Bonum Certa Men Certa

Mozilla Pays Public Relations Firms to Pretend Mozilla and Firefox Value Privacy, Even When They Don't

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Nov 09, 2023

Mozilla did this to me before; they never learn... they probably just mail this "embargo" notice to loads of people without checking

Fox Vintage Painting: Vintage painting of a red fox

THERE they go again. Here we go again. They sent this to me out of the blue, via Helena Dea Bala (helena@pkpr.com), so they basically pay for marketers and spammers while laying off staff that programs and has built actual software:


Hi Roy,

Consumer privacy watchdog Mozilla will release its annual *Privacy Not Included guide for holiday shoppers on November 15th. The 2023 edition reviews the privacy and security features of over 150 popular gifts, like Microsoft XBox, Garmin Fitness Trackers, Amazon Ring, iRobot vacuums, Tile Trackers, Bose headphones, and the Tamagotchi Uni, and slaps warning labels on the creepiest products.

Two highlights of this year’s research: children’s connected toys and apps – which collect and repurpose hoards of data – are among the worst in class. Amazon’s Alexa, for example, has kept and used children’s voice recordings for years, and Embodied Inc’s Black Mirror-esque Moxie Robot records and shares its “conversations” with kids. And some of the best in class from last year's research ended up on the naughty list this year.

You can find past coverage of Mozilla’s Privacy Not Included research here.

For a story:

Let me know if you’d like to see the press release under embargo until November 15 at 4 am ET

I can coordinate an interview with Jen Caltrider, *Privacy Not Included lead researcher.

Thanks!

Helena

[spying code]

Ironically, like before, this very E-mail violates the privacy of the recipient (me and others), as there is tracking both in the E-mail body (it's HTML) and in the sole link in the E-mail: [redacted].as/t1/96/9tqufkv2om466a7znrzx6t3db/0/d359c67bc47dbce35709785da0bb84db344eef1ba15c0fae4a5be3e7fb9893c4

So Mozilla has basically hired a proxy, not for the first time, to send spyware to my inbox (spying even if I do not click anything) to tell me about how much Mozilla values privacy.

Need we remind readers that Mozilla has also just stated that it is outsourcing Firefox development to NSA/Microsoft, proprietary software that should be condemned rather than embraced? Yes, we're talking about GitHub here.

GitHub is still losing money. Microsoft loses lots of money on GitHub. It won't last. Already there are several waves of layoffs and permanent office closures at GitHub. This will not end well for GitHub users. Mozilla is corrupt enough to have walked into this trap. Avoid Mozilla. Don't trust this leadership team.

If you're not already using something of Mozilla, consider exploring alternatives. Mozilla managements (people from the CIA, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft etc.) use the word "privacy" a million times in their communications while they violate the privacy of ~100 million users. Mozilla's Baker (Banker) made Mozilla a success story... for her. She make a bank out of it and might not care if the market share craters; her handlers at Google (who pay her a truly grotesque salary) prefer it that way. Now she works for Microsoft too. This is a company that basically pretends to be a non-profit but works for GAFAM. █

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

“Week van de Werkstress” and Work-Related Stress at the EPO, Where Staff is Bullied Into Granting Illegal Patents for Foreign Monopolists
"poor working environments, including discrimination and inequality, excessive workloads, low job control and job insecurity pose a risk to mental health"
Czech Republic: GNU/Linux Rises Above 5% in Desktops and Laptops
A year ago it was somewhere around 4%
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXII - Running One's Mouth
British Police told me "making a false complaint to police is a crime" in relation to Lozza
 
