---
bcp_version: "0.8"
file_type: voice
parent: https://registry.brandcontextprotocol.dev/firefox-8df36a3b/.well-known/brand.md
last_updated: 2026-09-14
---

# Voice

Firefox sounds like a civil liberties lawyer who also writes for a general audience: opinionated, plain-spoken, and structurally precise. It names threats and power dynamics directly, then explains what it is doing about them — without hedging and without hype.

## Personality

**Opinionated and direct.** Firefox takes clear positions and says them plainly. Not blunt for shock value, but never burying a structural critique inside a softened product claim. Per Mozilla's tone guide: "We have a point of view. We say what we mean, speak truth to corporate and governmental forces that seek to control users."

**Hopeful, not alarming.** Firefox names threats outright — single-engine dominance, cross-site surveillance, platform lock-in — but the posture is activist optimism, not doom. Per the Mozilla Tone of Voice guide: "But we're not the voice of doom and gloom: because Mozilla stands for hope."

**Rights-first, not feature-first.** Features are described by what they prevent others from taking, not by what they deliver as perks. Owner direction: "Frame every feature as the non-negotiable architectural enforcement of a fundamental right, never as a convenient user perk."

**Concise and reader-first.** Every word earns its place. Mozilla's design writing principle: "Product design writing isn't about how it's written, it's about how it reads." Cut words that add no value.

## Register

Plain and direct across all contexts. Firefox is not formal, but it is not casual either — it is the register of someone who has thought carefully about a problem and is explaining it without condescension. Humor is permitted but never flippant or cheesy ("ohne zu flapsig oder cheesy zu werden," per the Mozilla localization guide). The register shifts slightly warmer in product UI and slightly more pointed in advocacy or policy contexts, but it never becomes corporate or promotional.

## Framing rule for product features

Owner-stated rule: "Frame every feature as the non-negotiable architectural enforcement of a fundamental right, never as a convenient user perk."

Operational test: describe what the feature **prevents others from taking**, not what it **gives you**.

| On-brand | Off-brand |
|----------|-----------|
| "Enhanced Tracking Protection blocks cross-site tracking by default because continuous, unconsented commercial surveillance violates fundamental user autonomy." | "Enhanced Tracking Protection blocks third-party trackers so your browser loads faster and your data stays safe." |
| "Firefox blocks tracker networks by default." | "Firefox helps keep you safe online." |
| "Mozilla does not sell personal browsing profiles or profit from cross-site tracking." | "We never sell your data." (standalone, unqualified) |
| "Tracker protection is the default architecture of the browser, not a setting you must configure." | "Turn on Enhanced Tracking Protection for extra privacy." |

## Vocabulary

```yaml
prefer:
  - word: "fundamental right"
    tier: core
    rationale: "Owner-stated framing: privacy is a right, not a feature. Mozilla Manifesto language."
  - word: "by default"
    tier: core
    rationale: "Signals that protections require no user action; distinguishes Firefox architecture from opt-in tools."
  - word: "non-profit governance"
    tier: default
    rationale: "Owner-stated differentiator: governance model, not product specs, is the structural argument."
  - word: "independent engine"
    tier: default
    rationale: "Owner-stated differentiator: Gecko's independence from Chromium/WebKit is a structural argument for web diversity."
  - word: "cross-site tracking"
    tier: default
    rationale: "Preferred over vague 'tracking'; names the specific threat."
  - word: "web diversity"
    tier: default
    rationale: "Owner-stated framing: Firefox exists to prevent single-engine monopoly."
  - word: "structural"
    tier: default
    rationale: "Grounds claims in architecture and governance, not features or feelings."
  - word: "unconsented"
    tier: default
    rationale: "Signals the consent basis of privacy; distinguishes Mozilla framing from generic privacy marketing."

avoid:
  - word: "fast"
    tier: core
    rationale: "Owner-stated: speed is table stakes and does not differentiate Firefox from Chrome, Safari, or Brave."
  - word: "safe"
    tier: default
    rationale: "Generic claim any browser can make. Replace with the specific structural control doing the work."
  - word: "we never sell your data"
    tier: core
    rationale: "Owner-stated: Mozilla explicitly stepped back from this as a standalone claim. Broad statutory definitions of 'sale' (CCPA) create legal exposure. Use caveated, practice-based descriptions instead."
  - word: "Firefox blocks all tracking"
    tier: core
    rationale: "Owner-stated forbidden claim: ETP blocks known third-party trackers; it does not prevent first-party data collection or provide anonymity. 'All' is technically false."
  - word: "completely anonymous"
    tier: core
    rationale: "Owner-stated forbidden claim: Firefox is not an anonymity network like Tor."
  - word: "zero telemetry"
    tier: core
    rationale: "Owner-stated forbidden claim: Firefox Privacy Notice explicitly details technical and interaction telemetry collected by default."
  - word: "peace of mind"
    tier: default
    rationale: "Abstract utility framing; define the specific threat being blocked instead."
  - word: "User Experience"
    tier: default
    rationale: "Mozilla style guide example of abstract corporate framing to replace with plain action statements."
  - word: "data breach"
    tier: contextual
    context: "consumer-facing product copy"
    rationale: "Mozilla localization guide prefers plain everyday words over technical/marketing loanwords."
  - word: "cross-site tracking" (as jargon without explanation)
    tier: contextual
    context: "consumer-facing copy where the reader has no technical background"
    rationale: "Mozilla style guide: prefer 'stops trackers from following you' over technical terminology when writing for general audiences."
```

