Comcast is lobbying the U.S. government to stop Google from implementing a plan that would make it harder for internet service providers to see their customer’s browsing history.

Last week, Vice-ran website Motherboard reported that it had intercepted a lobbying presentation, allegedly prepared by Comcast and other ISPs, objecting to the plan, which also involves Mozilla, maker of the popular Firefox browser.

Under the plan, Google and Mozilla would encore the encryption of DNS data made using the Chrome and Firefox browsers, respectively.

Privacy activists have praised the move. But according to Motherboard, ISPs including Comcast say, “This change would make a fundamental shift in the decentralized nature of the internet’s architecture and give one provider control of internet traffic routing and vast amounts of new data about customers and competitors.”

The ISP lobbying presentation added, “The unilateral centralization of DNS raises serious policy issues relating to cybersecurity, privacy, antitrust, national security and law enforcement, network performance and service quality (including 5G), and other areas.”

Responded Mozilla senior director of trust and safety, Marshall Erwin, to Motherboard: "The slides overall are extremely misleading and inaccurate, and frankly I would be somewhat embarrassed if my team had provided that slide deck to policy makers.”

Comcast reps didn’t immediately respond to MCN’s inquiry for comment this morning.

However, last week, following publication of the Motherboard report, the cable company put out a statement: “Where you go on the Internet is your business, not ours. As your internet Service Provider, we do not track the websites you visit or apps you use through your broadband connection. Because we don't track that information, we don't use it to build a profile about you and we have never sold that information to anyone.”

Against the backdrop of increasing pressure from Washington for more consumer control over privacy, Mozilla has announced that it has added a default cookie-blocking setting on its Firefox browser. 

In a blog post Tuesday (June 4), new Firefox SVP Dave Camp said that while Big Tech has been talking big about privacy, Mozilla was been doing something about it "long before" the issue became hot-button, but that given that current heat, the time was right to unveil it. 

"For new users who install and download Firefox for the first time, Enhanced Tracking Protection will automatically be set [to] "on" by default as part of the ‘Standard’ setting in the browser and will block known 'third-party tracking cookies,' " he said. 

Firefox is also updating other privacy procedures, including "an upgraded Facebook Container extension, a Firefox desktop extension for Lockwise, a way to keep their passwords safe across all platforms, and Firefox Monitor’s new dashboard to manage multiple email addresses." 

"Competition between products that respond to different consumer preferences serves consumers better than heavy-handed regulation," said Computer & Communications Industry Association President Ed Black. "This action expands the choices consumers have when it comes to online privacy.” 

Mozilla (Firefox) is adding two cities to its Gigabit Community fund.

The fund is awarding $300,000 in grants to leverage gigabit fiber networks in Eugene, Ore., and Lafayette, La., the company said.

The money will go to things like ultra-high definition in the classroom and VR field trips, taking a page or two from existing Mozilla gigabit cities Austin, Tex.;Chattanooga, Tenn., and Kansas City.

The fund is a collaboration with the National Science Foundation and U.S. Ignite.

The two cities were added based on various criteria, including widely deployed high=speed broadband and a "critical mass" of anchor institutions.

“Mozilla is committed to supporting promising projects in gigabit-enabled U.S. cities — projects that use connectivity 250-times normal speeds to make learning more engaging, equitable and impactful," said Chris Lawrence, VP, leadership network, for Mozilla.