Firefox Survey Finds Only 16% Feel In Control of Their Privacy Choices Online (mozilla.org)
- Reference: 0180379549
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/12/13/2114221/firefox-survey-finds-only-16-feel-in-control-of-their-privacy-choices-online
- Source link: https://blog.mozilla.org/en/firefox/open-what-you-want-choice-survey/
But they also recently polled 8,000 adults in [1]France , [2]Germany , the [3]UK and the [4]U.S. on "how they navigate choice and control both online and offline" (attending in-person events in Chicago, Berlin, LA, and Munich, San Diego, Stuttgart):
> The survey, conducted by research agency YouGov, showcases a tension between people's desire to have control over their data and digital privacy, and the reality of the internet today — a reality defined by Big Tech platforms that make it difficult for people to exercise meaningful choice online:
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> — Only 16% feel in control of their privacy choices (highest in Germany at 21%)
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> — 24% feel it's "too late" because Big Tech already has too much control or knows too much about them. And 36% said the feeling of Big Tech companies knowing too much about them is frustrating — highest among respondents in the U.S. (43%) and the UK (40%)
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> — Practices respondents said frustrated them were Big Tech using their data to train AI without their permission (38%) and tracking their data without asking (47%; highest in U.S. — 55% and lowest in France — 39%)
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> And from our existing [5]research on browser choice , we know more about how defaults that are hard to change and confusing settings can bury alternatives, limiting people's ability to choose for themselves — the real problem that fuels these dynamics.
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> Taken together our new and existing insights could also explain why, when asked which actions feel like the strongest expressions of their independence online, choosing not to share their data (44%) was among the top three responses in each country (46% in the UK; 45% in the U.S.; 44% in France; 39% in Germany)... We also see a powerful signal in how people think about choosing the communities and platforms they join — for 29% of respondents, this was one of their top three expressions of independence online.
"For Firefox, community has always been at the heart of what we do," says their VP of Global Marketing, "and we'll keep fighting to put real choice and control back in people's hands so the web once again feels like it belongs to the communities that shape it."
At TwitchCon in San Diego Firefox even [6]launched a satirical new online card game with a privacy theme called Data War .
[1] https://blog.mozilla.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/278/files/2025/12/FR-Results_-Firefox-x-YouGov-2025-Choice-Survey.pdf
[2] https://blog.mozilla.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/278/files/2025/12/DE-Results_-Firefox-x-YouGov-2025-Choice-Survey.pdf
[3] https://blog.mozilla.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/278/files/2025/12/UK-Results_-Firefox-x-YouGov-2025-Choice-Survey.pdf
[4] https://blog.mozilla.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/278/files/2025/12/US-Results_-Firefox-x-YouGov-2025-Choice-Survey.pdf
[5] https://research.mozilla.org/browser-competition/
[6] https://blog.mozilla.org/en/firefox/bbo-data-war-digital-game/
For Firefox, community has always been at the hear (Score:2, Insightful)
So we'll fuck up the UI and the extensions, add unwanted crap (translation, AI, pocket, VPN, etc.) and, generally, force them to find alternatives.
Re: (Score:2)
> "So we'll fuck up the UI and the extensions, add unwanted crap (translation, AI, pocket, VPN, etc.) and, generally, force them to find alternatives."
This is getting so old.
1) They didn't "F* up" the UI, they changed it to be more like the other browsers. I don't like that, but a lot of it is customizable (far more than other browsers). And it is no WORSE than others.
2) They didn't "F* up" the extensions. They made necessary changes MANY YEARS AGO in order to roll out the much faster and threaded Quan
Re: (Score:2)
The prior non-core items were optional and relatively clearly marked; but when they decided to go 'AI' that went out the window. Being able to grub around in about:config for anything that has 'ml' in it does, depressingly, put them ahead of the options of some of the competition; but it shipped on by default and without controls in the normal-user UI. Seems like 'AI' really does something to the decision making even of people who should know better.
its too late (Score:2)
The only thing that could possibly turn back all your data are belong to us is government legislation. But the tech bros are in bed with trump so that is not going to happen.
Re: (Score:1)
> The only thing that could possibly turn back all your data are belong to us is government legislation. But the tech bros are in bed with trump so that is not going to happen.
