privacy risks, and its explicit purpose is to pivot the internet toward a significantly more private ecosystem.
There are lots of people claiming Mozilla is becoming an advertising company and is selling their users out. There's some misleading evidence that even makes that superficially appear true. But it's false.
When have they talked about ad blockers in the past, period? This is just a meaningless scare tactic. I don't see them talking about arctic drilling either - should I be concerned?
From the same page you got your image from:
From the same privacy policy you linked:
I don't personally understand the disconnect between the parts we each posted, but there is a clear disconnect regardless.
And, regardless, this applies to fakespot.com. Not Firefox. Not even slightly Firefox. Firefox unambiguously has nothing to do with selling user data.
Edit: I've also gone ahead and sent an email to the address at the bottom of the policy asking for clarification on the issue.
And surely you know better than to assume Firefox's own privacy policy is null and void because the privacy policy for a different, distinct product offered by the same company has some different terms in it? Regardless of what FakeSpot's actual policy ends up being (I'm withholding judgement until they reply to my email), I can't see it as anything other than disingenuous to imply that their policy in some way affects Firefox's policy. Firefox does not sell user data, period.
I'm going with Mozilla on this one.
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