Essential browser extensions for more privacy

Websites these days collect a lot of information about you. When you leave the website, they then want to know where you are going next. They leave tracking cookies in your browser.

Tools like Google Analytics, they register everything from your geographical location to how often to visit a webpage.

Below are some privacy add-ons that give your browser extra muscles to keep you safe online.

Privacy Badger is arguably the best anti-tracking web browser extension. Launched by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), it’s a lightweight add-on with a user-friendly toolbar button that shows the detected trackers on the page. The “green/yellow/red” block-list system shows which webpages are tracking you and gives you the ability to block any or all of it at any point. The one feature that sets Privacy Badger apart is that it doesn’t block all content, just the tracking scripts that follow you from one site to another. If the content tracking you is essential to a page’s functionality, Privacy Badger will allow it to load with the tracking capabilities blocked.

Privacy Badger is available for Firefox, Chrome, Opera and even Firefox on Android phones.

uBlock Origin is one of the most popular ad and content blocker extensions. It prevents pesky popups and widgets from sending your data to advertisers. uBlock Origin lets you create personalized lists which gives you more control over what ads to block and what ads to allow. It has also been found to effectively block more ads than others while using less memory, so it doesn’t slow down your browsing experience.

It is not backed by any company or business model and rather community developed and open-source. That makes it more trustworthy over other blockers who are known to collect your data.

uBlock Origin is available for Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari.

Secure websites use the HTTPS (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure) protocol, which encrypts your credit card details, personal information, and other sensitive data. However, not all websites are HTTPS-enabled.

HTTPS Everywhere add-on is a joint venture project of the Tor browser and EFF. When you install the extension, it automatically rewrites the requests, establishes a connection via TLS, then locates and directs you to the most secure versions of the websites you visit. In case your browser connects you to unsecured websites, HTTPS Everywhere will keep your data private and secure from leaking by redirecting it to an encrypted HTTPS.

HTTPS Everywhere is available for Firefox, Chrome and Opera.

Decentraleyes protects you against tracking through “free”, centralized, content delivery. It prevents a lot of requests from reaching networks like Google Hosted Libraries, and serves local files to keep sites from breaking.

Decentraleyes is available for Firefox, Chrome and Opera.

In 2014, Mozilla released a call-to-arms for users in an effort to promote online privacy, stating that “fighting for data privacy—making sure people know who has access to their data, where it goes or could go, and that they have a choice in all of it—is part of Mozilla’s DNA.”

In 2015, the State of Mozilla report reaffirmed the organization’s beliefs: “There are billions of people online, but not enough transparency and control in the form of security and privacy protections for users from companies, app developers and governments. Mozilla is focused on influencing key internet health issues like privacy and security.”

You can even consult the Firefox privacy policy to learn more about the browser, any data that may be collected, and what that data is used for.

But the real win here is that Mozilla isn’t Google. The one thing we know to be true is that Google is a gargantuan data collection company. Google already knows too much. Do you want it to know every aspect of your browsing habits, too?

Content blocking is a collection of Firefox privacy features that protect you from threats and annoyances on the Web. The default includes protections against trackers that collect your browsing data across multiple websites and cryptominers. Firefox also offers protections against harmful scripts, such as malware that drains your battery. These privacy protections are mostly invisible; you’ll know they’re working when you see a shield icon on the left within your address bar.