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Danielle Moore is the founder of Semicolon Books in Chicago. Credit: Jesus J. Montero Jesus J. Montero is an award-winning journalist and passionate storyteller. He’s known for his investigative work covering social justice, music and culture. Jesus J. is also a producer, curating dynamic experiences that highlight culture through storytelling and dialogue. You can follow him on Instagram at @JesusJMontero. Photo: Olivia Gatti

Danielle Moore is a woman on a mission. It shows in the carefully curated, outward-facing books that line the shelves of Semicolon Books in Chicago’s River West neighborhood.

As a lesbian Black woman in a world that often overlooks her, Danielle wanted to build a space where diverse voices are celebrated and independence thrives. “If I want to create it, I will,” she said. For her, that is the definition of independence.

To step into Danielle’s world is to experience solace and peace intended for people seeking a place to simply be. Since it opened in 2019, Semicolon has been a staple in Chicago’s literary community, offering a selection of books that celebrate stories and voices from Black history. This is also reflected in the art and cultural pieces that cover the bookstore’s walls. 

Danielle Moore stands in front of Semicolon Books in Chicago. Credit: Jesus J. Montero Danielle Moore (center) with team members at Semicolon Books in Chicago, seated in front of artwork that highlights Black culture and history. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

“Independence is what creates my safety,” she explained, pointing to the word “independence” tattooed on her left forearm. 

With her work, Danielle strives to foster independence in others. One of her goals is to improve youth literacy in Chicago. She frequently donates much of her inventory to book drives for children, as well as for incarcerated individuals across Illinois.

Danielle encourages finding empowerment by building one’s own safe haven, just as she did.  “If you’re someone who constantly feels othered, create something,” Danielle advised. “It’s the only way to build a safe mental, emotional and physical space for yourself.”

A display of books at Semicolon Books, highlighting titles that celebrate Black voices and experiences. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

The experiences that inspired Danielle to open Semicolon began in her childhood. “Books saved my life,” she reflected, remembering a time when the world offered her no other escape. Growing up, Danielle moved between homeless shelters, where books became her refuge. They opened her eyes to endless possibilities and offered life lessons that carried her into adulthood.

Her love for books continues to shape her today. “I’m always reading ‘All About Love’ by bell hooks,” Danielle said. “It’s about love in its truest form — community love — and how you can’t love anybody else if you don’t love yourself. But more than that, it teaches that you can’t claim to love something if you aren’t giving back to the community, ensuring that people feel that love in real, tangible ways.”

Empowering others Danielle Moore greets a visitor outside Semicolon Books in Chicago. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

Despite facing challenges — whether it’s critics questioning her outward-facing book displays, which isn’t the industry standard, or landlords threatening to raise rent — Danielle remains focused. “I remember sitting in the space, meditating and being reminded that this space isn’t for them,” she said. “This space is for me.” 

Building a business, cultivating a community and creating art are all acts of love for Danielle. “Part of that is making sure others feel free to do the same, to carve out their own spaces of joy and expression,” she said. 

Expanding her world 

Now, as Danielle embarks on new ventures beyond Semicolon’s River West location, she reflects on the journey that brought her here. “Everything always works out,” she said, a personal mantra of sorts. 

Semicolon recently opened a new location on the ground floor of the historic Wrigley Building on the Mag Mile. Danielle also plans to launch an outpost in the East Garfield Park neighborhood.

Visitors enjoy the relaxed atmosphere at Semicolon Books in Chicago, whether browsing the shelves or working on laptops. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

Her ambition extends beyond Chicago. In addition to a store in Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Danielle has London and Tokyo locations in her sights.

And as the world expands for Semicolon, so too does its reach online. “The dope part about the internet is that it makes the world small, really fast,” Danielle said. “I can see something incredible, track down the person behind it, and fangirl over them. I love that.” For Danielle, the internet is more than just a tool — it’s a bridge, connecting her with people and communities she might otherwise never encounter.

Owning a bookstore was never part of her original plan, but Danielle now envisions Semicolon becoming the world’s largest independent, nonprofit Black-owned bookseller.

“If I’m not even supposed to be here, I’m gonna do what I want,” she said, determined to spread her message of freedom for all seeking a place to just be.

An aerial view of Semicolon Books in Chicago. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

Chicago’s small business owners are shaping their communities with purpose. In this series, we highlight the entrepreneurs behind local gems – each of them building something bigger than just a business. Through Solo, Mozilla’s free AI-powered website creator, they’re exploring new corners of their community online. Check out Danielle Moore’s Solo website here.

Ready to start creating? Launch your website

The post Semicolon Books: A haven of independence and empowerment in Chicago appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

Kevin and Molly Woods run The Pop-Up, a resale boutique and creative outlet for local artists, nestled in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Credit: Jesus J. Montero Jesus J. Montero is an award-winning journalist and passionate storyteller. He’s known for his investigative work covering social justice, music and culture. Jesus J. is also a producer, curating dynamic experiences that highlight culture through storytelling and dialogue. You can follow him on Instagram at @JesusJMontero. Photo: Olivia Gatti

Freedom and legacy go hand in hand. For entrepreneurs, it means building something that reflects not only their vision but also the stories they want to share with the world.

Husband-and-wife Kevin and Molly Woods embody that philosophy. Their partnership began with a LinkedIn message — one that didn’t lead to a job, but to something much bigger. “She was a recruiter,” Kevin recalled. “You know those messages you always think are a scam? Well, that’s how we met. She sent me one of those 15 years ago, and we’ve been together ever since.”

A new era of creators The Pop-Up blends style with community-focused retail in Chicago’s Wicker Park. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

Fast forward to today, Kevin and Molly now run The Pop-Up, a resale boutique and creative outlet for local artists, nestled in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. The store’s mission is rooted in the spirit of collaboration and community. But that path hasn’t been without challenges.

“This space is more than just a store. It’s our home,” Molly shared after their shop was broken into — twice. Yet, through it all, they stayed resilient. The space, once home to the iconic RSVP Gallery where creatives like Don C and the late Virgil Abloh once shaped Chicago’s cultural scene, is now a hub for a new generation of artists and collaborators.

