Relax, Mozilla has now updated its Terms of Use to clarify it doesn't own data you input in Firefox, and hence can't sell it

The past week has been pretty wild for Firefox fans, who were taken by surprise following Mozilla’s new Terms of Use. Many users were upset, thinking the wording meant the company could own and sell their data. The backlash came fast, and Mozilla didn’t waste time responding. They’ve now updated the terms to clear things up — no, they don’t own your data, and no, they can’t sell it.

The trouble started with the original terms. They included a line that gave Mozilla a license to use whatever users upload or type into Firefox. People got worried, pointing to phrases like, “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.” To many, this sounded like Mozilla could take their data and hand it over to advertisers or AI firms.

Mozilla didn’t let the confusion linger. They rewrote the Terms of Use to set the record straight. Ajit Varma, Mozilla’s product chief, said in an announcement that the new wording “more clearly reflects the limited scope of how Mozilla interacts with user data.”

The updated terms now say, “You give Mozilla the rights necessary to operate Firefox. This includes processing your data as we describe in the Firefox Privacy Notice. It also includes a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license for the purpose of doing as you request with the content you input in Firefox. This does not give Mozilla any ownership in that content.” Plain and simple — they’re just running the browser, not claiming your stuff.

They also ditched a reference to the Acceptable Use Policy that was muddying the waters. Beyond that, Mozilla tackled concerns about data selling head-on. They updated their Privacy FAQ to explain why they dropped broad statements like “we never sell your data.”

Turns out that laws like the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) define “selling” in tricky ways. Mozilla does share some data with partners, but it’s stripped of anything that identifies you and only sent in bulk form. Plus, you can tweak your data-sharing settings right in Firefox.

Want to dig deeper? The Firefox Privacy Notice spells out what data they collect, how they use it, and how you can manage it. You can even request access to your data or ask Mozilla to delete it through their Data Subject Access Request Portal.

Mozilla’s quick fixes show they’re serious about privacy and listening to users. With these changes, they’re hoping to ease worries and keep Firefox a trusted choice for millions.