Browser security and privacy settings are crucial because they safeguard your personal information and browsing habits from unauthorized access and tracking. These settings and privacy-oriented plugins work as barriers, preventing cyber threats like malware, phishing attacks, and identity theft.
They also help control the amount of personal data that websites can collect and share about you, reducing unwanted ads and potentially intrusive surveillance of your online activities. Turning on these settings and using privacy-focused plugins are simple yet effective steps everyone should take to enhance their online privacy and security, ensuring a safer and more secure browsing experience.
While Google’s chrome is the most popular browser, it has faced criticism due to high resource utilization and more importantly, dubious privacy standards and a recent privacy lawsuit. We recommend using Firefox as your default browser instead. If you must use chrome, here are some of the settings and plugins that should help improve your privacy.
Chrome Web Store URL : uBlock Origin
A highly effective ad blocker that also blocks trackers. It’s lightweight and doesn’t significantly impact browser performance, making it an essential tool for privacy-conscious users.
Chrome Web Store URL : Privacy Badger
Developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Privacy Badger automatically learns to block invisible trackers and controls tracking cookies, enhancing your privacy as you browse.
Chrome Web Store URL : DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials
Provides built-in tracker blocking, smarter encryption, and a private search engine. It offers a privacy score for websites you visit and forces them to use encrypted connections when available.
Chrome Web Store URL : Decentraleyes
Protects against tracking through “free,” centralized content delivery. It blocks requests to external servers for content and serves local files to prevent many requests from reaching networks like Google Hosted Libraries.
Chrome Web Store URL : Cookie AutoDelete
Automatically removes cookies that are no longer needed from your browser. It allows you to keep cookies for sites you trust while deleting cookies from sites you don’t, immediately after closing the tab.
While the lawsuit (now settled) originated due to privacy concerns with Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode, and the terms of the settlement have not been disclosed, a continuous watch on what data Google collects in Incognito Mode might be subject to their terms on Chrome.
The Incognito Mode may still be a better option to preserve privacy with other websites that you visit.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security >Site settings
Review the sites that collect/use data on your Location, Camera, Mic, Notifications and other Additional permissions.
In Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data
Review each site and the kind of data it gathers on you. Delete data for websites that you do not plan on visiting or if a particular site data looks suspicious.
In Settings > Privacy and security > Third-party cookies
This can prevent trackers from collecting data about your browsing activity across multiple sites.
In Settings > Privacy and security > Security
Turn on “Always use secure connections” to use HTTPS whenever possible and also enable “Encrypt the names of sites you visit” so that the DNS calls are secure to prevent people from watching which sites you visit.
We strongly recommend using the Firefox browser because of it’s strong privacy policies and great privacy settings. Here are our picks for privacy-focused Firefox plugins and browsing settings.
Firefox Add-Ons store features a wide variety of plugins. Here are some of our recommendations on plugins that are privacy oriented.
Mozilla Addons Store URL : uBlock Origin
A powerful, efficient ad blocker that also blocks trackers. Its lightweight and easy to use, allowing you to maintain privacy without sacrificing performance.
Mozilla Addons Store URL : Privacy Badger
Developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), this plugin automatically learns to block invisible trackers and control tracking cookies, improving your privacy as you browse.
Mozilla Addons Store URL : Decentraleyes
Protects you against tracking through “free,” centralized, content delivery. It prevents a lot of requests from reaching networks like Google Hosted Libraries, serving local files to keep you safe.
Mozilla Addons Store URL : NoScript Security Suite
Allows JavaScript, Java, Flash, and other plugins to be executed only by trusted web sites of your choice. It’s a powerful tool for advanced users to prevent clickjacking and other attacks.
Mozilla Addons Store URL : DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials
Offers built-in tracker blocking, smarter encryption, and a private search engine. It provides a privacy score for websites and forces them to use encrypted connections when available.
There are several settings that we recommend to boost your online privacy with Firefox.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security to view options on how you set options for trackers, cryptominers and fingerprinters. We recommend setting this to Strict.
Prevent Firefox from sending technical and interaction data to Mozilla by going into Settings > Privacy & Security and unchecking the boxes under the Firefox Data Collection and Use section.
Once again in Settings > Privacy & Security, enable HTTPS-Only Mode in all windows for secure encryption between your browser and websites.