“This isn’t just about selling clothes,” Kevin emphasized. “It’s about creating a space where ideas take flight, where people can come together to celebrate the boundless creativity in this city.”

A vintage yellow Sade t-shirt hangs in The Pop-Up boutique. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

Both Kevin and Molly come from backgrounds in HR, and while they found success in the corporate world, it never quite felt like enough. “We were both HR professionals for years,” Kevin explained, “but we wanted to create something of our own.”

A trip to Japan in 2019 was pivotal. “That trip changed everything for me,” Kevin said. “I came back inspired to create something of my own. I secured the domain as soon as I landed, and that’s when The Pop-Up was born.”

A community-driven comeback

Their dream became a reality, but not without hurdles. After the break-ins, The Pop-Up was forced to close its doors temporarily. However, the community they had poured so much into over the years rallied around them, providing support and encouragement. “It was inspirational to see how everybody in the team rallied together, working through, being resilient, and patient. Knowing that there was light at the end of the tunnel,” Kevin shared.

“They’re not just employees,” Molly added. “They’re family. We’ve watched them grow, their talents blossoming right in front of us.”

Kevin Woods, co-owner of The Pop-Up, organizes clothing on display in their Wicker Park boutique. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

The Pop-Up now thrives as a collaborative space, hosting local designers, artists and small businesses — each contributing to Chicago’s vibrant creative scene. The internet has also played a role in cultivating this community. “It’s definitely a tool,” Kevin said. “It helps us connect. … But at the end of the day, I still believe in that personal interaction to really connect and validate those relationships.”

Now reopened with a fresh design and layout, The Pop-Up continues its mission of supporting local talent and fostering community. Kevin and Molly’s journey is one of resilience and creativity, and their store stands as a testament to the power of collaboration.

“Working with local people to do great things — that’s how we started, and that’s how all of this came to life,” Kevin said, looking ahead to what’s next for The Pop-Up.

With its doors open once again, The Pop-Up is ready to continue adding to Chicago’s rich history and culture in fashion and beyond — one collaboration at a time.

An aerial view of Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood, home to The Pop-Up boutique, with the downtown skyline in the distance. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

Chicago’s small business owners are shaping their communities with purpose. In this series, we highlight the entrepreneurs behind local gems – each of them building something bigger than just a business. Through Solo, Mozilla’s free AI-powered website creator, they’re exploring new corners of their community online. Check out The Pop-Up founders Kevin and Molly Woods’ Solo website here.

Ready to start creating? Launch your website

The post The Pop-Up: A homegrown space for Chicago’s creatives appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

The DishRoulette Kitchen team gathers by a communal table originally from the first restaurant they worked with. Crafted now into a conference table, it remains a symbol of DRK. Credit: Jesus J. Montero Jesus J. Montero is an award-winning journalist and passionate storyteller. He’s known for his investigative work covering social justice, music and culture. Jesus J. is also a producer, curating dynamic experiences that highlight culture through storytelling and dialogue. You can follow him on Instagram at @JesusJMontero. Photo: Olivia Gatti

Community is power. That’s the driving force behind DishRoulette Kitchen, a support hub for local food entrepreneurs in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood.

DRK was born in 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It started with an observation from Brian Soto, an accountant who saw firsthand how many of his small business clients were ineligible for government relief programs because they lacked the necessary paperwork or tax documentation. “So many of these businesses were shut out of crucial government funding,” explained Chris Cole, DRK’s director of partnerships and communications. “Brian realized that this wasn’t just an issue for his clients, but for small businesses across Chicago.”

Brian partnered with Jackson Flores, and together they founded DRK to address these challenges. The goal was simple: to provide grants, coaching and the financial and operational expertise small businesses needed to survive — and thrive. From helping businesses manage their taxes to offering guidance on rent and payroll, DRK has since become a lifeline for many local entrepreneurs.

“We’re scrappy,” admitted Jackson, DRK’s executive director. “We bootstrapped this entire thing, and we’re going to keep making it happen, no matter what, because the people we serve deserve the chance to thrive, to create the life they’ve always dreamed of.”

Support for real-time challenges “When an entrepreneur comes in with a problem, we create a roadmap to turn that into a success,” explained Brian Soto, director of finance at DishRoulette Kitchen. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

Each member of the DRK team brings a wealth of experience, including from the corporate, finance, tech and hospitality industries. Now, they’re applying those principles back into the community, giving entrepreneurs the tools they need to succeed. Since its inception, DRK has created a space where self-made entrepreneurs can tap into that corporate expertise and gain the resources they need. The team offers tailored workshops, consultations and one-on-one coaching.

“It’s not just about the business. It’s about the whole person, the family, the community,” said Hector Pardo, DRK’s director of strategy and operations. “When we see one of our entrepreneurs thrive, it’s like popping a bottle of champagne. We’re in this together, and their wins are our wins.”

For many on the team, this work is personal. DRK Program Analyst Melissa Villalba grew up watching her parents’ small business struggle. She knows firsthand how a resource like DRK could have transformed their experience. “Our parents came here with nothing, but they made it work,” Melissa said. “That’s what inspires us — to see what’s possible when you have the right tools and support.”

DRK tailors its guidance to meet the real-time challenges its entrepreneurs face. “When an entrepreneur comes in with a problem, we create a roadmap to turn that into a success,” Brian explained. The team adjusts their lessons as needed, evolving alongside the businesses they support.

Going digital and beyond Each member of the DRK team brings a wealth of experience, including from the corporate, finance, tech and hospitality industries. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

A key part of that evolution is helping entrepreneurs build and maintain a digital presence, which is crucial in today’s marketplace. “A digital presence is everything for small businesses now,” Chris noted. “We help them not just set up websites, but actually understand how to track their traffic, engage with customers online, and manage sales. We walk them through it one-on-one because too many small business owners don’t get formal training in these areas, and they need someone to show them the ropes.”

DRK’s impact goes beyond just small businesses in Chicago. They’ve worked on national partnerships with major organizations like the James Beard Foundation, and even collaborated on a project with Bad Bunny. But their heart remains rooted in supporting local entrepreneurs.