Your TDS is showing. It isn't just Trump (first or second term). It was Biden too. And this shit all really started under Obama. Not that it was exclusively his fault either. Before that we had eight years of Bush, and before that we had Comrade Klintonkov with his war on crypto. The entire system is based against anyone who believes in anonymity and privacy on the Internet. Now you have the likes of Australia with their ridiculous social media ban, almost half of US states that have implemented some "age v
Re: (Score:2)
+100
I wish I could mod you up, big time.
Probably the last we see of privacy will now be totally destroyed by this effort to "save the children" by ruining the Internet instead of forcing children to use restricted DEVICES.
Started Using PiHole (Score:3)
I set up PiHole and between my Vizio TV and any use of Facebook, they account for 25% of blocked IPs so far. Slashdot has it's share in that bullshit, but I only check in every few days. It also seems that there are a few apps that have Google's DNS hard-coded in. I'm open to suggestions as to how to deal with that.
Now if only I could filter out all the AI crap . . .
Re: (Score:3)
> that there are a few apps that have Google's DNS hard-coded in.
Thanks! I just added this to /etc/hosts.deny
ALL: 8.8.8.8
ALL: 8.8.4.4
ALL: 2001:4860:4860::8844
Re: (Score:3)
What about also blocking DoH providers? See [1]https://github.com/stonerl/doh... [github.com]
[1] https://github.com/stonerl/doh-list
Re: (Score:2)
I have NoScript and PrivacyBadger installed. Between them I think they do a pretty good job of blocking most of the tracking. I also open new windows in private browsing mode unless there's a good reason not to. Most sites I visit have no need to see what accounts I'm logged into.
This is a high maintenance way of browsing the web though, especially NoScript. I often go to a site and it doesn't load right. So I go to the NoScript menu and temporarily enable scripts from the domain for that site. But it
It's YOUR choice (Score:2)
Use your REAL name and REAL email for your bank and your Council.
Nobody else needs it.
Your ISP, Amazon and the rest are quite content to bill your cat, mine has been doing it for 2 decades.
People who DON'T bill you, need even LESS data.
Sites who INSIST, consider YOU the PRODUCT, not the customer.
Of course (Score:3)
> "Firefox Survey Finds Only 16% Feel In Control of Their Privacy Choices Online
People who use Firefox are already in a group of people more likely to be concerned about privacy (and open standards). It is probably one of the reasons they use Firefox instead of chrom*, because there are more controls and options and isn't run by some big ad company or other corporation (Google, Microsoft, etc). So it doesn't surprise me that when one surveys that group, they will be more likely to feel less in control of their privacy.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed, the alternatives are most of the time worse.
On Linux I use Firefox and Brave, on Android it is DuckDuckGo.
The browsers impact is quite small (Score:2)
Firefox's ability to change this is quite limited to the Ads and malware that is inserted into pages. It can't solve the problem of these companies constantly tracking everything a logged in account does and selling it to anyone. It certainly doesn't stop the companies leaving access to their databases open so anyone can download the lot and sell it to the highest bidder. A lot of people know this, chrome is a small part of the problem but there is so much more to this.
Not only this (Score:3)
> And from our existing research on browser choice, we know more about how defaults that are hard to change and confusing settings can bury alternatives, limiting people's ability to choose for themselves — the real problem that fuels these dynamics.
Not only that, but the kinds of bullshit companies do like changing your default browser back to the OS default on any point-release of an OS update pisses me off.
I'm looking at you, assholes at Apple!
"Took a little break about an hour ago" (Score:1)
> took a look around, see which way the winds blow
Decided to stop believing anyone who uses the word "community".
That high? (Score:2)
I'm amazed that 16% of respondents feel in control. I'm just curious if they know something I don't about countermeasures to take; or if it's a matter of what they don't know.
Privacy Concerns (Score:2)
This is why any proposed clones of GDPR, DSA, and DMA absolutely terrifies us tech companies. The EU is further along, but it appears that more and more people in the United States are starting to severely dislike lax corporate data standards. That's why they've spent so much money on US legislators, and even helped push Trump into losing his marbles over the three.
They know any real crack in the wall will lead to them rapidly losing their unlimited power over data. That's also an abject fear of Palantir
Fox asks chickens how safe they feel. (Score:3, Insightful)
Finds chickens feel unsafe. Fox promises to improve safety of chickens.