Browsers
IronFox privacy rating
Firefox-based browser for Android, a fork of Mull, with telemetry removed, uBlock Origin preinstalled, Strict tracking protection and hardened privacy settings.
Summary
IronFox scores 85 out of 100 (grade B) on the browsers criteria. It meets 6 of 8 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, blocks trackers by default, fingerprinting protection and timely security updates. It partly meets no calls to big-tech services. It does not meet independent audit.
Score 85 out of 100. How scoring works
Criteria
-
Yes
Open source Weight 3 of 3
Is all the source code needed to run the product public?
Build scripts are AGPL-3.0, and patches are MPL-2.0 or Apache-2.0.
-
Yes
No trackers or telemetry Weight 3 of 3
Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default?
Telemetry and data collection are disabled at build time, and tracking libraries such as Adjust and Sentry are removed.
-
Yes
No ads or data sales Weight 2 of 3
Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?
Volunteer project. It does not collect, store or sell user data and has no ads.
-
No
Independent audit Weight 2 of 3
Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years?
No independent audit is published.
-
Yes
Blocks trackers by default Weight 3 of 3
Are third-party trackers blocked by default, without installing extensions?
Ships uBlock Origin and enables Strict Enhanced Tracking Protection by default.
-
Yes
Fingerprinting protection Weight 2 of 3
Does the browser defend against fingerprinting by default?
Enables Firefox's fingerprinting protection by default, which alters fingerprinting data.
-
Partial
No calls to big-tech services Weight 2 of 3
Does the browser work without background connections to Google, Microsoft or Apple services?
Google Safe Browsing is on by default through a privacy proxy and can be turned off in settings. Google Play Services are not required.
-
Yes
Timely security updates Weight 3 of 3
Are security fixes from the upstream engine shipped quickly and automatically?
Releases follow each Firefox release, and Accrescent installs updates automatically.