In an unexpected turn of events, Mozilla’s Director of Community Development, Asa Dotzler, has voiced his displeasure with Google. His discontent stems from a controversial statement made by Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, concerning user privacy.
Schmidt’s Provocative Statement on Privacy
In an interview, when asked about the trustworthiness of Google, Schmidt made a remark that has ignited a flurry of criticism. The Google CEO stated, “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” This sentiment has irked not only Dotzler, but a large number of others as well.
In the same conversation, Schmidt added, “We are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities.”
A Shift in Google’s Attitude Towards Privacy?
Such statements mark a possible deviation from Google’s traditional approach to privacy, indicated by past statements and new tools rolled out by the company. This has led to speculation that Google may be more open to providing users’ search histories to authorities.
Asa Dotzler’s Response
In reaction to Schmidt’s comments, Dotzler suggested an alternative for internet users, “That was Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, telling you exactly what he thinks about your privacy. There is no ambiguity, no ‘out of context’ here.” Dotzler further added how users can switch Firefox’s search from Google to Bing, pointing out that Bing indeed has a better privacy policy than Google.
The Impact of Firefox’s Market Share
Given that Firefox controls 24.72% of the browser market according to Net Applications, Dotzler’s stance might impact users’ choice of search engines.
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