Mozilla just ditched its privacy partner because its CEO is tied to data brokers : firefox

[–] [email protected] 126 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (3 children)

“I get it. My affiliation with a people search business may look odd from the outside,” Shelest’s statement reads. “In truth, if I hadn’t taken that initial path with a deep dive into how people search sites work, Onerep wouldn’t have the best tech and team in the space. Still, I now appreciate that we did not make this more clear in the past and I’m aiming to do better in the future.”

“Who better to fix the problem than me, it’s creator!” He’s not exactly wrong, it is possible to reform and become an industry leader combating the issue you were once guilty of doing yourself. There are countless examples of that throughout the history of the tech space. However, you absolutely cannot hide that kind of background if you are looking to operate in the privacy and cybersecurity sectors. Doing so is incredibly shady and not the behavior of someone who’s turned white hat.

Mozilla had no option but to walk away immediately and I’m glad they did. They can’t afford to have this stink on their reputation. It’s unfortunate that this information’s only come to light now though.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I could imagine an Oppenheimer situation where he deeply regretted what he had created.

But I highly suspect this was more of a case of "don't look deeply into my past", which, is quite ironic given what he did.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 7 months ago

I mean, he still owns it. He can't be that regretful.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Agreed. Seems that if someone is truly wanting to be a part of the fix to something they helped create. Then they should be the first person to call themselves out for it. Hiding a fact that can already be found by the people you are trying to get the support of is foolish. Even if you are faking the whole "changed as a person" thing, it is the worst optics for "re-branding" yourself. The "villain to hero arc" is a freaking core element of so many genres of fiction. And for non-fiction, people love seeing people seek redemption and self-improvement. Fucking amateur time over here.

[+] [email protected] -28 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Firefox has a wee bit of stink anyway, they're the best out there though.

they track your bookmarks
they're constantly trying to get you to have google as your search engine

Edit: Interesting downvotes even though I'm saying that it's still the best out there. Not a lot of nuance, eh?

[–] [email protected] 34 points 7 months ago (2 children)

they’re constantly trying to get you to have google as your search engine

Are they? I use firefox on my laptop and have never gotten any pop ups or anything about changing my search engine to google or anything else for that matter.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

"Constantly" is a ridiculous exaggeration, it's rare and it's not some random nagging prompt or anything. It's tied to software updates wherein the list of default search engines Firefox suggests in preferences is also updated.

Why did my search engine change?

From time to time, Mozilla may update the list of search engines that are available in Firefox or set as default in specific regions. If your default search engine is changed, you'll receive a notification in Firefox so you can further customize your default search settings.

If you received a notification that your default search engine has changed after updating Firefox, you can keep the new default or set a search engine of your choice.

Source via support.mozilla.org

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It’s tied to software updates

Right, I've had updates 2x a week sometimes. Then it goes for a long time. I'm not complaining about the updates, just that I have to go through all of my settings every time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

I can't remember the last time I ever got that message before I installed the DDG extension a couple years ago. I think the extension overrides it, so I can't say for the past two years on my actual personal browser. However the only times I remember it offering to change it since I started using it in 03~04 has been when they really tried making sure people knew that the default could be changed (which might have been in some way tied to stuff like the EU making even OSes show options for browsers to install when first setting up). And the others were when they first changed to Yahoo and after the contract with Yahoo ended.

That all being said, I think it is good to maybe once a year to have like the first update of the year or first major update ask. As never being shown other options just keeps smaller or newer competition from even being seen. DDG is a bit of a weird one since I both heard of it from being a "tech" person and because they went hard in advertising. But when I found out about the "Bangs", it was fucking over. Being able to change search engines from the one I am using was game changing to me. And seeing that it is becoming a thing for other ones is very nice to see (Brave being the main one I also use).

That all being said. I think there has to be some bug if it is making you fix your settings that often.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Mine automatically changes and I have to go and delete all of the other search engines besides duck duck go every other update.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I've never had that issue with ff+ddg

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Lucky you, I wish it was that way for me. The guy below says that it's common with updates, so I don't think I"m the only one.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

The guy below does not say it’s common with updates, they say it is happens with updates that update the default list of providers, which are rare.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Do you have the DDG extension installed? Because I haven't had any issues with FF changing it or even asking to change it after updates (minor or major). So if you don't have it installed, and you have no plans to change away from DDG. It would be a worthwhile extension to add, and it adds some additional tracker blocking while not on a search.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Good guy Mozilla.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Let's not get too hasty praising Mozilla... After all, they've had a thriving private data sale branch since 2023...

Source: https://www.fakespot.com/privacy-policy

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

“Though customer data was never at risk, the outside financial interests and activities of Onerep’s CEO do not align with our values,” writes Mozilla’s vice president of communications Brandon Borrman, in a statement provided to The Verge.

The service let users hunt down their personal information on the web and submit takedown requests across dozens of websites — all through Mozilla’s partnership with Onerep.

However, an in-depth report from Krebs on Security found that Onerep’s CEO Dimitri Shelest started “dozens” of people-search websites over the course of several years.

Shelest later published a statement admitting that he still holds an ownership stake in Nuwber, which lets visitors search for people based on their name, phone number, address, or email.

“In truth, if I hadn’t taken that initial path with a deep dive into how people search sites work, Onerep wouldn’t have the best tech and team in the space.

“We’re working now to solidify a transition plan that will provide customers with a seamless experience and will continue to put their interests first,” Borrman tells The Verge.

The original article contains 308 words, the summary contains 177 words. Saved 43%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

There’s been no notification to paying users or changes to their site. You can sign up right now.

I know things take time but this story broke days ago, and people who don’t follow tech news have no idea.