{"id":12213,"date":"2020-01-24T12:00:02","date_gmt":"2020-01-24T20:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.privateinternetaccess.com\/blog\/?p=12213"},"modified":"2020-08-26T15:06:13","modified_gmt":"2020-08-26T22:06:13","slug":"the-firefox-browser-is-a-privacy-nightmare-on-desktop-and-mobile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privateinternetaccess.com\/blog\/the-firefox-browser-is-a-privacy-nightmare-on-desktop-and-mobile\/","title":{"rendered":"The Firefox Browser is a privacy nightmare on desktop and mobile"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Firefox Browser is not as private as you may think \u2013 especially on iOS and Android. Mozilla recently announced that they would be allowing any Firefox user a means to request Mozilla to delete stored telemetry data that is tied to said user. Mozilla maintains \u201cstrict limits\u201d on how long they store this logged telemetry data, but any duration is too long if the telemetry data can be associated with an individual Firefox browser instance on a particular IP address through a government request. Sure, the collection of this telemetry data can be turned off, but the vast majority of Firefox users are not using Firefox with telemetry turned off, and are therefore incredibly vulnerable.<\/p>\n

The change by Mozilla comes as a result of the California Consumer Privacy Act<\/a> (CCPA), a state law which came into effect at the turn of the new year. 2020 is a year of clear vision, and we get to start it off with the revelation that Firefox stores telemetry data in a way that can be traced back to an individual user. After all, how else would Mozilla be able to delete just your telemetry data upon request? To answer this question, Privacy Online News reached out to Mozilla and a Mozilla spokesperson explained how the telemetry data is associated with your browser instance:<\/p>\n

\u201cBy default, Mozilla collects limited data from Firefox to help us understand how people are using the browser, such as information about the number of open tabs and windows or number of webpages visited. This does not include data that can reveal sensitive information about users\u2019 activity online, such as search queries or the websites users visit.<\/p>\n

The data collected is associated with a randomly generated identifier that is unique to each Firefox client. We refer to this as a clientID. That clientID is not linked to you personally or any sensitive data (for example to your name or phone number) but to your local Firefox software installation. It is never shared with third-parties. Full public documentation about this data collection, including the identifier, can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When users choose to delete their telemetry, the Firefox browser will submit this identifier to Mozilla and we will then delete data on our servers associated with this ID.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Specifically, when you request your telemetry data be deleted from Mozilla\u2019s servers, you do so by sending a \u201cdeletion-request<\/a>\u201d ping which by virtue of how internet pings work, includes a timestamp, your IP address and your unique client ID \u2013 as confirmed by Mozilla. That is all the information that\u2019s needed to tie your telemetry data back to your specific browser instance.
\nMozilla confirmed to Privacy Online News that all this data is stored, but they don\u2019t seem to consider it a privacy issue because they are stored separately. A Mozilla spokesperson explained how the IP address of all telemetry pings, not just the deletion-request ping, is stored:<\/p>\n

\u201cMozilla does initially receive the IP as part of telemetry technical data. The IP is then stripped from the telemetry data set and moved to an environment with restricted access for security and error review purposes only. By moving the IP address into this restricted environment this de-identifies the collected telemetry data.\u201d<\/p>\n

Firefox stores your telemetry data in a way that can be tied back to you<\/h2>\n

While the fact that Firefox collects telemetry data may be well known to some security minded researchers, and even viewed as acceptable because of reasons such as \u201cdebugging,\u201d it is quite the revelation that Mozilla actually maintains this data in a way that is matchable to an individual user\u2019s IP address that is requesting said data be deleted.<\/p>\n

Mozilla even tried to downplay the impact of their privacy decision, saying in their announcement<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cTo date, the industry has not typically considered telemetry data \u201cpersonal data\u201d because it isn\u2019t identifiable to a specific person, but we feel strongly that taking this step is the right one for people and the ecosystem.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While it is arguable that telemetry data isn\u2019t technically \u201cpersonal data\u201d when it is viewed on its own without other information; however, if there\u2019s a way to link a given set of telemetry data to a particular Firefox browser instance and IP address \u2013 and Mozilla just revealed that there is \u2013 then that telemetry data all of a sudden becomes the most personal of data.<\/p>\n

What does Firefox telemetry data include?<\/h2>\n

According to the Mozilla wiki, telemetry data includes all the information needed to answer the following questions:<\/p>\n