Types of Information
As with most Internet web browsers, Firefox for mobile sends certain information to the websites that you visit. This information falls into the following categories:
“Personal Information” is information that you provide to us that personally identifies you, such as your name, phone number or email address. Except as described below, Mozilla does not collect or require end-users of Firefox for mobile to furnish Personal Information.
“Non-Personal Information” is information that cannot be directly associated with a specific person or entity. Non-Personal Information includes but is not limited to your computer’s configuration and the version of Firefox for mobile you use.
“Potentially Personal Information” is information that is Non-Personal Information in and of itself but that could be used in conjunction with other information to personally identify you. For example, Uniform Resource Locators (“URLs”) (the addresses of web pages), Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses (the addresses of computers on the internet), and your mobile carrier, which are Non-Personal Information in and of themselves, could be Personal Information when combined with internet service provider (“ISP”) records. All requests must be sent through your internet service provider or mobile carrier network and your service provider or carrier may have access to the request. “Aggregate Data” is information that is recorded about users and collected into groups so it no longer reflects or references an individually identifiable user.
Information Firefox for Mobile Sends to Websites
Like most web browsers, Firefox sends information to the websites you visit, including (1) Non-Personal Information of the type that web browsers typically make available, such as the type of browser you are using, your language preference, the referring site, and the date and time of your visit; and (2) Potentially Personal Information such as your IP address and your mobile carrier network. This information may be logged on the websites you visit. What information is logged and how that information is used depends on the policies of each of the websites you visit.
Each website determines its own privacy policy for the distribution and use of this information. If you are concerned about how a website will use this information, check out its privacy policy. Mozilla is not responsible for the privacy practices or content of such websites. To find out more about how Mozilla uses this information on its own websites, see the Mozilla Privacy Policy.
Interactive Product Features
Automated Update Service. Firefox’s automatic update feature periodically checks to see if updated version(s) of Firefox for mobile and installed add-ons are available from Mozilla.
Firefox
This feature sends Non-Personal Information to Mozilla, including the version of Firefox for mobile you are using, build ID and target, update channel, your operating system, and your language preference. This feature also sends Potentially Personal Information to Mozilla in the form of a cookie named “aus” that contains a unique numeric value to distinguish individual Firefox installs. Mozilla uses this information to provide you with updated versions of Firefox and to understand the usage patterns of Firefox for mobile users. We use this information to improve our products and services and to support decision making regarding feature and capacity planning.
Add-ons
The add-ons update version check sends Non-Personal Information to Mozilla, including the version of Firefox for mobile you are using, version of the add-ons you have installed, build ID and target, update channel, your operating system, and your language preference with each check of an add-on that uses https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/mobile as its update host. If any of your add-ons use a third party update URL, Firefox for mobile will check that URL for updates to those add-ons.
We do not collect or track any Personal Information or any information about the Web sites you visit, and we do not release the raw information we obtain from these features to the public. We may release reports containing Aggregate Data so that our global community can make better product and design decisions. To prevent Mozilla from obtaining this information, you can turn this feature off in Firefox’s preferences. An article in our Firefox for mobile Knowledge Base gives you information about changing your preferences.
Add-ons Features
One thing that makes Firefox so flexible is the ability for you to add various add-ons, extensions, and themes to Firefox, thereby creating a custom browser that fits your needs. The following features show how Firefox provides both the ability to obtain additional add-ons easily and to protect against potentially harmful add-ons.
Get Add-ons Feature
Firefox offers a Get Add-ons Feature. This feature creates a list of recommended add-ons and extensions to try. You access this recommended list by clicking on the “Get Add-ons” tab from the Firefox Add-ons Manager. We do not collect any Personal Information. To display the recommended list, Firefox sends Non-Personal Information to Mozilla, including the type of computer and version of Firefox for mobile you are using as well as any cookies set by https://addons.mozilla.org.
Blocklist Feature
Firefox for mobile also offers a Blocklist feature. With this feature, once a day Firefox does a regularly scheduled, automatic check to see if you have any harmful add-ons or plug-ins installed. If so, this feature disables add-ons or plug-ins that Mozilla has determined contain known vulnerabilities or major user facing issues or fatal bugs (e.g., client crashes on startup or something causing an endless loop of unusability). You may view the current list of Blocklisted items. This feature sends Non-Personal Information to Mozilla, including the version of Firefox for mobile you are using, operating system version, build ID and target, update channel, and your language preference. In addition, Mozilla also uses this feature to count the number of active Firefox for mobile users. Currently there is no basic user interface to disable the Blocklist feature. An Firefox for mobile Knowledge Base explains how you may disable the Blocklist feature. Disabling the Blocklist feature is not recommended as it may result in using extensions know to be untrustworthy. More information about the Blocklist feature may be found at https://wiki.mozilla.org/Extension_Blocklisting.
Location-aware Feature
Firefox for mobile offers a Location-Aware Feature, parts of which may be provided by third party service providers
You Elect to Use the Location-Aware Feature.
his feature remains inoperative until you visit a website that requests your location and you choose to opt in to the feature. If you elect not to, nothing happens. Each time you visit such a website, Firefox asks you if you want it to provide the site with your current location. Additionally, you may elect to have Firefox remember your choice to allow or not allow the feature for each site. Any such election is domain specific. You are able to opt out at any time of having Firefox remember your choice, just like any other preference setting.
