The Mozilla Foundation has updated the German-language version of Firefox in a bid to defuse a growing controversy over the way its search toolbar handles private customer data.
Mozilla, an open-source group that oversees the development and marketing of the Firefox Web browser and other software, on Monday said it changed an eBay search plug-in that had originally directed queries through a Web address, or URL, owned by a third-party Swiss search company. "The Mozilla Foundation allowed this URL to be implemented not realizing the privacy implications," the foundation said in a statement. "This was an error on our part. When this was brought to our attention, action was immediately taken."