Five Extensions You Can Add to Your Browser for More Privacy

Dennis Snider

529 Posts

520 views

0

Everyone needs a browser to get onto the Internet, but it’s a two-way process: malicious players on the Internet can use your browser as a way of accessing your data.

Fortunately, there are a number of extensions available for browsers that can put a block on pop-up adverts and encrypt all your website actions, stopping anyone from tracking what you are doing. They may even make your browsing experience a little faster.

We present below five extensions you can add to your browser that will make your online experience safer.

Privacy Badger from the Electronic Frontier Foundation is one of the most effective anti-trackers available. It shows you in real time which websites are tracking you and allows you to block them completely or partially whenever you want. A really useful feature of Privacy Manager is that it doesn’t block a website’s complete traffic, just the tracking elements, so you can still access what you want to see without worrying about being tracked.

Ghostery performs much the same functions as Privacy Badger but its interface is a little easier to use. The program detects cookies and blocks tracking so that pages can load faster, but is important to note that it does not do this automatically; you have to use the interface to view the trackers and decide whether they should be blocked or not.

uBlock Origin is a very popular extension for blocking ads that works with all the main browsers such as Opera, Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. In addition to blocking pop-up ads, it stops them from harvesting any of your data. You can personalize the blocker so that you can still see the ads that interest you. This blocker has been shown to block more ads than other blockers, but it does not use as much memory, meaning it won’t slow your browser down.

Disconnect anonymizes your browsing but keeps websites functional. It can work on both mobile and desktops, and it blocks any tracking code that could compromise your hardware or your privacy. If a website asks to make a connection outside the website you are visiting, Disconnect will block it. The option to allow tracking from trusted websites is also available.

HTTPS Everywhere imposes the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure protocol, used by secure websites, everywhere you go, making sure that you are sent to the most secure iteration of any website you choose. If you visit a website that is unsecured, this program will ensure your privacy and data protection by redirecting your traffic through an encrypted HTTPS connection.