Mozilla invests in German privacy protecting browser and search engine developer Cliqz

Mozilla today announced it has invested in the company that develops the privacy browser Cliqz. Currently Cliqz is mainly targeted at Germany and Mozilla should help expand it to other countries. Both parties have not disclosed the amount of money involved in this 'strategic investment'.

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Cliqz is already available for Firefox as a free add-on. It adds a quick search engine as well as privacy and safety enhancements such as anti-tracking to Firefox for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS. Especially the search engine is an advantage because it is maintained by Cliqz. The company has therefore full control of what is stored about users and searches. Other browser that try to provide as much privacy as possible usually use an engine from e.g. Google, Bing or Yahoo.

The search engine from Cliqz is improved by using user data. It uses a search algorithm that weighs data about people’s behavior on the web instead of a technical analysis of websites. The company guarantees collected data is anonymized and offers the option to opt-out.

The developers also try to limit how much user data Cliqz sends to web servers and trackers and show how many tracking items are blocked. Another feature provided by the Cliqz browser is the detection of phishing websites.

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While Cliqz is currently targeted at German users, it's also already usable outside the country.

When it comes to making money from Cliqz, the idea is to offer an 'offers app'. This should analyze the user's surfing behavior and present them with a relevant offer. To avoid privacy issues the analysis of the user data will be performed offline after which the browser only downloads relevant offers. Actual user data should not be sent to Cliqz.

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