“We’ve done so many iterations of what we’re doing now, and it’s finally starting to get the attention and support we need,” Jackson added. The team’s diverse leadership is building not only businesses but also a legacy of freedom and opportunity for a new generation of entrepreneurs.

DRK is proof that when local businesses thrive, entire communities benefit. What started as an urgent response to a pandemic-induced crisis has transformed into a vital entrepreneurial hub, one that will continue to create ripple effects throughout Chicago’s neighborhoods for years to come.

A vibrant mural celebrating the rich cultural heritage of Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood against the backdrop of the city’s skyline. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

Chicago’s small business owners are shaping their communities with purpose. In this series, we highlight the entrepreneurs behind local gems – each of them building something bigger than just a business. Through Solo, Mozilla’s free AI-powered website creator, they’re exploring new corners of their community online. Check out DishRoulette Kitchen‘s Solo website here.

Ready to start creating? Launch your website

The post DishRoulette Kitchen: Empowering Chicago’s entrepreneurs for generational change appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

Kevin Woods, co-owner of The Pop-Up, organizes clothing on display in their Wicker Park boutique. Credit: Jesus J. Montero

As a community builder at Mozilla, I’m all about staying connected — whether that’s producing community events to invite more people into our brand, or working directly with people to make sure our products are actually helping those who need them most. Recently, I had the chance to sit down with three amazing small business owners in Chicago to explore how Solo, Mozilla’s AI-powered website builder, could help them expand their online presence. Solo is built to make creating websites easy, but these sessions were about more than that — they were about building new websites for these small business owners to share their stories and build stronger connections with their communities.

Each of these entrepreneurs had a unique vision for how they wanted to grow their business online. Here’s how we worked together to bring their ideas to life.

Building a digital hub for a community of first-gen entrepreneurs Soloist.ai/dishroulette showcases the many restaurants that DishRoulette Kitchen is supporting.

Jackson Flores runs DishRoulette Kitchen, an organization that supports first-generation business owners in Chicago’s food scene. DRK already had a website, but they wanted to take things further. Instead of just focusing on DRK, we decided to create a digital hub that showcases the many restaurants they’re helping — many of which didn’t have their own websites.

We built a directory that brings these restaurants together in one space, making it easy for locals to discover new food spots and connect with the people behind the businesses. Working with Jackson was inspiring — her passion for uplifting first-gen entrepreneurs really shone through. The site we built reflects the amazing work DRK is doing in the community, giving more visibility to the businesses they support. You can check out DRK’s Solo website here. 

Creating a digital space for a multifaceted career DanniMoore.com showcases Danielle Moore’s multifaceted career, highlighting her work with Semicolon Books, Single Story Whiskey and her experience in museum and event curation.

Danielle Moore is the owner of Semicolon Books, an independent bookstore in Chicago with a strong community following. Danielle’s work goes far beyond books — she’s also spent 15 years as a museum curator and has recently launched her own whiskey brand. With all these ventures, Danielle needed a website that could tie everything together and present her full story in one cohesive place.

During our session, we built a personal website that allows her to showcase all sides of her career — from books to art to whiskey. Now, her community can see the full scope of her talent, with a site that reflects the many passions that drive her. For Danielle, it was about creating a digital home where her entire journey could come together, offering a complete picture of who she is and what she’s building. You can check out Danielle’s Solo website here. 

Turning a long-delayed project into reality Digital Produce is The Pop-Up founder Kevin Woods’ own streetwear brand.

Kevin is the founder of The Pop-Up, a streetwear business that curates unique pieces from independent brands. While his business is already up and running, he had been working on a new internal line called Digital Produce — a project he’d been passionate about but hadn’t had the time to bring online. Between his full-time job, family, and running the business, creating a website for this new line kept getting delayed. When we sat down to work on it, it felt like the project finally started moving. In just an hour, we built a clean, functional site using Solo that showcases Kevin’s designs, giving his community an easy way to explore his work. For Kevin, the goal was about finally bringing his vision to life after months of putting it off, and giving his brand the platform it deserved. You can check out Digital Produce’s Solo website here.

Building connections, online and beyond

Equipping Jackson, Danielle and Kevin a powerful, free tool like Solo helped each of them find new ways to tell their stories and engage with their communities. With Solo, they’ve created digital spaces that have the potential to strengthen relationships, raise awareness and share their passions in ways they hadn’t before.

Community has always been at the heart of Mozilla’s products, from the early days of Firefox to the tools we’re creating today. Our goal has always been to empower people to shape the internet in ways that reflect who they are and what matters to them. Solo is one part of that effort, giving small business owners the ability to take agency of their digital presence and build meaningful connections with the people around them.

Ready to start creating? Launch your website

The post Local roots, digital connections: How Chicago’s small businesses are building with Solo appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

Tawanda Kanhema is a board member at the News Product Alliance, where he’s helping empower newsrooms to thrive online. Credit: Newton Kanhema

Here at Mozilla, we are the first to admit the internet isn’t perfect, but we know the internet is pretty darn magical. The internet opens up doors and opportunities, allows for human connection, and lets everyone find where they belong — their corners of the internet. We all have an internet story worth sharing. In My Corner Of The Internet, we talk with people about the online spaces they can’t get enough of, the sites and forums that shaped them, and what reclaiming the internet really looks like.

This month, we’re catching up with Tawanda Kanhema, a journalist and product leader who’s worked across African newsrooms and driven innovation in Silicon Valley. A former Mozillian, he’s currently a board member at the News Product Alliance, where he’s helping empower newsrooms to thrive online. Ahead of the NPA Summit 2024: Tech & Trust, we chatted with Tawanda about his favorite internet rabbit holes (spoiler: creative coding!) and the importance of building strong online communities.

What is your favorite corner of the internet? 

The News Product Alliance. It’s a community of product thinkers focused on shaping the future of news. We explore ways to empower newsrooms to strengthen relationships with their communities and design products that enhance how they reach audiences. There are many small newsrooms with limited resources coming up with innovative ways to use available technologies to expand their reach, strengthen their credibility and establish scalable business models.

