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

What is "MATA"?
Think of it as GAFAM or "Meta"
WebProNews is a Slopfarm
Please avoid linking to WebProNews
Another "Told You So!": XBox Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (Many Recent Reports Were Chaff and Spin), Many Other Divisions Affected
With mass layoffs at Microsoft the world would be much better
When the Microsoft Aggressors Rely on Several Law Firms ('Attack Dogs', 'Guns for Hire'), Not Just One, Lawyering Up Against Techrights (Acting on Behalf of Americans Against UK Publishers)
From serving customers at some restaurant he has moved on to bullying people with demand letters
 
Brian Fagioli Created Another Slopfarm Targeting "Linux" After BetaNews Became a Slopfarm of Phantom Accounts and Pseudonyms
Mr. Fagioli even had slop about a dead Torvalds (hypothetical) as clickbait
Wayland is Perfect, Nobody Can Escape Its Perfection! (Or Not)
Do not form on opinion on Wayland based on politics
Moral Duty for "Linux Sites" to Speak Out Against LLM Slop
My wife has long complained about "Linux bloggers" keeping quiet and thus passive about a growing problem: slop
In Recent Hours Google News Promoted at Least 3 Slopfarms That Relayed Linux Foundation Propaganda Made by Bots or LLM "Bullshit Generators" (as Dr. Stallman Dubbed Them)
Google is circling down the drain and Google News too is hopeless
Linux Journal is a Slopfarm, It's Experimenting With LLM 'Authors'
Is Slashdot next?
Microsoft LinkedIn is Dying and Many More Layoffs Are on the Way
LinkedIn is just a failed acquisition of Microsoft. It causes losses and debt.
Gemini Links 25/06/2025: Combinatorial Music and Self Hosting
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Coming Back to Europe This Autumn to Give More Talks
His last talk in Europe attracted about 400-450 people
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 24, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Social Control Media, Technology & Catholicism: Synod on Synodality review and feedback
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
How Many More Women Will Managers at Microsoft Strangle and Tell to Kill Themselves (or Try to Kill)?
The world needs to know what happened
The New BetaNews: 7 New 'Articles', All of Them LLM Slop
BetaNews is basically defunct. Nobody writes there anymore.
statCounter Estimates Only 1 in 300 Iranians Would Use Microsoft for Search
Iranians don't quite trust Microsoft
Gemini Links 24/06/2025: ftpd on FreeBSD and Online Small Web Magazine
Links for the day
Google News Does Great Harm by Promoting Slopfarms as Legitimate News Sites
Slopfarms are sites which are 100% LLM slop
Links 24/06/2025: Trouble at "Open" "AI" and ‘Siarhei is Free’
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/06/2025: Stimulants and Subscription Costs for DRM
Links for the day
Links 24/06/2025: OpenAI [sic] May Soon Die (Too Much Debt) and Social Control Media Accused of Being Misinformation/Disinformation/Propaganda Amplifier
Links for the day
Nirbheek Chauhan in Planet GNOME Explains Why Wayland Pushers Are Losing
"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."
Polygamy, from Catholic Synod on Synodality to Social Control Media & Debian CyberPolygamy
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Only a Third of or 1 in 3 Web-Connected Devices is a Desktop or Laptop, According to statCounter
we can expect Android to widen its lead
The Days Are Getting Shorter, the First Half of 2025 is Almost Over
We're gratified to see significant increase in traffic and also positive feedback on the work we do
Turning GNU/Linux Into a Political Football
X (not the site) is Free software
X Server Still Works for Many People
A lot of people will grow suspicious of Wayland boosters/pushers if they persist and insist on using these tactics
Exactly a Week Ago "BetaNews Staff" Said "Betanews Is Growing Alongside You". Since Then Every Article (All by "Camila Nogueira") Has Been LLM Slop.
BetaNews is basically a slopfarm
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 23, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 23, 2025
The "Tarzan Effect" in Compilers and Software
What happens when you forcibly make things 'work', either by hacks or by disregarding warnings (like those that compilers tend to issue)?
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: Mass Tourism, Hair Love, and Google Gemini as a Googlebomb
Links for the day
Law Firm Burgess Mee Does Not Fully Deny Participating in Abusive Litigation for Serial Strangler From Microsoft
I am not unfamiliar with these tactics
The Modus Operandi of Wayland Pushers: Make It Political
do what I say or you're a nazi...
Links 23/06/2025: RFE/RL Contributor Vladyslav Yesypenko Released, Recording Industry Cutbacks
Links for the day
Brett Wilson LLP Solicitors (M): Over 99.9% of Our E-mail is Self-Marketing, We Send You 3.5MB E-mails for Less Than 1KB of Text
Why would tech people entrust legal matters to such people?
Peter Moon's (Computerworld) Interview With Richard Stallman
Stallman: If you want freedom don't follow Linus Torvalds
At What Point Does Outsourcing Constitute Malpractice?
Brett Wilson LLP's new staff page is misleading
United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sailing to GNU/Linux, According to statCounter
countries in that region will quickly learn the price of neglecting digital sovereignty
From Do Your Own Research to Do Your Own Search
The Web is full of garbage; search engines amplify this garbage
More People Moving to Geminispace?
at age 6+ Gemini Protocol seems to have gained some maturity and it seems like more people use it
Permutation in LLMs Does, Inevitably, Change Meanings and Therefore LLMs Cannot Properly Rephrase or Summarise Texts
LLMs lack actual grasp or comprehension of what they spew out
Links 23/06/2025: Many Security Breaches, Population Declines
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/06/2025: "America at the Crossroads" and OpenWRT Surgery
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 22, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 22, 2025
Pure Dove
Different means different, and sometimes those who "deviate" from "the norm" have a point
Censorship is a Sign of Weakness Which Invites More Censorship Attempts
revolutionaries don't succumb to pressure from bullies
Why It's Unlikely That LLM Slop Will Dominate the Web in the Long Run
Slopfarms will eventually perish (they have no actual value) and "survivors" on the Web will be sites that never depended on search engines and social control media
GNU/Linux in Argentina Now Measured Near 5%
Like in central Europe, they must be seeing an increasingly hostile US
BetaNews is Fake News, Composed by LLM Slop
nothing in BetaNews is written by humans anymore