> Does Mozilla's track record include their suggested advertising tiles on your newtab page, based off your browsing history?
Yes, in fact it enhances Mozilla's reputation (or should): 1) It doesn't compromise your confidentiality because, as you point out, your data never leaves your computer; and 2) They provide a way (and open code) for the whole industry to greatly improve the confidentiality of their advertising.
> I don't want my data mined even locally for the purpose of showing me ads
That's fine, but it's not a confidentiality issue.
> defaulting to Yahoo to send your searches because they were the highest bidder?
Given that there are confidential search vendors, such as DuckDuckGo, I agree that this is a confidentiality issue.
Yes, in fact it enhances Mozilla's reputation (or should): 1) It doesn't compromise your confidentiality because, as you point out, your data never leaves your computer; and 2) They provide a way (and open code) for the whole industry to greatly improve the confidentiality of their advertising.
> I don't want my data mined even locally for the purpose of showing me ads
That's fine, but it's not a confidentiality issue.
> defaulting to Yahoo to send your searches because they were the highest bidder?
Given that there are confidential search vendors, such as DuckDuckGo, I agree that this is a confidentiality issue.