# 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.

- Website: https://www.palemoon.org
- Source code: https://repo.palemoon.org/MoonchildProductions/Pale-Moon
- Home page trackers: none found
- Category: [Browsers](https://privacyratings.com/browsers/)
- Grade: D (50/100)

## Criteria

| Criterion | Answer | Note | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Yes | Source under MPL-2.0 and other Mozilla licenses. Official branding and binaries carry a redistribution license. | https://repo.palemoon.org/MoonchildProductions/Pale-Moon/src/branch/master/LICENSE |
| No trackers or telemetry | Yes | No telemetry on browser or extension use, and no tracking. | https://www.palemoon.org/policies/privacy.shtml |
| No ads or data sales | Yes | No ads in the browser. Supported by donations. | https://www.palemoon.org/donations.shtml |
| Independent audit | No | No independent audit is published. |  |
| Blocks trackers by default | No | No built-in tracker blocking. Requires extensions. |  |
| Fingerprinting protection | No | No fingerprinting protection is enabled by default. |  |
| No calls to big-tech services | Yes | Default connections go to Pale Moon servers, IP-API geolocation and the chosen search engine, not to Google, Microsoft or Apple. | https://www.palemoon.org/policies/privacy.shtml |
| Timely security updates | No | Mozilla security fixes are ported selectively to its own platform in releases every few weeks to months. | https://www.palemoon.org/releasenotes-archived.shtml |

Source: https://privacyratings.com/browsers/palemoon/
Edit: https://github.com/privacyratings/privacyratings.com/edit/main/ratings/browsers/palemoon.md