Mozilla is adding new privacy features to Firefox Focus on Android with the announcement on Tuesday of its Total Cookie Protection, which helps prevent cookies from tracking you across the web, the platform.
Collect information about Internet users
Mozilla told ZDNet that the tool’s purpose is to combat cross-website tracking, which allows companies to monitor the websites you visit and the products you search for.
“Have you ever entered a contest to win a big screen TV or a vacation to an exotic location? Or did you join a supermarket loyalty program to save money? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have given out your name, home address, email address, phone number, and sometimes even your date of birth to companies that build your profile with information you freely provide,” Mozilla explains.
“Companies use these profiles to help them run ads that aim to convince you to buy, like resurrecting an item you were buying. On the web, there are tactics that aim to collect information about you and your browsing behavior, and track you as you go from site to site. “
Mozilla announced its 100% cookie protection service last year, saying Firefox Focus on Android would be the first Firefox mobile browser to feature it.
This service is part of a larger set of privacy protection features that Mozilla calls “Enhanced Tracking Protection” (ETP).
Total Cookie Protection creates separate “cookie boxes” for all websites you visit, limiting the cookies that a website drops in your browser to a box assigned specifically to that site.
Picture: Mozilla.
“This way, no other website can reach cookies that don’t belong to them and find out what other websites’ cookies know about you. Now you can say goodbye to those annoying ads that follow you around and reduce the amount of information companies collect about you every time you’re online,” says Mozilla.
The company is also giving Firefox Focus Android users access to SmartBlock and other privacy features that Mozilla says help “address issues with Total Cookie Protection and other privacy protection measures.” private”.
These additional features are necessary because some websites host content on other servers, and if expected cookies are not sent to those servers due to Total Cookie Protection, some content will not appear.
“With this workaround, we can allow this content to appear, without disabling any privacy safeguards, while giving sites time to find an adequate fix,” Mozilla says.
“And for users who opt for stricter tracking protection, SmartBlock also provides replacements for the most commonly blocked trackers, keeping websites running.” These replacements are built into Firefox, which minimizes the risk of any tracking. “
Source: ZDNet.com