What is an internet deep dive that you can’t wait to jump back into?

For the last 10 years, I’ve visited a site called Codrops once a week. It’s a community of animation designers and front-end developers sharing demos for others to remix or build on. It’s a great source of inspiration for me, especially when working on digital storytelling. Another site I love is threejs.org, a JavaScript library and application programming interface for creating 3D graphics. NASA even used it for their Mars landing simulation!

What is the one tab you always regret closing?

Honestly, I don’t really regret closing tabs — I use Pocket for everything. All my favorite resources from Codrops and three.js live there, so I can revisit them anytime.

What can you not stop talking about on the internet right now?

I’ve been obsessed with three.js and how it lets you create photorealistic animations with JavaScript and WebGL. For a while, I thought it might even replace some video production workflows, but video still leads in visual communication. Another tool I can’t stop talking about is A-Frame, a web framework that allows you to build 3D virtual worlds in the browser.

What was the first online community you engaged with?

I was part of Google’s Earth Outreach program, focused on how geospatial tools can be used to effect change, and enhance the representation of communities on maps. That led me to mapping projects in Zimbabwe, Namibia and Northern Ontario. It sparked my passion for mapping and documenting underrepresented places.

If you could create your own corner of the internet, what would it look like?

I’ve actually started creating it with Unmapped Planet. It’s an interactive archive of my photography from mapping projects. The site allows users to experience virtual reality tours of the places I’ve mapped. My goal is to create a visual archive and eventually make it more community-focused.

What articles and/or videos are you waiting to read/watch right now?

I have a ton saved in Pocket, mostly around imaging technologies in the generative AI space. I recently completed a Stanford AI course, so I’m diving into articles on how AI is being ethically used in newsrooms. One example is The Baltimore Times’ initiative, led by Paris Brown, to use generative AI create audio versions of the publication’s text stories. This project has expanded access and made The Baltimore Times’ content more accessible to the the community.

With the News Product Alliance creating space for news product builders to connect, how do you think nurturing a community like this can help shape the future of the internet?

We design online experiences that create support networks and connect product thinkers worldwide.  And thanks to the power of the community, we are building programs that establish a cycle of support, like our Mentor Network (through which a few other mentors and myself are mentoring current and aspiring newsroom product managers). 

The internet has been shaped by the interests of private companies and governments over the last 15 to 20 years, with civic institutions and technology organizations playing the lead role in establishing standards, and communities mostly left out. If we want to change that, we need more diverse communities and change agents ensuring that online content is credible and representative of diverse voices. NPA’s network of over 3,000 professionals is one such community, offering skills development, inspiration and examples of how newsrooms are solving similar problems. For example, we launched a News Product Management Certification program to help people learn product management and apply it in their newsrooms. We’re helping bridge the gap between data-driven decision-making and traditional editorial judgment.

Tawanda Kanhema is a journalist and product manager with a background in reporting across Africa and leading product strategy in Silicon Valley. He previously worked at Mozilla on Pocket and Firefox, connecting millions of users to high-quality content. As a board member of the News Product Alliance, Tawanda focuses on fostering innovation and community among news product builders, helping newsrooms adapt and thrive in the digital age. 

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The post A journalist-turned-product leader on reshaping the internet through community and creative coding appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

BRAD SMALLWOOD, SVP AND ANONYM CO-FOUNDER
GRAHAM MUDD, SVP OF PRODUCT AND ANONYM CO-FOUNDER

It’s been four months since Anonym joined Mozilla. Anonym was founded with the belief that new technologies can keep digital ads effective  and measurable while respecting privacy. Mozilla has long been a leader in digital privacy, so Anonym is happy to report that we are right at home as a key pillar in Mozilla’s strategy to make digital advertising more private. As Laura discussed, while Mozilla’s product teams focus on privacy-respecting advertising tools that are relevant to products like Firefox and Fakespot, we are in parallel focused on building a viable alternative infrastructure for the industry.

Now that we’re settled in, we wanted to provide the advertising industry and the Mozilla community with an overview of the technologies we’re developing and share a few examples of how they can be used to improve user privacy.

First, it’s important for us to be clear about the specific problem we’re trying to address. Digital advertising is highly reliant on user level data sharing between various industry participants. A simple example: Ad platforms collect information about the browsing and buying behavior of individuals from millions of websites and apps. That information is often associated with a user’s  “profile” and then is used to determine which ads to show that user. This practice is referred to by a number of terms – tracking, profiling, cross-site sharing, etc. 

Whatever the term, this approach typically isn’t aligned with people’s reasonable expectation of privacy. And it’s actually not even necessary to drive ad performance. Anonym’s goal is to develop a better approach for the industry.

Starting at the highest level, we believe there are a few important requirements for any privacy-preserving advertising system. The table below articulates those requirements and the approach Anonym is taking to fulfill them.

RequirementAnonym’s approachSecurityData should be processed using confidential computing systems that reduce or eliminate the need to trust any party, including the operator(s) of the technology.All data processed by Anonym is encrypted end-to-end. Data is processed in Trusted Execution Environments using Intel SGX.
PrivacyThe outputs of any privacy-preserving system should protect individuals’ personal data. There must be technical guarantees that reduce or eliminate the possibility of individual’s being re-identified. Anonym provides aggregated insights and leverages differential privacy to prevent individuals from being singled out.
TransparencyAll parties involved should have source-code level transparency into how their data is being processed. Anonym provides customers with access to detailed documentation and source code through our transparency portal. 
ScalabilityAdvertising is inherently high scale, involving large data sets and millions of businesses. Systems must be capable of processing billions of impressions repeatedly.Anonym has developed a parallel computing approach using TEEs that can scale arbitrarily to any size job. Our system leverages the same algorithms repeatedly for an unlimited number of customers/campaigns, avoiding manual approval processes.

Diving a bit deeper, the diagram below shows how data flows through Anonym’s system. 

