People everywhere are demanding basic consumer protections. We want our food to be healthy to eat, our water to be clean to drink, and our air to be safe to breathe.
This year people have started to demand more of the internet as well, however, there persists an expectation that on the internet people are responsible for protecting themselves.
You should not have to worry about trading privacy and control in order to enjoy the technology you love. Tech companies have put the onus on people to read through their opaque terms and conditions tied to your data and privacy to use their services. The average privacy policy from a tech company is thousands of words and written at a level that often requires legal training to interpret. As such the vast majority of people don’t bother to read, and just click through these agreements trusting that the companies have their interests at heart.
This isn’t right, and it’s not where we stand. We aspire to put people back in control of their connected lives. To better equip people to navigate the internet today, we’ve built the latest version of our flagship Firefox browser with Enhanced Tracking Protection on by default. These protections work in the background, blocking third-parties from tracking your online activity while increasing the speed of the browser.
We’re offering privacy protections by default as you navigate the web because the business model of the web is broken, with more and more intrusive personal surveillance becoming the norm. While we hope that people’s digital rights and freedoms will ultimately be guaranteed, we’re here to help in the interim.
In a world where tech companies expect you to cobble together different tools to protect your privacy putting the burden on you, we are providing an easy-to-use solution with just one Firefox login to get the full benefit of all of the protections and capabilities we’ve built into our products and services.
By creating a Firefox account you can increase convenience while decreasing your exposure to some harmful parts of the web. An account unlocks the full potential of tools like Lockwise, which securely manages passwords, and Monitor, a service that notifies you when your email has been part of a known data breach.
We’re deepening our relationship with you because we know you can’t go it alone anymore. With Firefox you have a partner who knows the ins and outs of the tech industry, but who is beholden to serving you, not shareholders. We’re optimistic that together we can take back power over our online lives.
We choose to lead, not follow. Join us.
You know what we stand for and what we’ve been about for over a decade thanks to our Manifesto and our Data Privacy Principles. Today we’re making it even more clear what you get when you sign up with us by announcing the Firefox Personal Data Promise — our commitment to handle your personal information with integrity and decency — and best practices for others to follow when it comes to protecting consumers privacy and rights online.
We’re taking these steps and we’re offering new tools to increase your protection and control, but it’s only the first step in our new relationship with you. We will continue to push back against collect-it-all business models that are set up to monetize people in seemingly every possible way. In addition to the tools and services we offer, we champion efforts like the fight for net neutrality, combat surveillance tactics and push for standards and practices that promote privacy and competition.
I hope you can see we’re different, and that we work hard every day to earn your trust. I believe that the internet can be a tool to make the world a better place where everyone is welcome. And safe. And respected. It can be a place that enables a free exchange of ideas. I know it can be because it once was.
The web the world needs can be ours again, if we want it. Please join me and millions of Firefox users in choosing a safer, more connected world.
Chris Beard, CEO of Mozilla