It’s rare for researchers to bother looking closely at extensions to make sure they’re above board. ![]() Like apps and desktop software, extensions are useful, but they can be a privacy nightmare. Dozens of other lower-profile browsers exist, but few get the security updates and support that most of us need in the software we use all day. The Tor Browser is the go-to for anonymity, especially in censored countries, but it’s unusable for most people as a daily browser. Brave is one of the more popular privacy-first browsers, but even it isn’t free of privacy-related controversies. Edge is based on Chromium and will work with the bulk of the Chrome extensions in this article, we haven’t tested it thoroughly. I’ve included links for both Chrome and Firefox, along with alternatives to our favorites, if they exist.Īs for other browsers, Apple’s Safari isn’t bad when it comes to privacy, but it lacks wide support for popular browser extensions. Regardless of which browser you use, a pack of extensions can increase your privacy by decreasing your exposure to trackers, as well as have the welcome side effect of boosting your security. (Most Chrome extensions will also work with Microsoft Edge, Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi, though we haven’t fully tested them.) Of the two, I recommend Firefox if you prioritize privacy, as it’s much more focused on privacy out of the box compared with Chrome. Not all browsers offer the exact same extensions, but Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are the two most popular browsers, and the ones I focus on here. They are sometimes created by developers as a hobby project to solve a problem for themselves, but are also developed by larger companies as part of their own suite of software. But browser extensions are simple, generally free add-ons that you can use to slow down or break this type of data collection, without completely ruining your experience of using the internet.īrowser extensions, also called add-ons, are tiny bits of software you can download to add new features to your web browser. ![]() Overall, uBlock Origin for Chrome is a very handy blocker that is able to protect you from anything, be it ads, trackers, and even malicious websites by using a multitude of powerful third-party filters and also custom ones created with the help of the mouse.Everything you do online-from browsing to shopping to using social networks-is tracked, typically as behavioral or advertising data. Performance-wise, uBlock Origin will help your browser load pages faster, since there are no more ads and other intrusive stuff to load, and by not taking a lot of system resources. You can even turn off the filtering capabilities for a specific website and it's as easy as just clicking the blue button from the drop-down UI, while also sporting a very handy "Element Picker" that enables you to create custom filters with the help of the mouse. UBlock Origin, while being a wide-spectrum blocker, it also lets you use third-party filters, with a variety of alternatives at your disposal, while it's even capable of running right out-of-the-box without the need to restart Chrome after the installation is done. (it's also available for Firefox and Opera)Īs stated above, this is a Chrome addon that can eliminate ads, trackers, and malware websites from your browsing experience, and it comes with a few predefined and powerful filters, like EasyList, Peter Lowe's ad server list, EasyPrivacy, and some malware domains in order to ensure the behavior of the website you're visiting will not be intrusive. There are different types of software that can block popups and any other instances of advertisement and unwanted content, which can make your browsing speeds even slower because of them, but fortunately enough, uBlock Origin for Chrome is one of them. ![]() ![]() A great ad blocker for Chrome with a multitude of filters
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