Firefox stops third-parties from tracking your data

published 3 November 2015

Firefox users can control what data they share with others in an improved Private Browsing mode, according to Mozilla.

Dubbed Tracking Protection, the feature is part of the browser's existing Private Browsing mode, and gives users control over the data that third-parties receive from them.

Mozilla, the organisation behind Firefox, said a feature such as this does not appear in similar private browsers offered by Chrome, Safari, Edge or Internet Explorer.

When people browse the web, they can unknowingly share information about themselves with third-parties that are separate from the site they're actually visiting, even in Private Browsing mode on any browser, warned Mozilla.

"Private Browsing with Tracking Protection in Firefox for Windows, Mac, Android and Linux actively blocks content like ads, analytics trackers and social share buttons that may record your behaviour without your knowledge across sites," the firm added in a statement.

Mozilla has also launched a Control Center in its browser that places site security and privacy controls in a single place - the browser address bar.

"Since some web pages may appear broken when elements that track behaviour are blocked, we've made it easy to turn off Tracking Protection in Private Browsing for a particular site using the Control Center," the firm added.

The company also released a number of visual editing tools in Firefox Developer Edition including its Animation Tools, which it said should work the same way animators think.

To coincide with this, Mozilla has created a game called DevTools Challenger to give designers a deep-dive on how to make the most of these new visual editing tools.

"We are addressing the technically challenging aspects of animation with a set of visceral, powerful, interactive tools that are comfortable for designers to use. Visual editing tools should appeal to animators, not just to programmers," said Dave Camp, director of Firefox in a blog post.

Firefox Developer Edition is available at firefox.com/developer.

Rene Millman is a freelance writer and broadcaster who covers cybersecurity, AI, IoT, and the cloud. He also works as a contributing analyst at GigaOm and has previously worked as an analyst for Gartner covering the infrastructure market. He has made numerous television appearances to give his views and expertise on technology trends and companies that affect and shape our lives. You can follow Rene Millman on Twitter.