1. Binary Development & Approval: Before any data can be processed, Anonym develops a ‘binary’ which includes all the code for creating a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) and all the code that will run within it. Binaries are approved by the parties contributing data – and we hope civil society will play a role in this attestation in the future. Typically, a binary is specific to a use case (e.g. attribution) and a media platform (e.g. a social network). The same binary is used by many of that media platform’s customers.
2. Data Encryption and Transfer: Anonym has a number of tools and methods available to encrypt and transfer data into our environment. Each partner has their own public encryption key – the private key is only available within the TEE. Since the data can’t be decrypted without the private key, it is protected while in transit as well as from Anonym employee access. 
3. Attestation & Decryption: Once an ephemeral TEE has been created customer data is decrypted within its encrypted memory. The key needed for decryption is only available if the binary used by the TEE matches the cryptographic signature of the binary approved by the partner. This provides partners with full control over how Anonym processes their data. 
4. Data Processing & Differential Privacy: Data from two or more sources are joined using shared identifiers. Advertising algorithms such as attribution or lookalike models are run and differential privacy is applied to limit the risk any individual can be identified or singled out.
5. Aggregated Outputs: The insights are shared with ad platforms and their customers, but no individual user data leaves the TEE. For example, Anonym’s system is used to provide customers with aggregated insights such as which ad creatives are performing best, and ROI calculations for ad campaigns. These insights were previously only available if advertisers exposed user level data directly to ad platforms.
6. Data & Environment Destroyed: Once the required operations are completed in the TEE, the TEE is destroyed along with all the data within it.

A diagram showing how data flows through Anonym’s system.

We hope this is a helpful overview of the system we have developed. In the coming weeks, we’ll be publishing deep dives into the components described above. While we believe the system we have developed is a meaningful step forward, we will continue to improve Anonym with feedback from our customers and the privacy community. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or would like to learn more.

The post Privacy-preserving digital ads infrastructure: An overview of Anonym’s technology appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

MARK SURMAN, PRESIDENT, MOZILLA

Keeping the internet, and the content that makes it a vital and vibrant part of our global society, free and accessible has been a core focus for Mozilla from our founding. How do we ensure creators get paid for their work? How do we prevent huge segments of the world from being priced out of access through paywalls? How do we ensure that privacy is not a privilege of the few but a fundamental right available to everyone? These are significant and enduring questions that have no single answer. But, for right now on the internet of today, a big part of the answer is online advertising. 

We started engaging in this space because the way the industry works today is fundamentally broken. It doesn’t put people first, it’s not privacy-respecting, and it’s increasingly anti-competitive. There have to be better options. Mozilla can play a key role in creating these better options not just by advocating for them, but also by actually building them. We can’t just ignore online advertising — it’s a major driver of how the internet works and is funded. We need to stare it straight in the eyes and try to fix it. For those reasons, Mozilla has become more active in online advertising over the past few years. 

We have the beginnings of a theory on what fixing it might look like — a mix of different business practices, technology, products, and public policy engagements. And we have started to do work on all of these fronts. It’s been clear to us in recent weeks that what we haven’t done is step back to explain our thinking in the broader context of our advertising efforts. For this, we owe our community an apology for not engaging and communicating our vision effectively. Mozilla is only Mozilla if we share our thinking, engage people along the way, and incorporate that feedback into our efforts to help reform the ecosystem.

We’re going to correct that, starting with this blog post. I want to lay out our thinking about how we plan to shift the world of online advertising in a better direction.

Our theory 

As we say in our Manifesto: “…a balance between commercial profit and public benefit is critical … “ to creating an open, healthy internet. Through that balance, we can have an internet that protects privacy and access, while encouraging a vibrant market that rewards creativity and innovation. But that’s not what we have in online advertising today. 

Our theory for improving online advertising requires work across three areas that relate to and build upon one another:

• Regulation: Over the years, improving privacy and consumer protection in advertising while enabling competition has been at the core of our policy efforts. From pushing to improve Google’s Privacy Sandbox proposals via engaging with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK to advocating for strong protections for universal opt-out mechanisms via state privacy laws in the United States, we have a long history of supporting legislation that puts users in more meaningful control of their data. We recognise that technology can only get us so far and needs to work hand-in-hand with legislation to fix the most egregious practices in the ecosystem. With the upcoming new mandate in the European Commission expected to focus on advertising and the push for a federal privacy legislation in the United States reaching a fever pitch, we intend to build upon this work to continue pushing for better privacy protections. 
• Standards: As a pioneer in shaping internet standards, Mozilla has always played a central role in crafting technical specifications that support an open, competitive, and privacy-respecting web. We are bringing this same expertise and commitment to the advertising space. At the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Mozilla is actively involved in advancing cutting-edge proposals for privacy-preserving advertising. This includes collaborating on Interoperable Private Attribution (IPA) and contributing to the Private Advertising Technology Community Group (PATCG). The goal of this work is to identify legitimate, lawful, and non-harmful use cases and promote a healthy web by developing privacy-respecting technical mechanisms for those use cases. This would make it practical to more strictly limit the most invasive practices like ubiquitous third-party cookies.
• Products: Building things is the only way for Mozilla to prove these hypotheses. For years, Mozilla products have supported an advertising business without the privacy-invasive techniques common today by deploying features such as Total Cookie Protection and Enhanced Tracking Protection to protect our users. And we’ll continue to explore ways to add advertiser value while respecting user privacy – including by exploring how we can support other businesses in achieving these goals via Anonym. Our goal is to build a model to demonstrate how ads can sustain a business online while respecting people’s privacy. Laura expands upon our approach in her blog. 

We have work underway right now across all three of these areas, with much more to come in the weeks and months ahead. 

The way forward — together

This theory, and the work to test it, will become an increasingly integral part of the discussions we already have underway with regulators and civil society, consumers and developers, and advertisers, publishers and platforms. We will continue to set up gatherings, share research, and explore new ways to collectively share ideas and move this ahead for all of us – both shaping and being shaped by the ecosystem. 

