Firefox under fire: Default ad tracking feature sparks privacy debate

Firefox, starting from release 128, is testing a new method of informing advertisers about user activity. However, the feature is enabled by default, and although Mozilla claims it is privacy-safe, opinions are divided.

Mozilla did a very poor job of informing users about introducing the "Privacy-Preserving Attribution" feature in Firefox. The first term implies that the feature is not enabled by default, while the second indicates its activation much more directly.

The new feature aims to measure the popularity of ads and the "discoverability" of the products presented in them, as well as inform advertisers if someone clicked on the ad and engaged with the offer and/or made a purchase. Information provided by Firefox aims to allow advertisers to continue their marketing analysis, which is significantly limited by the default features of this browser and often-used extensions like uBlock Origin and NoScript.

The transmitted data is stripped of characteristics that would allow the identification of the user, which, according to Mozilla, remains in line with the organization's manifesto, which strongly emphasises privacy. Mozilla hopes that the privacy-preserving attribution (PPA) feature will form the basis for future W3C standards and that its use will become a widespread practice.

However, for many users, the new feature was poorly communicated, and its default activation, in light of the weak announcement, raised suspicions about Mozilla's intentions. Firefox needs to make money, which is complicated when one of its main features makes it difficult for others to earn money.

On Reddit, accusations of a conspiracy began to appear, which Mozilla CTO Bobby Holley personally commented on (on the same platform). Besides emphasizing Firefox's privacy guidelines, Holley noted that asking users to activate a feature that is difficult to explain would be confusing. Therefore, the PPA will remain enabled. Currently, only Firefox uses it.

Users who do not trust the PPA technology and prefer to disable it can do so in the Settings under the Privacy & Security section, as well as in the advanced preferences editor. The "Allow sites to measure ads with privacy protection" feature is currently the only switch in the dedicated "Ad preferences on sites" section. Firefox is likely outdated if the option is not present in the settings.

The option in the advanced preferences editor is called "dom.private-attribution.submission.enabled". To disable PPA, set it to "false." Additional switches controlling PPA operation are experimental flags controlled by the variable "dom.origin-trials.private-attribution.state". These experiments are disabled when their state is set to 0.

Mozilla's idea of informing advertisers without breaking promises regarding privacy seems very appropriate, but communication undoubtedly failed. Even today's documentation is outdated compared to the actual state. Time will tell if PPA will catch on. However, as long as there is a chance, this feature will remain enabled by default in Firefox.