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Cake day: March 6th, 2025

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  • The legal definition of “sell” has changed in several major markets, and that’s (supposedly) why Firefox has recently changed their terms. The word “sell” is now ostensibly broad enough to include “give to anybody for any reason”, including if you use Firefox for any reason where you would legitimately want and need Firefox to give (“sell”) your data - for example if you use it for: literally any shopping or even just browsing store pages; any interactive (real world) maps where you may want to use your location; any searches where you want local businesses to be listed; any search engine that may want to use your location to aid in results; etc. etc. etc.

    Any legitimate exchange of data can now be construed as “selling” because of the new legal definitions, regardless of if anyone is actually selling anything.

    It’s very possible that nothing has changed - that Firefox hasn’t started selling user data, they’re just updating their terms (and this app listing) to reflect the changes in the legal definitions of “sell”.



  • Boost did stop working initially when Reddit moved to kill 3rd party apps, but it started working again pretty quickly if you were a mod (of ANY subreddit, even random ones that were created and instantly privated with zero members or content). Same for other 3rd party tools/apps.

    Reddit sucks so much dick that any mod worth their salt on any major subreddit used/uses 3rd party apps for modding (because official Reddit was/is inadequate).

    The API pricing change would’ve killed 3rd party mod tools, so a bunch of mods threatened to quit - which would (in theory, but probably actually not) fuck over a bunch of major subreddits right before Reddit’s IPO. Reddit capitulated and allowed users (only if they were mods) to make API calls with 3rd party tools/apps. Presumably Reddit did this begrudgingly, as the best option to preserve value before their IPO.

    Boost and other 3rd party tools were down for a relatively short amount of time (I think a few days, or maybe a week or two? I don’t remember, but it felt quick) before coming back online. I’ve been using regular unpatched Boost ever since then, but it stopped working about a week ago. I thought it was just me, but apparently it’s stopped working for everybody?

    That said, I’m not convinced it’s Reddit that’s behind this, I think it may be Boost’s developer, Ruben Mayayo. I get a 403 error now on Boost for Reddit, and the app - for the first time ever - showed me an ad for Boost for Lemmy. This can’t be a coincidence, and Ruben must know that Boost for Reddit has stopped working. I’m curious if it’s Reddit taking further action against 3rd party clients or if it’s Boost’s developer finally and decisively killing Boost for Reddit and notifying users of Boost for Lemmy. Maybe Ruben just wanted to finalize his split from Reddit and so he officially killed his app’s access to Reddit’s API?

    Also yes, you could change the universal Boost API key to your own personal API key, and that would allow you to keep using it (or other 3rd party tools/apps).




  • Create a bunch of fake reddit accounts (or pay for some botting) that brigade the sub with pro-trump/musk rhetoric. If your users have brains, they’ll get pissed and start shit talking the two, saying that trump & musk are existential threats to america and the world, and it’s basically guaranteed that someone will say something like “can’t wait for those dumb tubs of lard to expire”. This is apparently now against Reddit ToS and can get a sub shut down (see r/WhitePeopleTwitter) so just let it get temp banned by admins, then do it again and get permabanned, or use the temp ban (or just warnings) as justification to close commenting and/or posting




  • https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/update-on-terms-of-use/

    The reason we’ve stepped away from making blanket claims that “We never sell your data” is because, in some places, the LEGAL definition of “sale of data” is broad and evolving. As an example, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) defines “sale” as the “selling, renting, releasing, disclosing, disseminating, making available, transferring, or otherwise communicating orally, in writing, or by electronic or other means, a consumer’s personal information by [a] business to another business or a third party” in exchange for “monetary” or “other valuable consideration.”

    If they give anybody any information for any reason, they open themselves to litigation - however frivolous and unwarranted - because the laws are written to be intentionally vague, to capture a wide variety of scenarios, including those that the law does not explicitly state. There are tons of valuable exchanges that could occur other than strictly data for money, and those exchanges are therefore captured within this new legal definition. To protect themselves from frivolous lawsuits and to remain consistent within the new definitions of these laws, Firefox/Mozilla has changed their Terms of Use. Their uses of data are outlined within their Privacy Policy (linked within the above post).

    I suppose this information is only valuable if one trusts Mozilla - one of the most stalwart, dedicated, and outspoken advocates for consumer rights in the digital age.

    I’m not saying Mozilla is infallible or above reproach - nobody/nothing is or should be considered so - but if I’m gonna trust any group that says “I’m not fucking you over” it’s gonna be the group that has a consistent and very clear history of championing the idea of not fucking people over