This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Avatar for Username

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Wannan tattunawa ta zama daɗaɗɗiya. Yi sabuwar tambaya idan ka na bukatar taimako.

Why is Mozilla causing download of widevinecdm.dll--a google product? Google d/n = privacy. Can this file be uninstalled w/o affecting performance?

  • 1 amsa
  • 1 yana da wannan matsala
  • 1 view
  • Amsa ta ƙarshe daga philipp

dmn
dmn
more options

Norton security popped up with "widevinecdm.dll" as "safe." I asked no one or anything to install it. Thus, I investigated what it is and how w/o permission it was installed. It happened after a firefox update. I've read several Mozilla posts on this but none answer the fundamental question why Mozilla is using a google id'd product since by definition this does not protect privacy. In fact google's reason to be is to mine data. And I find no one explaining what deficits to functioning occur if this is uninstalled.

Norton security popped up with "widevinecdm.dll" as "safe." I asked no one or anything to install it. Thus, I investigated what it is and how w/o permission it was installed. It happened after a firefox update. I've read several Mozilla posts on this but none answer the fundamental question why Mozilla is using a google id'd product since by definition this does not protect privacy. In fact google's reason to be is to mine data. And I find no one explaining what deficits to functioning occur if this is uninstalled.

All Replies (1)

philipp
philipp
  • Moderator
more options

hello, the widevine module is part of firefox to be able to playback drm-crippled content on the web (unfortunately a browser without support for netflix & co would have a severe competitive disadvantage).

the following article explains how to disable this: Watch DRM content on Firefox

here is some technical background on how this is implemented (except that firefox is no longer using adobe's cdm but widevine in the meantime): https://hacks.mozilla.org/2014/05/reconciling-mozillas-mission-and-w3c-eme/