European digital rights group NOYB (None Of Your Business) has filed a privacy complaint with Austria’s data protection authority (DSB) against Mozilla, accusing the company of using a Firefox feature to track users without their consent.
The feature in question, called “Privacy-Preserving Attribution” (PPA), was developed in collaboration with Meta and introduced in Firefox version 128, released in July 2023.
According to NOYB, despite its name, PPA allows Mozilla to track user behavior across websites. The group argues that while PPA might be less invasive than traditional cookie tracking, Mozilla failed to obtain user consent before enabling it by default in the latest Firefox update. NOYB claims that PPA stores data about users’ interactions with ads and compiles this information for advertisers, potentially violating the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Mozilla, however, insists that PPA enhances user privacy by measuring ad performance without sharing personal data with individual websites or third parties. The company also states that the feature does not send browsing information to anyone, including Mozilla itself, and that advertisers only receive aggregated data on ad performance.
Users concerned about PPA can disable the feature in Firefox’s Privacy & Security settings. Mozilla has acknowledged the criticism and promised to engage more with external stakeholders in future efforts to improve online privacy.
The case now raises broader questions about balancing privacy with advertising in an increasingly regulated digital environment.
