Even as internet users are still finding out about the latest privacy policy that Google has enforced, Mozilla Firefox ups the ante with the release of their new add-on, Collusion. Incidentally, released just a day before the new policy came into action, Collusion is a counter measure and Mozilla’s answer to Google’s dominion over it in the market.Designed and being marketed as Mozilla’s anti-Big Brother add-on, the application shows users which third-party websites are tracking them. Still in its trial stages, the app seems promising as the company is trying to develop it such that layman users can monitor and block these third-party sites.“The Collusion add-on will allow users to ‘pull back the curtain’ on web advertising firms and other third parties that track people’s online movements,” said Mozilla CEO Gary Kovacs at the product unveiling, referring more than clearly to Google’s business which is built on advertising (the company earned $28 billion from its AdWords service in 2010).While it does come as a relief option for many (read software and web designers), it doesn’t generate much euphoria among the common users - primarily because people haven’t yet understood what the new privacy rules entails and hence the subsequent snub to Google through Mozilla’s new app.Says Uzzal Mohan, “I’m not particularly aware of the new policy. But then again, I use Internet Explorer (IE). However, if there is such an application that seems to provide more security then the rest, I have no qualms in shifting.” Responding on the same lines, Jackson, an employee at Infosys says, “Though more of an IE user, the introduction an add-on like Collusion is something I would definitely shift to it if it delivers what it promises.”However, there are still the die-hard Google fans whose loyalty is unfazed despite the row over its head. One such loyalist, Sravan, a college student, says, “I love Google. Plus I don’t think they would do something that hampers the security of its users. Despite the apparent advantage of Collusion, I wouldn’t change. Google has been amazing in the past and it will continue to be.”K Satya, a software developer is part of the diminished community that’s hailing the new app. “An algorithm like that is what Google survives on. For a lay-man, it doesn’t really make much much of a difference. But for people like us, we get to see how the whole system works. I will definitely shift.”Ultimately, whether or not Mozilla will manage to tide over the threat that Chrome presents to its position as the world’s second most popular web browser, only time will tell
Comments
0 comment