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September 05, 2018
Mozilla Announces Firefox Will Block Trackers by Default
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Web trackers are used mainly for targeted advertising and broad user data collection. Mozilla wants to protect users from websites using abusive trackers, improving both performance and privacy. Mozilla shared details on three tracker-blocking features it is building into Firefox:
Just like how Google sees Chrome blocking some ads by default, Mozilla views Firefox blocking trackers as an extension of the pop-up blocker. Here is the companyÕs reasoning for the decision: Some sites will continue to want user data in exchange for content, but now they will have to ask for it, a positive change for people who up until now had no idea of the value exchange they were asked to make. Blocking pop-up ads in the original Firefox release was the right move in 2004, because it didnÕt just make Firefox users happier, it gave the advertising platforms of the time a reason to care about their usersÕ experience. In 2018, we hope that our efforts to empower our users will have the same effect. Mozilla wants to make it clear these features are aimed at users, and websites will have to adjust accordingly. Try it now in Firefox Nightly Firefox development starts with Firefox Nightly, which consists of the latest code packaged up every night for bleeding-edge testers. The first two protections are already available in Nightly Ñ you can control both features from the Control Center menu (left-hand side of the address bar), where youÕll see a new ÒContent BlockingÓ section. Here you can enable the blocking of slow-loading trackers or cross-site tracking through third-party cookies by clicking ÒAdd BlockingÉÓ next to the respective option. Check ÒSlow-Loading TrackersÓ to improve page load performance and/or check ÒThird-Party CookiesÓ and select ÒTrackers (recommended)Ó to block cross-site tracking cookies. Even in Nightly, these features still need to be enabled, but eventually theyÕll be on by default. More details are available if you click on the Gear icon. Tracking Protection If all of this sounds familiar to you, youÕre right. Mozilla added a Tracking Protection feature to Firefox 42Õs private browsing mode in November 2015. With the release of Firefox 57 (Firefox Quantum) in November 2017, Mozilla added an option to enable Tracking Protection outside of private browsing. But Tracking Protection isnÕt on by default. Tracking Protection in Firefox blocks website elements (ads, analytics trackers, and social share buttons) that could track you while youÕre surfing the web. ItÕs almost like a built-in ad blocker, though itÕs really closer to browser add-ons like Ghostery and Privacy Badger because ads that donÕt track you are allowed through. The featureÕs blocking list, which is based on the tracking protection rules laid out by the anti-tracking startup Disconnect, is published under the General Public License and available on GitHub. ItÕs great for not just privacy, but performance as well:  MozillaÕs Tracking Protection technology is also available on other platforms, whether itÕs called Turbo Mode on Fire TV, a separate privacy-based mobile browser called Firefox Focus, or simply a feature on Android and iOS. In fact, Firefox for iOS turned on tracking protection by default in April. At the time, Firefox product lead Jeff Griffiths told VentureBeat that Mozilla had no plans to turn on Tracking Protection by default on the desktop. ThatÕs apparently still true, but Firefox is finally going to block trackers by default Ñ it will just give users more controls and options when it does. Copyright 2018 VentureBeat. All rights reserved. From https://venturebeat.com.
By Emil Protalinski. |
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