Fixing the problems with online advertising feels like an intractable challenge. Having been fortunate enough to be part of Mozilla for well over a decade, I am excited to tackle this challenge head on. It’s an opportunity for us to bring a whole community — including often divergent voices from advertising, technology, government and civil society — to the table to look for a better way. Personally, I don’t see a world where online advertising disappears — ads have been a key part of funding creators and publishers in every era from newspapers to radio to television. However, I can imagine a world where advertising online happens in a way that respects all of us, and where commercial and public interests are in balance. That’s a world I want to help build.  

The post A free and open internet shouldn’t come at the expense of privacy appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

LAURA CHAMBERS, CEO, MOZILLA CORPORATION

As Mark shared in his blog, Mozilla is going to be more active in digital advertising. Our hypothesis is that we need to simultaneously work on public policy, standards, products and infrastructure. Today, I want to take a moment to dive into the details of the “product” and “infrastructure” elements. I will share our emerging thoughts on how this will come to life across our existing products (like Firefox), and across the industry (through the work of our recent acquisition, Anonym, which is building an alternative infrastructure for the advertising industry). 

Across both pillars (product and infrastructure), we maintain the same goal – to build digital advertising solutions that respect individuals’ rights. Solutions that achieve a balance between commercial value and public interest. Why is that something for Mozilla to address? Because Mozilla’s mission is to build a better internet. And, for the foreseeable future at least, advertising is a key commercial engine of the internet, and the most efficient way to ensure the majority of content remains free and accessible to as many people as possible. 

Right now, the tradeoffs people are asked to make online are too significant. Yes, advertising enables free access to most of what the internet provides, but the lack of practical control we all have over how our data is collected and shared is unacceptable. And solutions to this problem that simply rely on handing more of our data to a few gigantic private companies are not really solutions that help the people who use the internet, at all. 

These are the problems Mozilla hopes to address, through a product strategy that is grounded on our core principles of privacy, openness and choice. We know that not everyone in our community will embrace our entrance into this market. But taking on controversial topics because we believe they make the internet better for all of us is a key feature of Mozilla’s history. And that willingness to take on the hard things, even when not universally accepted, is exactly what the internet needs today. 

Demonstrating a way forward through our own products

One of the most obvious places we will do this work is across our own products, including Firefox, Fakespot, and likely new efforts in the future. Advertising on our products will remain focused on respecting the privacy of the people who use them. Those are table stakes for us, fundamental qualities which will be our north star. From a technical perspective, we will be developing and utilizing advanced cryptographic and aggregation techniques. Through the testing, iteration and deployment of those techniques, we seek to both improve our standardization efforts and prove to the industry at large that advertising can sustain a business without exposing the personal data of every individual online. 

As part of this work, we are also committing to being transparent and open about our intent and plans prior to launching tests or features. With that, I want to build on the apology Mark made in his blog. Several weeks ago, and before we explained our intent of how the technology was intended to work, we landed some code in Firefox as part of an origin trial of Privacy Preserving Attribution (PPA). While the trial was never activated for external users, this understandably led to confusion and concern that we are working to address. We will redouble our engagement with regulators and civil society to address any concerns. There will be much more to come about our work within our products, and you will have time to ask questions and give us feedback. 

Building better technology for the industry

In parallel to our existing consumer products, we have the opportunity to build a better infrastructure for the online advertising industry as a whole. Advertising at large cannot be improved unless the tech it’s built upon prioritizes securing user data. This is precisely why we acquired Anonym. 

Anonym is building technology that can provide more privacy-preserving infrastructure for data sharing between advertisers and publishers, in a way that also supports a level playing field rather than consolidating data in a few large companies.  

Advertising will not improve unless we address the underlying data sharing issues, and solve for the economic incentives that rely on that data. We want to reshape the industry so that aggregated population insights are the norm instead of platforms sharing individual user data with each other indiscriminately.

Anonym is building the technology needed to enable that, with privacy-preserving techniques such as differential privacy, which adds calibrated noise to data sets so that the individual user data is kept as private as possible, while still being useful in aggregate. Calculations on that data occur in secure and private environments. The system is designed such that humans don’t have access to individual data. The outputs are aggregated and anonymized, then Anonym destroys the individual data. This pragmatic solution inspires us to envision a world in which digital ads can be both effective and privacy-preserving. It’s not impossible.

A better future

As I said earlier in this blog, we do this fully acknowledging our expanded focus on online advertising won’t be embraced by everyone in our community, and knowing that as we create innovative approaches we will need to account for our users’ evolving expectations. That’s never a comfortable position to be in, but we firmly believe that building a better future for online advertising is critical to our overall goal of building a better future for the internet. I would rather have a world where Mozilla is actively engaged in creating positive solutions for hard problems, than one where we only critique from the sidelines. We will continue to work with others to grapple with the bigger question of how to find alternative solutions to advertising for funding the internet’s future, but we cannot afford to ignore the reality we live in now. 

But that does not mean any of us should have to accept the broken advertising models we have today. As we’ve done throughout our history, Mozilla will pave the road to a better future through influencing public policy, improving standards, and through actively creating better products and infrastructure. And, most importantly, we will do this together with the thousands of other companies, advocates, policymakers and concerned internet users who are seeking better options and more control over their online experiences. 

The post Improving online advertising through product and infrastructure appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

In today’s fast-moving AI landscape, choosing the right large language model (LLM) for your project can feel like navigating a maze. With hundreds of models, each offering different capabilities, the process can be overwhelming. That’s why Mozilla.ai is developing Lumigator, a product designed to help developers confidently select the best LLM for their specific project. It’s like having a trusty compass for your AI journey.

The problem (and why we’re tackling it)

As more organizations turn to AI for solutions, they face the challenge of selecting the best model from an ever-growing list of options. The AI landscape is evolving rapidly, with twice as many new models released in 2023 compared to the previous year. Yet, in spite of the wealth of metrics available, there’s still no standard way to compare these models. 

The 2024 AI Index Report highlighted that AI evaluation tools aren’t (yet) keeping up with the pace of development, making it harder for developers and businesses to make informed choices. Without a clear single method for comparing models, many teams end up using suboptimal solutions, or just choosing models based on hype, slowing down product progress and innovation.

