Firefox will block websites from tracking user information by default

Recently, Mozilla announced on the official website that its Firefox browser would change the anti-tracking method. In the future, it will prevent sites from tracking user information by default, and add explicit controls so that users can select the information they want to share with the website to protect users. Privacy security.

Mozilla explained the intent of the move, saying that it was not just to protect users, but also to give them a voice. Website tracking of user activities is more complicated and diverse, and ordinary netizens are unaware of this. This unauthorised information tracking brings negative impacts such as advertisement push or network performance degradation. Mozilla hopes to counter these sites that want to continue to use user data in exchange for content and to make a positive change to users who are kept in the dark for this exchange of privacy values. This change has had initial experience with the Firefox version in 2004. By blocking pop-up ads, Firefox users have become more satisfied, and the advertising platform at the time has begun to care about the user experience.

In the announcement, Mozilla also talked about a series of work to be done for this purpose. It said that in the next few months, a set of functions would be released to put this new method into practice through three key initiatives. :

Improve page load performance

A new feature will be added to Firefox Nightly to prevent trackers that slow down page loading. This feature was tested in September using a blocking study and will be in Firefox 63 if it finds that it works fine. The default startup prevents the load tracker from loading.

Remove cross-site tracking

To help users get the private web browsing experience they expect and deserve, Firefox will strip cookies and prevent third parties from tracking storage access to content. A trial version has been provided for Firefox Nightly users, and a screening study will be run in September to test the experience of some test users. The goal is to provide this protection to all users in Firefox 65 and will continue to improve the way to give the most potent protection while maintaining a smooth user experience.

Mitigating harmful practices

Deceptive practices that quietly collect identifiable information from users or reduce user experience are becoming more common. For example, some technologies can identify users through device attributes, which users cannot control; some websites currently deploy encryption scripts. Silently mine cryptocurrencies on the user’s device. Things like this make the network environment even worse, and future versions of Firefox will block these practices by default.

Users who want to turn this feature on manually can do so in the Firefox Nightly Control Center menu, where you’ll see a new “Content Blocking” option:

• You can prevent slow-loading trackers or cross-site tracking with third-party cookies by clicking Add Block… next to the appropriate option.
• In the Content Blocking preferences panel:
  • Click the checkbox next to “Slow-Loading Trackers” to improve page load performance.
  • Click the checkbox next to “Third-party cookies” and select “Tracker (recommended)” to prevent cross-site tracking of cookies.
• These protections are disabled by clicking the gear icon in the Control Center and unchecking the checkbox next to Deceleration Load Tracker and Third Party Cookies.