Mozilla Pushes Online Privacy with New Open Source Funding Awards

Mozilla is funneling yet more money into the open source ecosystem. This week, the organization best known for the Firefox Web browser announced an award of $385,000 to fund eight open source projects, including several important online privacy platforms.

The awards are part of the Mozilla Open Source Support (MOSS) program. Alongside initiatives like the funding of gigabit Internet, MOSS is an example of how big-name open source foundations are pursuing new strategies for shaping the open source ecosystem with their cash reserves.

The awards announced this week will support the following projects:

• Tor, which develops software for hiding your identity and location online.
• Tails, a Linux-based operating system designed to provide out-of-the-box privacy and security.
• Caddy, a Web server that delivers HTTPS encryption by default.
• Mio, a software programming library.
• DNSSEC/DANE Chain Stapling, which is working to improve the process of secure DNS requests.
• Godot Engine, a game engine.
• PeARS, a private Internet search engine.
• NVDA, a screen reader for Windows.

A number of these projects focus on improving online privacy and security. Mozilla is making pretty clear its commitment to helping to create a more private, decentralized Internet free of censorship and tracking — or at least one in which censorship and tracking are more difficult than they have become in most online contexts today.

That should send a signal to other open source organizations and developers about the direction in which the money is flowing inside the open source ecosystem. Demand for better privacy and security delivered through open source code is high, and prestigious foundations like Mozilla are putting up the cash to reward developers who deliver those features.