What Information Firefox for mobile Collects.
If you choose to allow it, the Firefox Location-Aware Feature first collects one or more of the following relevant location markers: (i) location provided by a GPS device built into or attached to your computer or device and/or geolocation services provided by the operating system; (ii) the wifi routers closest to you; (iii) cell ids of the cell towers closest to you; (iv) the signal strength of nearby wireless access points and/or cellular phone towers; and/or (v) your computer or device’s IP address. Next, it attempts to determine your location using these location markers. Any information Firefox uses, receives or sends as part of this Location-aware Feature is not received by any Mozilla servers or by Mozilla. Firefox does not track or remember your location. Firefox does remember a random client identifier, the temporary ID assigned by our third party provider to process your request, for two weeks.
What Information Third Parties Receive & Provide.
If necessary, Firefox sends the information above, except any GPS information and/or geolocation data provided by the operating system, plus you user agent information (e.g, version of Firefox for mobile you’re using), along with a temporary client identifier, to its third party service provider(s) capable of deriving a physical location from the information Firefox for mobile has collected (e.g., convert a set of WiFi signal strengths into latitude and longitude). This information is sent over an encrypted connection. The connection between Firefox for mobile and the service provider does not use any cookies. Neither the domain name nor the URL of the site you’re visiting is sent to our service providers. Our providers estimate your location and return it to Firefox for mobile. Firefox provides your location information to the webpage that made the request. For any information the webpage sends back to the website, please see that website’s privacy policy.
Third Party Websites.
Please carefully consider any website's privacy practices before agreeing to share your location with that website.
- Requesting Websites. For any information the webpage sends back to the website, please see that website’s privacy policy.
- Location-aware Service Providers. In addition, our service providers have their own privacy policy.
- ISP and Mobile Carrier. All requests must be sent through your internet service provider or mobile carrier network and your service provider or carrier may have access to the request. For information regarding your service provider's or carrier's treatment of your information, please consult their privacy policies.
The location aware feature is provided “as is” and for your information as advice and guidance only. For more information, please see Learn More for this feature.
Security Features
Firefox has additional security features, some of which are provided by third party service providers.
Secure Website Certificate Verification. When you visit a secure website, Firefox will check with the certificate provider to validate that website’s certificate. Firefox sends only the certificate identification to the certificate provider, not the exact URL you are visiting. If the certificate is not valid, you will receive an error page that states the certificate was revoked and you will not be able to access that website. The technical name for this process is OCSP or On-line Certificate Status Protocol. You may completely turn off the secure website certificate verification feature in Firefox preferences under the encryption tab. If you do this, none of the information discussed here will be sent to any third party certificate provider. An article in our Firefox for mobile Knowledge Base gives you information about changing your preferences. Please note that we’re not yelling at you in this paragraph. Our lawyers have advised us that we need to make sure this information is conspicuous so you’ll read it. The security features are provided “as is” and for your information as advice and guidance only. Mozilla and its contributors, licensors and partners do not guarantee that these protection features will prevent you from being deceived by a malicious website and we strongly recommend that you continue to be vigilant while online, particularly when following links sent to you in e-mail. The Mozilla Web Site Services Terms describes this in more detail.
Cookies
A cookie is a small string of information that a website stores on your computer and that web browsers make available to that website each time you return. Firefox stores cookies on your computer when requested to do so by websites. A website uses cookies to help identify and track visitors, the use of the website, and visitors’ website access preferences across multiple requests and visits. It is possible to include Personally-Identifying Information, or references to such information, in cookies, thereby enabling websites to track the online movements of particular individuals. To prevent Firefox from sending cookies to specific websites, configure Firefox to prompt you when a website wants to set a cookie. To prevent Firefox from sending cookies to any website, configure it to disable cookies. An article in our Firefox for mobile Knowledge Base gives you information about changing these preferences.
Transfer of Data to the U.S.
Mozilla is a global organization and operates in different countries. Privacy laws and common practices vary from country to country. Some countries may provide for less legal protection of your personal data; others may provide more legal protection. By using Firefox for mobile, you consent to the transfer of the information collected, as outlined by this Policy, to Mozilla or its third party service providers in the United States, which may provide a lesser level of data security than in your country of residence. Data Retention We will retain any information collected for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Policy unless a longer retention period is required by law and/or regulations.
Privacy Policy Changes
Mozilla may change the Firefox for mobile Privacy Policy from time to time. Any and all changes will be reflected on this page. When Mozilla changes this policy in a material way, a notice will be posted on the www.mozilla.com Web site. Substantive changes may also be announced through the standard mechanisms by which Mozilla communicates with its users and community, including Mozilla's "announce" mailing list and newsgroup. It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand the terms of this Privacy Policy. You should periodically check this page for any changes to the current policy.
For More Information
If you have questions about this privacy policy, please contact Mozilla at:
Mozilla Corporation
Attn: Legal Notices - Privacy
2 Harrison St
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: +1-650-903-0800
E-mail: privacy at mozilla dot com.