Nearly a Year Later, Mozilla Is Still Promoting OneRep

An anonymous reader quotes a report from KrebsOnSecurity: In mid-March 2024, KrebsOnSecurity revealed that the founder of the personal data removal service Onerep also founded dozens of people-search companies. Shortly after that investigation was published, Mozilla said it would stop bundling Onerep with the Firefox browser and wind down its partnership with the company. But nearly a year later, Mozilla is still promoting it to Firefox users. [Using OneRep is problematic because its founder, Dimitri Shelest, also created and maintained ownership (PDF) in multiple people-search and data broker services, including Nuwber, which contradicts OneRep's stated mission of protecting personal online security. Additionally, OneRep appears to have ties with Radaris, a people-search service known for ignoring or failing to honor opt-out requests, raising concerns about the true intentions and effectiveness of OneRep's data removal service.]

In October 2024, Mozilla published a statement saying the search for a different provider was taking longer than anticipated. 'While we continue to evaluate vendors, finding a technically excellent and values-aligned partner takes time,' Mozilla wrote. 'While we continue this search, Onerep will remain the backend provider, ensuring that we can maintain uninterrupted services while we continue evaluating new potential partners that align more closely with Mozilla's values and user expectations. We are conducting thorough diligence to find the right vendor.' Asked for an update, Mozilla said the search for a replacement partner continues.

'The work's ongoing but we haven't found the right alternative yet,' Mozilla said in an emailed statement. 'Our customers' data remains safe, and since the product provides a lot of value to our subscribers, we'll continue to offer it during this process.' It's a win-win for Mozilla that they've received accolades for their principled response while continuing to partner with Onerep almost a year later. But if it takes so long to find a suitable replacement, what does that say about the personal data removal industry itself?

Read more of this story at Slashdot.