IBM Firings (or Silent Layoffs) After Bluewashing; "IBM’s Employment History is More Troubling Than its Patriotic Marketing Suggests"
"It has zip to do with race but everything to do with the greed of the 1% who have been doing all they can to destroy the middle class..."
EPO's Local Staff Committee The Hague Says Almost or About a Third of Staff Assembled to Organise at "a Time of Continued Social Unrest"
They speak of "circa 850 staff members in attendance" (in The Netherlands there are about a couple thousand)
Suggestions That XBox Will be Offloaded by Microsoft, Rather Than Shut Down, Make the False Assumption XBox is Profitable (It's Not, It's a Liability)
Microsoft has serious financial troubles
Which "Smart" "Phone", Which "Social" "Media", and Which "Cloud" "Storage"?
Let's take back control of the language
State of the (Linux) Slop, Late 2026 Edition
Google News (Gulag Noise) is a plagiarism booster
Year 21
It's 5PM here
Links 07/11/2026: "Flock Cameras Got Eviscerated by the Midterms" and Joshua Wong Shows China is Highly Repressive and Fully Controls Hong Kong
Links for the day
At The Register MS the Net Liabilities Doubled in One Year, Tangible Assets Down About 35% in One Year
signed off in 2026
Another 20 Years of Exposing Corruption
We'll focus on carrying on what we do
EPO Budget and Finance Committee (in Very Recent Meeting) Increases Bribes to People Who Vote on Campinos Reappointment ("Cooperation Activities")
Buying 'elections' to protect the cocaine-stained regime in Europe's second-largest institution
Links 07/11/2026: London's SLAPP Industry Now Targets Kirkenes (Northern Norway) at the Behest of Corrupt Thieves in Russia and Microsoft’s 'Buyout' Offer Crashes Microsoft Systems
Links for the day
Links 07/11/2026: "The Moon is Waning Crescent", Homeworlds, and "Can't Handle The AVIF!"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, November 06, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, November 06, 2026
IBM Compels Workers - Even at Red Hat - to Become "Retired-ish"
Who needs RAs (layoffs, which have been rebranded as "buyouts" like pink slips are generous "gifts") when workers can have their butts kicked every day and WARN Act reporting thresholds are never approached?
Links 06/11/2026: "XBox Is Closer Than Ever to Being Sold Off" and "BuzzFeed Stock in Free Fall"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 06/11/2026: Dao and Dreams
Links for the day
20 Years of Techrights
Celebrating 2 decades of abuses of power being watched (and looking back at key changes)
Linux (and Linus Torvalds) Sleepwalking Into a Binance-Level Catastrophe With Slop 'Code'
Someone should ask Linus Torvalds or his boss (Linux Foundation) if they deem slop, which nobody audits, trustworthy enough to add to every computer out there running the Linux kernel
Vitaly Orlov Weaponises Deep Pockets to Leverage High Court of Justice in London for Censorship and Punishment of Critics
reproduced in full for more exposure and to make censorship harder
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXI - What I Told British Police About Lozza the Same Month Garrett Was Preparing His First Nastygram From 'Hired Guns' Brett Wilson LLP
Lozza and Garrett
Outsourcing at IBM
Cheapening of the workforce is hardly a new problem
The Register MS: Turnover Fell by Over a Million Pounds (About 20%) in One Year, Administrative Expenses Rose by Almost Half a Million Pounds, The Register MS Operates at a Loss
This is not a (commercially) healthy publisher
Links 06/11/2026: Slop "Companies Race to Lock Down Oil Clients" and Salon Shuts Down
Links for the day
Our Third Decade
Our anniversary is tonight at midnight
Freedom Is Not Free of Charge, Freedom Can be Very Expensive
Being someone's "slave" is the "default" when no resistance exists
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXX - Swatting by Proxy
Using imbeciles who lie to cops and then dox cops (and already have arrest record and court documents wherein they admit being stoned in front of the cops)
Intel Craters at Taxpayers' Expense (Bailouts for Failing Companies Simple Don't Work)
GOP, which did this, has lost many seats
Mass Layoffs at IBM, Also Outsourcing to India
What IBM does to itself it is doing to other entities as well
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, November 05, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, November 05, 2026
During Strikes and Industrial Actions Lots of EPO Staff Organised Yesterday and Will Do the Same Next Week
There really needs to be a genuine election, not a reappointment
Gemini Links 06/11/2026: Hadestown and "Where Has the Electronics Shop Gone?"
Links for the day
Links 05/11/2026: Rule of Law Vanishing in Turkey, Joshua Wong Still Martyred by Chinese Regime
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/11/2026: Classical Music, Politics, and Seeed Studio
Links for the day
Like Almost Every Slopfarm, UbuntuBuzz Seems to Have Thrown in the Towel
Linuxsecurity and Linuxiac (to some extent Linuxjournal) are still going, but for how much longer?
EPO 'Midterm' Elections Should Oust the Dictator
Tentatively a failure to secure another (unprecedented) reappointment before Christmas
Secret IBM Layoffs and Increase in PIPs (Silent Layoffs)
The media is failing to do its job
Links 05/11/2026: "Voice is Underutilized" and How Data Centres Lost the Midterm Elections
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXIX - Crime Numbers Regarding GGG (Americans) and Why Those Still Matter
Time does not undo the actions
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXVIII - Telling the Police About the Defamatory Blog Where Posts Targeted My Wife and I (From Across the Atlantic Ocean)
Two years ago we spoke to cops a lot
The Register MS is Losing Money Again, Based on The Register MS
Selling out didn't pay off for very long
There Are No "Layoffs" Anymore, Layoffs Got Rebranded
We're entering bizarre times when layoffs are said to be "down" (according to the regime that suffered a 'bloodbath' in the election) because companies quit using the term "layoffs"
Gemini Links 05/11/2026: Rivers of London, Soul Cakes, STMicroelectronics, and Slop
Links for the day
The Register MS Has Just Published Fake Article With "AI" 84 Times in the Page Because It Was Paid to Do This!
Astounding number of mentions of "AI" (84 in total)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, November 04, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, November 04, 2026