Mozilla's new service tries to wipe your data off the web

https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/6/24062765/mozilla-monitor-plus-firefox-paid-subscription-privacy-data-broker-removal-requests

by schalkneethling • 2 years ago

114 43 2 years ago

theverge.com

repelsteeltje2• 2 years ago

Darn, I looks like someone stole my identity and threw in the $8.99/m to DeleteMe!

...Now I have to start all over training the ad targeting I carefully built over all those years.

But seriously, wouldn't it make more sense if this service were free for everyone except those that opted in? (For example, by not sending the DNT header in all requests?)

felsokning• 2 years ago

For example, by not sending the DNT header in all requests?

DNT is all but dead; it never got past the draft specification phase - even though being adopted by the major players in the browser realm. (Most have already removed the feature.)

GPC[1] is supposed to be the new DNT but I doubt it will have as much success.

[1] https://globalprivacycontrol.org/press-release/20201007.html

repelsteeltje2• 2 years ago

DNT is all but dead

Not sure, but I think a German court(?) recently ruled it's a legitimate way for a user to express intent that should be honoured by website.

Technically there isn't a reason to look for other means, the reason is mostly that advertisers would rather not have visitors choose this option. The reason DNT was almost instantly rejected, for example, was that the compromise text mentioned the user enable DNT, but then some browsers enabled it by default. Advertisers: Hurray! We found a reason to ignore user preferences!

So, for all I care it might be DNT, GPC or a plug-in that auto-clicks REJECT COOKIE. It's the default I would expect. It would be great the web simply would not offer ad targeting unless I explicitly enabled some tracking beacon because I sincerely like targeted ads better than old-school billboard.

throwbadubadu• 2 years ago

It would have been just way toooo easy and non dark-pattern to replace the annoying cookie dialogues with that :(

pipo2342• 2 years ago

Maybe some EU country would like to step in and offer this as a basic service to all their citizens? (I'm sure Mozilla would be happy to give a discount.)

glauber• 2 years ago

Google offers something very similar for subscribers of Google One.

pipo2342• 2 years ago

GOOGLE?! So... left hand cleaning up the mess created by the right hand? Isn't that called a Ponzi scheme, or something?

carimura• 2 years ago

they just want to be the exclusive owner of all yours datas!

isoprophlex• 2 years ago

This would be an extortion racket instead, I think.

pquki43• 2 years ago

Well, that's the same thing they did with the "Topics" thing in Chrome -- “we can track you and figure out what you like and send that information to other websites, but they can't do that directly. You are safe in our hands. Don't you see that's better?“

BrainBacon• 2 years ago

I just looked through the perks on my Google One and don't see this offering. I don't see it in the premium perks either. Do you happen to have a link? Is it some kind of hidden benefit?

shaan7• 2 years ago

It shows in your Google Account settings, takes me to https://one.google.com/dwr/dashboard

luplex• 2 years ago

Google just checks for your details in known data leaks. They don't talk to data brokers on your behalf.

pquki43• 2 years ago

A few of my personal details were found on "dark web" according to Google. Well, they can't really talk to those people and say don't leak my password.

wildrhythms2• 2 years ago

No they don't; they only offer 'dark web scanning'. https://one.google.com/about/security

jdmoreira2• 2 years ago

I'm going to go against the trend here and put on my evil hat.

How do I buy this data? Who are these brokers? And how do I buy it?

Kye• 2 years ago

Making these connections is likely part of the value someone somewhere in this ecosystem provides. I doubt they do it for free or accept just anyone.

jdmoreira2• 2 years ago

I'll pay. If anyone knows and wants to reach out, you will find my email through my profile.

cqqxo4zV46cp• 2 years ago

I have a friend that once worked in a tech role within The Political Establishment. He had a file on his computer with personal information about me on it, aggregated from data brokers.

yoaviram• 2 years ago

DataBrokersWatch.org

Siberium• 2 years ago

"Mozilla partners with a company called Onerep to perform these scans and subsequent takedown requests"

Reputation companies have perverse incentives and often need to pay off offending privacy-invading sites - see https://thewalrus.ca/clean-online-reputation/.

You'd be essentially funding this continued privacy invasion of individuals - even if this service is successful for yourself.

That's a lucrative product for a for-profit company to offer, but seems like a poor fit for the parent foundation's goals of creating a more privacy-respecting internet on a systemic level (rather than just for a few paying customers).

pquki43• 2 years ago

Too bad I don't live in Europe, what can I do? (shrug)

imhoguy• 2 years ago

Unfortunately, while living in EU/UK, you have no means to force US company to wipe your personal data unless it officially does business in Europe.

nottorp2• 2 years ago

Yep. If it were a service done by Mozilla I could trust it. But this way, what is it besides a referral program for some company I've never heard of?

Plus the 'It's just a Starbucks latte' pricing...

thallium205• 2 years ago

I ran my info through the scanner and it said it found hundreds of matches. I looked through them and exactly 0 of them were me. Trash.

nottorp2• 2 years ago

Antivirus vendor recipe "we have found 2840 possible threats on your computer!"

wildrhythms2• 2 years ago

I always wonder how much data these companies have taken down that isn't their client's.

herunan• 2 years ago

US-only. What if my EU data is found in US-based data brokers?

Alifatisk• 2 years ago

Then they got a larger issue

clankyclanker3• 2 years ago

Then you file a complaint with your favorite reordenarías because somebody skirted the GDPR?

clankyclanker3• 2 years ago

* Representative

chriscampbell• 2 years ago

I am a big fan of Kanary - https://www.kanary.com/

I’ve tried one rep, delete me and a few others. This service goes much wider to delete all public mentions and hidden ones in broker databases that are being sold. It has made a considerable difference for my data privacy IMO.

chrisandchris• 2 years ago

It's fascinating that I have to pay to get my data removed from datasets into which they got without my consent (well, my consent "is not worth much" IMHO) and somebody else gets paid to put my data into this dataset.

So I need to pay to get something I never wanted in the first place.

batch12• 2 years ago

Makes me wish there was a service dedicated to providing the information of the people who run these services for free. The more details that can be used by marketing folks to profile and contact them, the better.

clankyclanker3• 2 years ago

Isn’t that usually called extortion?

driverdan• 2 years ago

You don't have to pay. You can have your data removed from all of these services directly but it's time consuming.

slumberlust• 2 years ago

This is par for the course for Americans and credit reporting agencies. It's disgusting how they use your data without consent, don't protect it, then charge you to 'lock' your credit. I love unfettered capitalism.

kanary• 2 years ago

Glad to hear it. All we do at Kanary is focus on exposure clean up. We've spent 4+ years refining how we find and match information to show accurate results vs a bunch of mismatched / irrelevant alerts.

We run a free trial & free version too so that it can be accessible for folks who want to run this type of clean up, have the time to DIY, and don't want to pay.

neogodless• 2 years ago

Mozilla Monitor Plus: automatically remove your personal info from data brokers

(posted 22 hours ago, 260+ points, 189+ comments)

SushiHippie• 2 years ago

FWIW they use haveibeenpwned.com to find the breaches when you enter the e-mail. So you could just go to https://haveibeenpwned.com to check if you are affected by any breaches.

ChrisArchitect• 2 years ago

[dupe]

Lots of discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39274631

Mozilla's new service tries to wipe your data off the web

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