Firefox 75 Reports Your Default Browser Settings and Other Telemetry Data Daily to Mozilla – How to Shut It Off
Firefox 75 collects and telemetry data by default and sends it home every day. Mozilla Firefox web browser touts itself as a web browser that protects your personal data has been sending system information about its users back to Mozilla. This collected data is sent to Firefox every 24 hours and retained thirteen months. IP addresses in server logs are deleted every 30 days.
Firefox collects telemetry data by default. The information collected is generated mostly by Firefox and is sent as a background telemetry ping every 24 hours. The purposed of this is to improve web browser performance.
Earlier this week, Mozilla issued critical security patches to Firefox to fix critical vulnerabilities, CVE-2020-6819 and CVE-2020-6820, that can allow a hacker to take over a computer.
According to the Mozilla post on this topic, “Technical data includes information about your Firefox version and language, device operating system and hardware configuration, memory, basic information about crashes and errors, outcome of automated processes like updates, safebrowsing and activation to us. “ Which sounds okay if the data is anonymized but your IP address is reported as well.
Firefox users can see the telemetry data being sent to Firefox. Just type about:telemetry in the Firefox browser’s search bar.
Full disclosure – I’ve been a Firefox user for years. As a data privacy advocate, I’m not happy about this intrusion. Time to roll out the Tor browser? Possibly!
I have clients in my consulting business, and I keep a Firefox profile for each of their web properties. Although, telemetry was disabled for my personal Firefox profile, I found that I had to go and shut off the data sharing for each of my Firefox profiles.
How to Opt Out of Firefox Data Collection
To opt out of sending any Firefox telemetry information users must disable data collection for EACH Firefox PROFILE. Data will be deleted within 30 days after you opt out.
- Click the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in the upper left corner
- Select Options
- Select Privacy & Security
- Scroll to the Firefox Data Collection and Use section
- Deselect the Allow Firefox to send technical and interaction data to Mozilla checkbox
How Long Does Firefox Retain Telemetry Data?
Firefox keeps telemetry data for thirteen months.
Michelle writes about cyber security, data privacy focusing on social media privacy as well as how to protect your IoT devices. She has worked in internet technology for over 20 years and owns METRONY, LLC. Michelle earned a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Michelle published a guide to Cyber Security for Business Travelers
