They did, about 4 years ago, we have to keep our own "parallel" servers to YouTube.

Premium features pay for the servers.

Thanks for the kind words - glad it’s working well for you!

RYD hasn’t changed how it handles your data. Mozilla changed the way it labels these permissions - what the extension does with your data is the same.

The extension uses only the data needed to show dislikes and count votes.

Its site permissions cover YouTube and its own API at returnyoutubedislikeapi.com. RYD doesn’t read other websites, and these site permissions cannot be used to access them.

Here’s what those permissions mean:

Personally identifiable information - RYD’s randomly generated, anonymous user ID, used to count votes. This isn’t your Google or YouTube account.

Browsing activity - opening the next YouTube video, so the extension can send its video ID and fetch the new dislike count.

Website content - things like the visible like count, which helps calculate dislike estimates.

Website activity - clicking Like or Dislike.

Again, this is about YouTube activity. The extension isn’t watching everything you do across the internet - it simply can’t do that with these site permissions.

The new labels can sound scary, but they don’t allow the extension to access more websites.

RYD is open source, so you can see how it works: https://github.com/Anarios/return-youtube-dislike

..would probably require knowing my location” - it doesn’t. The extension does not request location permission.

The analytics are aggregated. For example, it may record that “6 users from the US disliked this video,” but it does not know that one of those users is you or who you are.

For voting, the extension sends the video ID, a randomly generated user ID used to count votes, and the vote itself (+1 or -1). It does not ask for your name, email, address, or other identifying information.

And if you’re still uncomfortable with vote submission, the option to disable it has existed since the early days of the extension. When vote submission is disabled - you don't send anything at all (but your dislikes don't count - so it's up to you)

Hi, Mozilla's policy is "no data collected in private windows." And counting your vote counts as "data collection."

So I need to implement a feature in the extension to detect that it is in a private window -and it should stop sending votes. It is not difficult - but I was short on time and wanted to get FF fixes to people faster. So it was easier to just disable it in private windows altogether - not to get punished for non-compliance.

I will work on this soon.

I only hope that the extension is allowed to make a request with a video ID (to get dislike counts). Because technically, this could be deemed data collection too - not sure yet.

And yeah - the policies are new - people are still learning how they work, and Mozilla is still figuring it out themselves.

Maybe some wording will be improved.

There should be a difference between this extension sending a randomly generated userId to count votes - and some other extension that steals your name, address, email, and phone number. But right now they both are "collecting personal data".

"Personal information" - is the random user ID generated by extension to count your votes.
And if you don't like it - you can disable it in the settings. It's how extension worked since day 1

Thanks for taking the time to share your perspective.

RYD hasn’t changed how it handles your data. What changed is Mozilla’s wording for these permissions - not what the extension does with your data.

The extension uses only the data it needs to show dislikes and count votes.

Its site permissions cover YouTube and its own API at returnyoutubedislikeapi.com. RYD doesn’t read other websites, and these site permissions cannot be used to access them.

Here’s what those permissions mean:

Personally identifiable information - RYD’s randomly generated, anonymous user ID, used to count votes. This isn’t your Google or YouTube account.

Browsing activity - opening the next YouTube video, so the extension can send its video ID and fetch the new dislike count.

Website content - things like the visible like count, which helps calculate dislike estimates.

Website activity - clicking Like or Dislike.

Again, this is about YouTube activity. The extension isn’t watching everything you do across the internet - it simply can’t do that with these site permissions.

The new labels can sound scary, but they don’t give the extension access to more websites.

RYD is open source, so you can see how it works: https://github.com/Anarios/return-youtube-dislike

"Personal information" - is the random user ID generated by extension to count your votes.
And if you don't like it - you can disable it in the settings.

So it's technically correct, but most of people imagine something different when they read it.

Thanks for sharing your concerns.

The extension is actually recommended by Mozilla, so they do not consider it harmful or dangerous.

RYD hasn’t changed how it handles your data. What changed is how Mozilla labels these permissions - not what the extension does with your data.

The extension only uses the data needed to show dislikes and count votes.

Its site permissions cover YouTube and its own API at returnyoutubedislikeapi.com. RYD doesn’t read other websites, and these site permissions cannot be used to access them.

Here’s what those permissions mean:

Personally identifiable information - RYD’s randomly generated, anonymous user ID, used to count votes. This isn’t your Google or YouTube account.

Browsing activity - opening the next YouTube video, so the extension can send its video ID and fetch the new dislike count.

Website content - things like the visible like count, which helps calculate dislike estimates.

Website activity - clicking Like or Dislike.

Again, this refers to activity on YouTube. The extension isn’t watching everything you do across the internet - it simply can’t do that with these site permissions.

The new labels sound scary, but they don’t give the extension access to more websites.

RYD is open source, so you can see how it works: https://github.com/Anarios/return-youtube-dislike

Sorry the message about new features bothered you.

The extension is actually recommended by Mozilla, so they do not consider it harmful or dangerous.

It’s shown only once during the lifetime of the extension, and it’s timed to appear after a browser restart - hopefully the least disruptive moment.

Handling YouTube-scale traffic and storing dozens of terabytes of like/dislike data on a school-lunch budget ain’t that easy. The funding from these features is what keeps RYD’s servers running.

And as for the permissions:

RYD hasn’t changed how it handles your data. What changed is how Mozilla labels these permissions - not what the extension does with your data.

The extension only uses the data it needs to show dislikes and count votes.

Its site permissions cover YouTube and its own API at returnyoutubedislikeapi.com. RYD doesn’t read other websites, and these site permissions cannot be used to access them.

Here’s what those permissions mean:

Personally identifiable information - RYD’s randomly generated, anonymous user ID, used to count votes. This isn’t your Google or YouTube account.

Browsing activity - opening the next YouTube video, so the extension can send its video ID and fetch the new dislike count.

Website content - things like the visible like count, which helps calculate dislike estimates.

Website activity - clicking Like or Dislike.

Again, this is about YouTube activity. The extension isn’t watching everything you do across the internet - it simply can’t do that with these site permissions.

The new labels sound scary, but they don’t give the extension access to more websites.

RYD is open source, so you can see how it works: https://github.com/Anarios/return-youtube-dislike

"Personal information" - is the random user ID generated by extension to count your votes. And if you don't like it - you can disable it in the settings.

"Personal information" - is the random user ID generated by extension to count your votes.
And if you don't like it - you can disable it in the settings.

Premium features are there to cover cost of handling servers for 20 million people