Our mission (and how we’re getting started)

With Lumigator MVP, Mozilla.ai aims to make model selection transparent, efficient, and empowering. Lumigator provides a framework for comparing LLMs, using task-specific metrics to evaluate how well a model fits your project’s needs. With Lumigator, we want to ensure that you’re not just picking a model—you’re picking the right model for your use case.

Our vision for the future

In the future, Lumigator will grow beyond evaluation into a full-blown open-source product for ethical and transparent AI development and fill in gaps in the AI development tooling landscape in the industry. We want to create a space where developers can trust the tools they use, knowing they’re building solutions that align with their values.

Our MVP is just the start. While we’re focused on model selection now, we’re building towards something much bigger. Lumigator’s ultimate goal is to become the go-to open-source platform for developers who want to make sure they’re using AI in a way that is transparent, ethical, and aligned with their values. With the input of the community, we’ll continue to expand beyond evaluation and text summarization into all aspects of AI development. Together, we’ll shape Lumigator into a tool that you can trust.

With Lumigator, we want to democratize AI. What do we mean by this? We want to make advanced technologies available to both developers and to organizations of all sizes. Our mission is to enable people to build solutions that leverage AI to align with their goals and values—whether it’s fostering transparency, driving innovation, or creating a more inclusive future for AI.

Read the whole text and subscribe to the Lumigator newsletter.

The post Introducing Lumigator appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

Credit: Nick Velazquez / Mozilla

How do Twitch streamers connect with so many people on the internet while keeping their personal lives private? 

For those unfamiliar, Twitch streamers are content creators who broadcast live to audiences in real-time, covering everything from gaming to productivity. Viewer interaction is a huge part of the experience, but it also opens up streamers to risks like “doxxing,” where someone digs up and shares private info like real names or addresses.

As a writer and photographer, I thought I was prepared when I started streaming. I’ve had an online presence for years, and I’m familiar with the ins and outs of social media. But when you’re live, sharing your screen and constantly interacting with viewers, protecting your privacy becomes a whole new challenge. To figure out how the pros do it, I reached out to some streamers who’ve mastered the art of staying safe online.

I spoke with @sweetxsage, a cozy streamer who leads Twitch’s new Pride Guild, and @DANGERD0RK, a variety streamer focused on horror games. Here’s what they shared.

@sweetxsage says even casual conversations on stream can reveal more than expected, highlighting the importance of mindful sharing. Credit: sumfrieswiddat 1. Dox yourself before someone else does

Before anyone else can dig up your personal information, look yourself up and lock it down.

You might be surprised by old social media accounts, blogs or posts that you forgot about. Take the time to track down and clean up these loose ends — it’s a proactive way to keep your personal details from falling into the wrong hands.

As @DANGERD0RK explains, “Due to the nature and risks the internet poses, you may end up putting not just yourself, but others, at risk by not protecting your personal information such as name, address, place of work, city you live in, phone number, social media accounts and your whereabouts when discussing your day with others.”

To protect yourself, banning personal keywords on stream is crucial. Twitch lets streamers set filters for specific words or phrases that viewers aren’t allowed to say in chat — like your full name, hometown or other private details. @DANGERD0RK also recommends ”creating separate social media accounts so others will not be able to look at your history of posts, tagged friends, family members or other information that can be used to dox you.”

For @DANGERD0RK, banning personal keywords on Twitch is a critical step in protecting privacy while streaming live to an audience. Credit: @raxyn 2. Treat every online interaction like an open window — be mindful of what’s in view

Whether you’re streaming, sharing your screen in a meeting or posting on social media, it’s easy to reveal more than you realize.

“My primary content right now is productivity streaming! I am essentially ‘LoFi Girl’ but live,” says @sweetxsage. “So for me, I just have to be careful to not share my screen on accident, or show specific angles that might let people know what area I live in, and I also recently noticed I shouldn’t talk too much about ‘local’ food spots because it could help pinpoint where I live. Even casual conversations can reveal more than I’d like to share.”

Always imagine every moment of your stream or interaction as an open window into your life. What’s unintentionally being shared?

@DANGERD0RK says, “Clicking on a link may dox your private information, looking up a restaurant name may give away your location, and ‘autofill’ options [on your browser] may inadvertently show your information.”

3. Layer your privacy defenses like a pro

Think like a pro streamer and protect yourself with layers of privacy controls.

It’s important to use tools and settings that allow you to control who can see your information and prevent accidental sharing. Streamers often rely on a combination of software, hardware and privacy settings to keep their streams professional and secure. For example, as @sweetxsage shared, having the right setup allows for flexibility and enjoyment: “[A]s long as I can have [my core] things, my stream can be fun and entertaining.”

In addition to your streaming setup, using a privacy-focused browser can make a big difference. Firefox helps block trackers by default, giving you more control over your data and protecting you from tracking and unwanted access. (Firefox also comes from Mozilla, which is dedicated to maintaining user privacy, making the internet a safer place for all, and promoting civil discourse, human dignity and individual expression.)

If you’re worried about past data breaches, Mozilla Monitor is another tool that helps you stay ahead of potential leaks and keep track of any issues with your personal information.

Whether you’re streaming or just hanging out online, it’s all about finding that balance — sharing what you want while keeping the important stuff private. With a few smart privacy moves and some advice from streamers like @sweetxsage and @DANGERD0RK, you can keep things fun, safe and under control. After all, making connections doesn’t mean sharing it all.

Get Firefox Get the browser that protects what’s important

The post How to protect your privacy online like a Twitch streamer appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

Mozilla is releasing a vision for Public AI, a robust ecosystem of initiatives that promote public goods, public orientation and public use throughout every step of AI development and deployment. Read the paper here.

Look around. There are buses driving alongside cars on the road. Some of your packages are delivered by private couriers, others are delivered by the national postal service. You can flip the channel on your TV back and forth between public broadcasting and commercial networks. And when you access the internet, you can choose between a commercial or nonprofit-backed web browser.

