Firefox Monitor is planning to remove personal information from the Internet
Firefox Monitor, Mozilla’s password breach detection service, could be used to remove personal information from the Internet in the near future. Firefox Monitor users who want to use the service can sign up for a waitlist.
Sign in to your Firefox Monitor account, or create a new one, and then click the join waitlist button for the service’s new data removal feature.
At this time, little is known about the service’s functionality. Mozilla responds to two questions.
Why should you delete your personal information?
When your personal information is available online, you may become a more attractive target for identity theft, fraud, or even cyberstalking. Advertisers, businesses, and hackers can quickly learn a lot about you, such as your name, home address, family information, and even your social security number and password.
How do we get rid of it?
We are developing a privacy service that will monitor websites for your personal information and remove it from sites that pose a risk to you and your loved ones. It is not yet available, but if you want to learn more, please click the link below.
Many questions remain unanswered at the moment, including:
What is included in the definition of personal information?
- Are we only talking about textual information, such as names, addresses, and social security numbers, or also media, such as leaked photos?
- The extent of the service. Is Mozilla monitoring the entire Internet for leaks, or is the data removal service initially limited to certain major sites such as Facebook and Twitter?
- How are relocations handled? Is this a fully automated process, or, as I believe, do users need to grant Mozilla’s service permission to remove data from each source individually?
Final Thoughts
Firefox Monitor’s new data removal service enhances the service’s value. If Mozilla gets it right, it’s a good addition to the service. It appears improbable that the organization is scanning the entire Internet for personal information about its users, and it is unclear whether Mozilla is developing the service from scratch or collaborating with an established data removal service. Is the new personal information feature going to be free? Mozilla already offers several paid services, such as Mozilla VPN and Pocket, and it is possible that the data removal service will not be free or will be limited in scope.
Overall, it could help Firefox Monitor, especially when compared to other password leak solutions available on the Internet.
What are your thoughts on this new data removal service? Would you make use of it?
