There ought to be a full transparency report on every browser about what data is collected and shared and with whom. Even Firefox is no longer innocent.
Review process: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Firefox/Data_Collection and not only is the source available, you can inspect opt-in metrics in about:telemetry, and see aggregated metrics at telemetry.mozilla.org (no other vendor will share that with you)
> There ought to be a full transparency report on every browser...
Yes, but not all browser vendors care about your privacy.
So if privacy matters to you use Firefox :)
I actually take exception to your classifying my comment as FUD, I'm in nobody's pocket (pun intended) and the worst you could accuse me of is being wrong. That said I was happy to trust the Mozilla of the past a lot more than I'm willing to trust the Mozilla of the present. Their forced upgrade strategy breaking my workflow and the Mr. Robot episode on top of that did little to assure me that they still have my best interest in mind. The thing that keeps me from switching is that I'm pretty sure all the competition is much worse.
If privacy matters to you use Firefox... but make sure you turn off all the telemetry spyware first and make sure you're not on the beta channel. Firefox downloads in Germany should aditionally be inspected for cliqz spyware.
jaquesm is merely pointing out that "use Firefox" needs a disclaimer today, whereas in the past one could simply use Firefox out of the box.
Calling telemetry spyware is also FUD, see about:telemetry.
But that's beside the point, jaquesm said he expected browser vendors to clearly state what information they collect, I think Mozilla does a pretty comprehensive job at that:
And equating all data collection with spyware does NOT help win the battle. We're all on the same side here, but blowing things out of proportions doesn't serve the goal. It makes people give up.
It's fair to disagree with some decisions, and you don't have to opt-in for telemetry, but calling it spyware is unfair. It fair for you to say that you don't think it's necessary for your browser to collect performance metrics, and it's fair for you to not opt-in.
Equating things you dislike or find unnecessary with spyware is very dangerous. It gives other people the idea that browser choice doesn't matter. That privacy is impossible.
Note: we see extremism and exaggeration like this many places (politics included), and we have to be the ones holding each other to be reasonable. Otherwise, the opposition will frame us all as fanatics :)
@"equating all data collection with spyware does NOT help win the battle" ... maybe, maybe, lying to yourself that a corrupt, puppet-party A is better than also corrupt, puppet-party B or that one user-fingerprinting tool is better than another because the first one tells you a nice story of all the insignificant data it collects .. is actaully whats not helping in the "battle"! People like you are the ones that steer all the anger back into choosing between "jack johnson OR john jackson" - to take one popular but to-the-point reference - and vent that anger that could otherwise be used more creatively towards a real solution on pointless battles like the one above!
