Firefox to Block Ad Trackers by Default

Mozilla'south Firefox browser will soon block advertizement trackers by default.

The change is intended to improve browser performance and stop online marketing firms from harvesting your data without your knowledge. "Users have the aforementioned expectations of privacy on the web, and yet in reality, they are tracked wherever they go," Mozilla VP Nick Nguyen wrote in a blog post.

In November, Mozilla added "Tracking Protection" to Firefox, which stops ads, plugins, and share buttons from collecting metadata about your online browsing activities; it arrived on iOS in April. Yet, outside the iOS version, the feature has been opt-in and somewhat hidden in the browser'southward preferences page. Prior to this, Tracking Protection was only available in Firefox's private browsing way.

Mozilla told PCMag information technology intends on using some of the technology from the Tracking Protection feature to power three new default functions that'll exist arriving to Firefox in the coming months. The start focuses on stopping "slow-loading" third-political party trackers that can drag down Firefox'south performance. The company has been testing information technology; if all goes well, it will be turned on in Firefox 63, which is scheduled for an October release.

Firefox Ad Tracking Block

The 2d characteristic is designed to end ad trackers from following your internet presence from site to site. "In order to help requite users the private spider web browsing experience they look and deserve, Firefox will strip cookies and block storage admission from third-party tracking content," Nguyen said. This default feature will arrive in Firefox 65, which is scheduled to release in January.

Mozilla is also working on another initiative to stop website trackers that can "fingerprint" your internet presence by identifying your figurer's properties, such as the IP accost and browser version. The same initiative will work on blocking websites from secretly loading cryptocurrrency miners.

Mozilla wants the changes to force websites to be more transparent about data-harvesting practices. "Some sites will go along to want user data in substitution for content, but now they volition take to ask for it, a positive change for people who up until now had no thought of the value exchange they were asked to make," Nguyen said.

Mozilla's push to scissure down on ad tracking won't win fans from online advertisers. But it isn't the only browser maker trying to accost online privacy. In June, Apple too announced that the visitor's Safari browser would block plugins from third-political party websites such equally Facebook from tracking your activities across the internet.

Consumers tin actually begin to use some of the upcoming Firefox features past downloading the "Nightly" experimental build of the browser. Plow on the features past going to the preferences icon in the carte du jour bar, and scrolling down to a new "Content Blocking" section.

Editor's notation: This story has been updated with further comment from Mozilla.