Private and public initiatives have existed side by side for a long time. While private innovation often pushes the frontier of what’s possible, public alternatives can make those innovations more accessible and beneficial for everyone. These parallel products and services give people more choices, create market pressure on each other to be more trustworthy and innovative, distribute power across more people and organizations, and create more resilient and healthier economies.

So, where are the public alternatives for AI? They are starting to emerge, with some governments subsidizing access to computational resources, and nonprofit AI labs collectively putting nearly $1 billion into open source AI research and models. These are important steps forward, but they are not enough to create true public alternatives to the results of the hundreds of billions of dollars going into private AI. This status quo means some critical projects — such as using AI to detect illegal mining operations, facilitate deliberative democracy, and match cancer patients to clinical trials — remain under-resourced relative to their potential societal value. In parallel, Big Tech is ramping up efforts to push policymakers to support private AI infrastructure, which could further cement the dominance of just a few companies in creating the future of AI.

We can’t just rely on a few companies to build everything our society needs from AI — and we can’t afford the risk that they won’t. 

Today, we are unveiling a bold vision with a sweeping action plan for Public AI. Mozilla is calling for a robust ecosystem of initiatives that promote public goods, public orientation, and public use throughout every step of AI development and deployment. It’s not enough for some AI resources to be more accessible, or for companies to support a few token “AI for good” side projects. We need a whole parallel AI ecosystem that can run on non-commercial incentives, where openness enables projects to build on top of each other, and where the total scope of these initiatives is a meaningful counterweight to the private AI ecosystem. 

We are calling on everyone to help shape Public AI. Developers should create open source AI models and tools that are competitive with private AI initiatives; policymakers should support the data, tools and workforce development to make AI truly usable for public interest applications; and the public should support the products and services that emerge from Public AI by contributing data, engagement and support to this ecosystem.

At Mozilla, we’re committed to doing our part by building key parts of the Public AI ecosystem. We will help build public alternatives for the data needed in AI development by doubling down on our Common Voice platform, further expanding access to multilingual voice data to train AI models that represent the diversity of languages around the world. We will invest in open source AI via Mozilla.ai, Mozilla Ventures and Mozilla Builders, which supports the development of tools like llamafile that are making it easier to run AI models locally rather than needing to use commercial cloud providers. And we will continue to support the broader AI accountability ecosystem that is vital for Public AI, continuing to steer our fellowships and data programs toward enabling more people to steer and co-create AI.

We believe this work can only be done in partnership with developers, policymakers, academics, civil society, companies and the public at large. That’s why we’ll also continue making grants through the Mozilla Technology Fund to support open-source AI projects that are building Public AI applications, and we’ll also fund more research about the impacts of Public AI. We’ll keep bringing together stakeholders and experts to explore how to make Public AI components more accessible and ethical. We will also keep working with policymakers to make the case for Public AI, starting with a workshop we are co-hosting with our partners this week in Washington D.C., and continuing with our engagement on this topic at next year’s AI Action Summit in Paris, France.

This is a core part of Mozilla’s broader work to empower everyone and every community to shape, enjoy and trust AI. Earlier this year, we released a paper, Accelerating Progress Toward Trustworthy AI, that outlined our broader vision on AI, and invited public comment. When we publish our final Trustworthy AI paper in the coming months, Public AI will be named as an explicit pillar in our overall strategy for AI.

If we get this right, we can create an AI ecosystem that expands opportunity for everyone. Come join us in making this a reality.

The post Creating a public counterpoint for AI appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

Most browsers know way too much about you – your latest obsession, your shopping cart, even your weekend plans. Firefox? It’s built to power your browsing, nothing more. Here’s a breakdown of the Firefox features that keep you private and secure online.

Total Cookie Protection

Instead of letting cookies follow you across different websites and gather details about your browsing habits, Total Cookie Protection locks them into their own “cookie jar” for each site. This way, YouTube can’t peek at what you’re up to on Etsy, or any other website for that matter. 

Fingerprinting protection

Cookies and trackers are one thing, but fingerprinting takes it up a notch. Some websites gather details like your device settings, screen resolution and even your installed fonts to create a unique “fingerprint” they can use to track you across the web. Firefox blocks these known fingerprinters, making it much harder for sites to build a profile based on your setup. 

DNS over HTTPS

When you enter a web address, your browser sends a request to a server to look up the IP address for that site. These requests are typically sent in plain text, meaning someone – like your internet service provider or someone on the same public Wi-Fi – can intercept and see the website you’re trying to access. Firefox uses DNS over HTTPs to encrypt this request, preventing others from seeing the websites you’re visiting so those snoopers can’t block or track your requests.

HTTPS-Only mode

While DNS over HTTPS protects the request Firefox makes to find a website, HTTPS-Only mode secures the data (like passwords or payment details) you send to and receive from that site. Believe it or not, even today, not every site is set up to encrypt your website traffic. If a site doesn’t support HTTPS, Firefox will alert you and let you decide whether to continue or stay protected.

Phishing and malware protection

Not all websites are as harmless as they seem. Firefox checks the sites you visit against regularly updated lists of reported phishing, malware and unwanted software. If you’re about to visit a risky site or download a suspicious file, Firefox will warn you – helping you avoid potential trouble.  

Alerts for breached websites

Firefox’s website breach alert feature is a built-in security tool that notifies you if your saved passwords have been compromised in a breach. You’ll know right away if it’s time to update a password, helping you stay ahead of potential threats and keep your accounts secure. 

Firefox Multi-Account Containers

Multi-Account Containers is an extension that helps keep your online life secure and organized. You can easily manage business, family and personal accounts — like logging into work emails, checking personal social media and keeping up with family updates — all in separate tabs. Using containers keeps cookies and sessions isolated so your activities stay neatly compartmentalized.

Firefox Relay

Relay is a Firefox extension that lets you create email masks to protect your real email address. Once installed it allows you to generate email masks directly from forms when signing up for new accounts and services. Now, you get to decide if and when you get newsletters and offers without ever worrying that your real email is being leaked or shared without your permission.

Get Firefox Get the browser that protects what’s important

The post Take control of your browsing with Firefox’s privacy and security features appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.