In Settings > Privacy & Security, click on “Manage Data” and review what Cookie and Site Data has been stored on your browser. Remove and clear data from sites that you do not use or if it looks suspicious.
Tweaking advanced options by accessing the “about:config” page in Firefox (you may see a warning when you do so) :
Be careful on what preferences you set here. Some privacy oriented preferences are :
privacy.firstparty.isolate
Set to true to isolate all browser identifier sources (such as cookies) to the first party domain, enhancing privacy.
network.cookie.cookieBehavior
Set to 1 or 4 to block third-party cookies or cross-site and social media trackers, respectively.
privacy.resistFingerprinting
Set to true to make your browser more resistant to fingerprinting, although it might break some websites.
Private browsing via private windows in Firefox. Firefox will delete all of your session data when you close the browser after browsing with private windows.
While Safari is limited to the Apple ecosystem, it is more secure and privacy-friendly than Chrome and has a much better track record of being transparent than Google.
To add more privacy features to your browsing experience on Safari, try adding these plugins…
Offers comprehensive ad-blocking capabilities, including ads, trackers, phishing, and malware sites. It also helps in speeding up page loading times and protecting your privacy.
Provides site encryption, tracker blocking, and a private search engine. Although its full suite may not be available on Safari as on other browsers, its core features still significantly enhance privacy.
Allows you to block ads, trackers, and other unwanted content. It’s highly customizable, letting users choose what gets blocked.
Safari’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention helps reduce cross-site tracking by limiting cookies and other data. Enable this by going to Safari > Preferences > Privacy and checking “Prevent cross-site tracking.”
While this setting might be too restrictive for some users as it can prevent some sites from working correctly, you can enable it in the same Privacy tab by selecting “Block all cookies.” A more balanced approach would be to manage cookies and website data manually from this section.
Similar to other browsers’ private or incognito modes, Safari’s private browsing windows don’t save your browsing history, and they ask websites not to track you.
Safari can warn you about suspicious websites that might try to phish for your information. This setting is available under Safari > Preferences > Security by checking “Warn when visiting a fraudulent website.”
You can control which sites have access to your location, camera, microphone, and notifications. Manage these permissions in Safari > Preferences > Websites, and adjust settings for individual websites.
Edge Add-ons URL : uBlock Origin
A powerful ad blocker that goes beyond simple ad blocking by also preventing trackers from loading. It’s lightweight and efficient at blocking unwanted content and trackers.
Edge Add-ons URL : Privacy Badger
Automatically learns to block invisible trackers and control which sites can collect your data. It’s developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and aims to enforce the Do Not Track standard.
Edge Add-ons URL : DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials
Provides a privacy score for websites, blocks tracking cookies, and forces an encrypted connection where possible. It also includes a private search engine.
Edge Add-ons URL : Decentraleyes
Protects you against tracking through “free”, centralized, content delivery. It prevents many requests from reaching networks like Google Hosted Libraries, and serves local files to keep sites from breaking.
Edge Add-ons URL : Cookie AutoDelete
Automatically removes cookies that are no longer used by open browser tabs. You have control over which cookies are deleted, making it a powerful tool for managing your digital footprint.
In Settings > Privacy, search and services, set Tracking Prevention to Strict.
Edge offers built-in tracking prevention. Set it to “Strict” to block a majority of trackers from all sites, which might make some sites behave unexpectedly but maximizes privacy.
Enable this setting to send a Do Not Track (DNT) request with your browsing traffic. However, compliance with DNT requests is voluntary for websites.
Configure Edge to automatically clear your browsing history, cookies, and cache each time you close the browser. This helps in minimizing the amount of data stored on your computer.
Using Secure DNS in privacy settings encrypts DNS queries, preventing others from seeing which websites you visit and enhancing your overall online privacy.
Regularly review and customize site permissions to control what data sites can access, including location, camera, microphone, and notifications.
With these plugins and privacy settings in your arsenal, you’re you would be better equipped to navigate the digital world safely and keep your online activities private. Remember, taking these small steps can make a big difference in protecting your personal information.
And for an extra layer of security, consider using PicKey.ai to keep your passwords and login details safe and secure, making your journey towards online privacy and security even more robust.
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