Privacy/Roadmap/2014

Privacy Roadmap for 2014

Background

In 2013, the public discussion around privacy focussed heavily on the wholesale collection of data and metadata from browsing and cell phone usage. Tracking has entered the public consciousness thanks to the Verizon revelations, Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing on the NSA, multi-national government involvement in surveillance, and news coverage on ad-tech companies monetizing browsing histories through tracking.

For the purposes of this document, tracking is any technique that can be used to accumulate history (browsing, messaging, purchase) and associate it with a particular person. Major sources of tracking include:

• Deliberate tracking for delivering targeted ads
• Social network widgets (“Like” button, +1 button, Retweet, etc.) and other services whose primary goal may not be tracking, but could be used for tracking

Goal: Firefox users know when they are being tracked

• Tracking visualization in Lightbeam

Goal: Firefox users can avoid being tracked

• Tracking protection in Lightbeam
• Native tracking protection in Firefox
• Reducing traffic from social widgets
• Reducing physical tracking on mobile devices

Goal: Firefox users can be who they want, when they want

• Multiple profiles in FF Sync
• The right to be forgotten