Firefox will let users delete collected data thanks to California’s new privacy law

Mozilla, maker of the Firefox web browser, says it’s giving all users more control of their own data. The change is spurred by the California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, which went into effect on Wednesday. The new data-privacy law gives California residents the right to know what personal data tech companies collect, and let’s people ask companies to delete their data and not to sell it. Mozilla said changes it’s making under the CCPA will apply to every Firefox user, not just those in California.

In a blog post Tuesday, Mozilla said it will give Firefox users the option to delete their data collected by the company in the next version of the browser, which is set to be released Jan. 7. Firefox doesn’t collect data on websites visited or search queries, but Mozilla said it’ll let users choose to delete telemetry data — which covers things like how many tabs are open or how long a session was. Mozilla said it uses this data to improve the performance and security of Firefox.

CCPA gives California residents the right to know what personal data is collected, shared and sold by businesses. The law also bars companies from discriminating against anyone who chooses to exercise these rights. The CCPA is similar to Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation, which went into effect in 2018.