Watch out! Firefox is spying on you from the moment you download it

In general, privacy within the software that we use on a daily basis is important, but this is something that is especially evident when we refer to web browsers. Precisely for all this, sometimes users rule out certain solutions of this type, as could happen now with Firefox .

There are several titles that could be considered benchmarks in this software sector, starting with Google Chrome , going through Edge , and ending with Firefox. It is precisely this last option that we want to talk about next. And it is that from what is being known now, all those users who download the aforementioned Mozilla web browser from its official website, obtain a unique identifier. This is attached to the installer itself that sends us the signature when installing and running it for the first time.

Firefox is spying on you from the moment you download it

As you can imagine, this is a movement that most may not like. Specifically and to give you an idea, this identifier called dltoken used by Mozilla, is really used to link downloads to installations and first runs of Firefox. It is important to know that it is unique for each installer of the program. This means that the information is sent to the company each time it is used.

It is true that it is possible to download new installers every time a new version of Firefox is released. Of course, we can also reuse that same installer downloaded at first, for that purpose. All this has been known thanks to a report on the official Mozilla website. It confirms the use of the download token that we mentioned. Although the document is not public, the list itself confirms its use and offers an explanation of the reason for its implementation.

Why Firefox embeds an identifier

From the point of view of the company itself, it argues the use of this token to obtain certain information from the program. Specifically, they confirm that this data will allow them to relate telemetry IDs to download tokens in addition to Google Analytics IDs. In addition, they add that this element allows them to track what installations result from certain downloads and know exactly what installations are made on a daily basis, for example.

instalador firefox

In short, Mozilla uses this identifier to analyze the download and installation trends of its program, among other things. We must bear in mind that this built-in element exists in all channels of Firefox . It is very possible that from this moment many users prefer to download the program’s installer without unexpected additions that could be used for espionage. Therefore, those who prefer to download the browser without the unique identifier can do so in two ways.

First of all, they can use the installer from Mozilla’s HTTPS repository , which was previously done via FTP . At the same time they can connect to certain third-party download pages that have this installer. Of course, we must be careful with our choice in this case and always use totally reliable and trustworthy websites. In fact, as of this moment, these may be the best choices before using Firefox.