Firefox developer Mozilla suddenly ends its partnership with personal information protection service 'Onerep'

Mozilla, the developer of Firefox, has announced the end of its partnership with Onerep, a data privacy company that provides a service to remove personal information from search results.

Mozilla Drops Onerep After CEO Admits to Running People-Search Networks – Krebs on Security
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2024/03/mozilla-drops-onerep-after-ceo-admits-to-running-people-search-networks/

Mozilla just ditched its privacy partner because its CEO is tied to data brokers - The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/22/24109116/mozilla-ends-onerep-data-removal-partnership

Mozilla announced `` Mozilla Monitor Plus '' in February 2024 as a paid subscription service for Firefox that automatically deletes leaked personal information and continuously monitors personal information leaks. For this Mozilla Monitor Plus, Mozilla partnered with Onerep.

Mozilla announces ``Mozilla Monitor Plus'' that lets you delete your data from personal information sales sites - GIGAZINE

However, Dimitri Sherest, the founder and CEO of Onerep, which provides a privacy-related service that deletes personal information from search engines, founded 'Nuwber', which is a service targeted for personal information deletion at Onerep. It turned out that he was a person. In other words, Mr. Sherest was also a data broker who sold personal information while providing personal information protection services. Mr. Sherest acknowledged that he was the owner of Nuwber at the time of writing the article, but he claimed that there was 'zero crossover or information sharing between Onerep and Nuwber' and that he was not associated with his other name. He said he no longer owns the old domain.

It has been pointed out that a company that provides a service for deleting personal information from the Internet also operates a service for searching personnel information on the Internet - GIGAZINE

Regarding the reason why Onerep and Nuwber are diametrically opposed services, Sherest said, ``My partnership with Nuwber may seem strange from an outsider's perspective. Onerep wouldn't have the best technology and team in the space if we hadn't taken the initial path of digging deeper into how the site works. Still, I regret not making this fact more clear earlier. We aim to do even better in the future.'

However, Mozilla announced that it would end its partnership with Onerep following reports about Sherest. Brandon Bowman, Mozilla's vice president of communications, said in a statement regarding the end of the partnership, 'At no time did our partnership with Onerep put customer data at risk, but due to the outside financial interests and activities of Onerep's CEO. 'We are currently working to solidify a transition plan that provides a seamless experience for our customers and continues to put their interests first,' foreign media outlet The Verge said. is explained.

In addition, Mozilla has not clarified whether it will look for another partner company to replace Onerep or whether it will end the service itself called Mozilla Monitor Plus.