I agree that the majority of the backlash is overblown, and mostly the result of unclear messaging. However, it's important that Mozilla is held to a standard. They have presented themselves as a privacy-respecting alternative, and when they do things that sow distrust, it undermines their mission.

They're one of the few nonprofit organizations that can reasonably compete with the other major players in the browser space, and I hope they can continue to exist while keeping their integrity intact. It seems that task is proving extremely difficult in the current industry.