Browsers
PaleMoon privacy rating
Independent desktop browser built on the Unified XUL Platform (UXP) and Goanna engine, forked from older Mozilla code. Collects no telemetry and supports legacy XUL extensions.
Summary
PaleMoon scores 50 out of 100 (grade D) on the browsers criteria. It meets 4 of 8 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales and no calls to big-tech services. It does not meet independent audit, blocks trackers by default, fingerprinting protection and timely security updates.
Score 50 out of 100. How scoring works
Criteria
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Yes
Open source Weight 3 of 3
Is all the source code needed to run the product public?
Source under MPL-2.0 and other Mozilla licenses. Official branding and binaries carry a redistribution license.
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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?
No telemetry on browser or extension use, and no tracking.
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Yes
No ads or data sales Weight 2 of 3
Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?
No ads in the browser. Supported by donations.
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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.
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No
Blocks trackers by default Weight 3 of 3
Are third-party trackers blocked by default, without installing extensions?
No built-in tracker blocking. Requires extensions.
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No
Fingerprinting protection Weight 2 of 3
Does the browser defend against fingerprinting by default?
No fingerprinting protection is enabled by default.
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Yes
No calls to big-tech services Weight 2 of 3
Does the browser work without background connections to Google, Microsoft or Apple services?
Default connections go to Pale Moon servers, IP-API geolocation and the chosen search engine, not to Google, Microsoft or Apple.
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No
Timely security updates Weight 3 of 3
Are security fixes from the upstream engine shipped quickly and automatically?
Mozilla security fixes are ported selectively to its own platform in releases every few weeks to months.