## Punctuation and formatting rules

```yaml
oxford_comma: yes
headline_periods: no
exclamation_points: never
em_dashes: sparingly
sentence_case_headlines: yes
capitalization_notes: >
  Capitalize named features (Enhanced Tracking Protection, Gecko) and proper
  governance entities (Mozilla Foundation, Mozilla Corporation). Do not
  capitalize generic terms like 'non-profit' or 'browser engine' mid-sentence.
  Do not use all-caps for emphasis.
```

## Channel modulation

Firefox's Acorn design system documents that tone flexes by context. Specific per-channel evidence is thin; do not apply the schema below as fixed rules.

[gap] Per-channel tone examples (social, email, advertising, support) are not yet confirmed by the brand owner. The Acorn tone-scale system signals that register shifts by context, but the specific calibration for each channel has not been specified. Apply the personality and framing rule above uniformly until channel-specific guidance is confirmed.

## Copy examples

| On-brand | Off-brand |
|----------|-----------|
| "Firefox is an independent, non-profit-backed web browser built on its own engine to protect user privacy and keep the internet open, diverse, and free from Big Tech monopolies." | "Firefox is the fast, private browser that keeps you safe." |
| "Enhanced Tracking Protection blocks cross-site tracking by default because continuous, unconsented commercial surveillance violates fundamental user autonomy." | "Enhanced Tracking Protection blocks third-party trackers so your browser loads faster and your data stays safe." |
| "Mozilla does not trade, rent, or sell personal browsing profiles to data brokers or ad networks." | "We never sell your data." |
| "Firefox minimizes default data collection, keeping browsing history stored locally on your device rather than centralizing it for commercial use." | "Firefox operates with zero telemetry." |
| "Browser engine diversity ensures that technology is built for people, not for shareholders." | "Firefox respects your privacy." |
| "Get Firefox." | "Just get Firefox now." |

## Evidence record

The following attributable source language is preserved because it materially constrains this profile.

### Owner-confirmed evidence

> Firefox frames its voice as nurturing and optimistic about improving the internet, describing Acorn as a seed to grow Firefox and improve the web.

Source: Public source

### Owner-confirmed evidence

> Firefox frames its mission in warm, organic, human metaphor ('help the internet blossom into something better'), signaling an optimistic, non-corporate voice.

Source: Public source

### Owner-confirmed evidence

> Firefox's design system is named Acorn and is explicitly framed around community-grown, human warmth, using the proverb about oaks and acorns.

Source: Public source

### Owner-confirmed evidence

> Firefox should never sound like a browser that treats privacy as a feature or selling point. It must not use generic tech-company framing — speed claims, feature lists, or 'we respect your privacy' language that any ad-funded browser could plausibly say. It should not sound like it is competing on product attributes; it is competing on governance and structural independence.

Source: Public source