Privacy Extensions

  • Thread starter Deleted member 101831
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Deleted member 101831

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Hello Linux.org,


Which privacy extension do you use.

I've been looking at the different ones.

I decided to give Privacy Badger a try and so far Privacy Badger seems OK.

I'm using Firefox 91.0 and DuckDuckGo and I'm aware of the thread and article below.


Thanks.
 


I already shared mine in this topic but that was when I was still using Firefox as my main browser. I have since then switched over to Brave and I don't need any privacy extensions installed since it has better OOTB privacy features than Firefox.
 
I'm using Brave browser also and Brave browser is hard to beat.

Are you using the default Blink search engine in Brave browser.

I still like Firefox and figured I'd try out some of the different privacy extensions.

I may go for broke and change to google for my search engine.

This is a good thread you started.
 
I've also used Vivaldi and found it to be an OOTB browser that works well but at the time I tried it thought it had way to many settings.

I may go back and give it another whirl.
 
I didn't try this one, but if you are looking for an easy way to configure your browser, use this: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/privacy-settings/

Why I didn't use the extension above is because I use Firefox Profile Maker (more about this below).

What I currently use:
Block ads and trackers:

Ublock Origin: This one blocks the most.
Ghostery: I use this sometimes. The advantage is you can configure what you want to block or not block. For example, you can whitelist certain websites if you want. I think you can do the same with Ublock above, but it takes more things to figure out.
Clear URLs: Remove tracking elements from URLs.
I used Privacy Badger in the past (2018) but not anymore.

Block cookies:
Temporary containers: Open a link in a new container tab. For example, if you want to open a Quora search results on Google, Quora will block you and tell you to log in if you open more than one link in the same window. Right-click on the Quora link on search result > Open the Quora link in a new temporary container to open it without logging in.

Cookie AutoDelete: Delete Google cookies automatically after 15 seconds. Need some time to configure, but after all that, you can export to a .json file and keep it.

Block canvas fingerprinting:
Canvas blocker: Block canvas fingerprinting.
You can test your canvas fingerprint on this site: https://webbrowsertools.com/canvas-fingerprint/
If you have that extension installed, it will return different numbers on that website each time you refresh/reload that page.

If you don't have the canvas blocker extension installed, it will return the same numbers on that website. For example: 3ac41ecbae.....

More extensions here: https://privacytools.io/browsers/#addons

Advanced tool:
I use Firefox Profile Maker a lot lately: https://ffprofile.com/
But it could change your default browser settings that I don't recommend to everyone. It will adjust your browser settings just like using about:config and then install most of the extensions above (Ublock, etc) automatically.

If you still want to use it:
  • Back up your default Firefox browser bookmarks etc.
  • Download Firefox from Mozilla website and do not use the default Firefox that comes with Linux.
  • You can install and activate it by typing about : profiles on the Firefox address bar and then press enter.
  • Do not delete any of the default profiles in the about : profiles unless if you want to risk losing your default Firefox settings.
 
Last edited:
It's not currently developed, but it still works - or did the last time I looked. uMatrix is awesome. It's basically like an old school firewall, but it's for your browser. There's a learning curve and a lot of work to get your regular sites configured, but it's smooth sailing after that. You just give out 'least permissions' to the sites you use, only allowing through any scripts/cookies/whatever that are needed to make the site work properly.

Personally, I haven't bothered with it for ages - but y'all know my lax position with privacy and even security.
 


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