OCT 6 2017

A new Cliqz experiment in Firefox

About a year ago, Mozilla announced a strategic investment in Cliqz GmbH, the Munich-based developer of search and privacy tools. Today we would like to report about a new important experiment in Firefox, which uses Cliqz technology and will start soon.

Cliqz brings recommendations and other information, such as news, weather news or news from the world of sports, to the address bar as you type. Already in our blog Post on Context Graph last year, we drew attention to the growing problem of centralization and explained how it affects the user experience on the web. We would like to offer new and varied recommendations, create space for new ways to discover things and move around the web and, more than anything else, provide experiences that our users like.

Cliqz has shown great potential during the Firefox test this year. Users told us that the recommendations they receive are not only quick and useful, but also save them time by taking them directly to where they want to go.

Next week we'll kick off the most important test yet. A little less than one percent of German users downloading Firefox from our central download page will receive a Firefox version with Cliqz recommendations automatically activated.

The experiment also includes the data collection tool that Cliqz uses to provide a basis for his recommendations. The surfing activities of those users who receive a Firefox version with Cliqz are sent to the Cliqz servers, including the URLs of the pages they visit. Cliqz uses a variety of methods to ensure that sensitive information is removed from the surfing data before it is sent out of Firefox. Cliqz also does not create surf profiles for individual users and deletes their IPs as soon as the data has been collected. Cliqz's code is publicly available and a description of the procedures used can be found here.

One of Mozilla's core principles for data protection is no surprises. We will only ever use and share data in a transparent manner that is beneficial for our users. That is why we would like to make a statement on this today and at this point. We want to make sure that users understand why we have chosen this approach and what it means to them. Even though this is a small experiment, this data collection and the new search experience represent significant changes in the functionality of this Firefox version. We hope that users will enjoy the improved user experience. If you prefer to do without it and want to switch it off, you can of course deactivate the data collection at any time or completely remove the Cliqz add-on.

We would be pleased to keep you informed about the results of the experiment. Mozilla and Cliqz stand behind their common goals and are committed to providing a great product. We are looking forward to the feedback of our users!