Online privacy has been one of the most hotly debated topics recently. In fact, we have had some emblematic cases of serious privacy issues. We refer to the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica situations. In addition to the issues of data collection by Google and Amazon. Faced with this, more and more users are seeking to control as good as possible the amount of data that companies collect about them. It is certainly not a simple task. Fortunately, we have tools that help us to limit this data collection. Even decide what kind of data is collected while browsing the Internet. Specifically, we will see The best browser extensions to protect privacy and security.
Privacy Badger
Undoubtedly, one of the best anti-tracking extensions is Privacy Badger. This is a project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Indeed, this non-profit organization focuses on the rights of freedom of expression in digital media. Additionally, Privacy Badger offers a block list system where it shows us the websites that are tracking us. It also allows the possibility of blocking all or part of them at any time. This extension does not block all content. On the contrary, it blocks only the tracking scripts that remain there in our browser constantly.
HTTPS Everywhere
This is another extension developed by the EFF together with the Tor project. HTTPS Everywhere is a tool that allows you to connect to websites always using a secure HTTPS link. Certainly, there are many sites that are improving the implementation of HTTPS. However, there are still some that still use HTTP by default, which puts our information at risk.
Ghostery
Ghostery is similar to Privacy Badger but with a better interface and a bit more options. What this extension does is to show who is tracking our Internet browsing. Consequently, it detects cookies, blocks trackers, speeds up loading times and, it claims, protects our data. A great advantage is that Ghostery offers us details of each tracker, so we can decide if we want to block it, since it does not do it by default. Personally, I have been using it for quite some time, and it works fabulously well.
Blur
Another extremely useful extension to protect our privacy is Blur. In fact, we are talking about a tool that allows us to protect all our personal information online. Blur saves, encrypts and organizes our passwords. It also blocks companies from collecting data about our online activity, including trackers. It keeps data such as our credit card, passwords, and email protected with encryption. Thanks to this, sites like Facebook will not be able to track us.
Decentraleyes
Decentraleyes is an open-source project that offers us to improve our privacy while surfing. With this in mind, it hosts CND (Content Delivery Network) resources locally. When our browser requests one of these CDN resources, the application will block it and offer us a local version.
Disconnect
Disconnect is another extension that allows us to block trackers in a simple way. Its interface is one of the best. In addition, they claim that it can find and expose the so-called invisible trackers. These keep track of our activity even if we are no longer visiting that web page. It also ensures that it blocks those pieces of malicious code that are on the Internet, and we can always customize the level of blocking.
uMatrix
uMatrix does not stand out for having the best interface. However, this Chrome and Firefox extension behaves like a great Firewall. Its developers promise to protect our browsing and personal data by blocking unwanted scripts, iframes, and ads. In addition, it shows us details of the web pages to know whether we can trust them or not according to the information they request.
LastPass
This is one of the most popular and well-known password managers today. LastPass manages our passwords securely. In addition, it also safeguards other sensitive data such as our credit card information. Its ease of use makes it the favorite of many users. However, against it, we can say that a couple of times it has suffered attacks with the consequent leakage of many private data. Despite this, I have been using it for several years and its performance is excellent.
Facebook Container
This extension is only available for Firefox, but it makes it a great tool for visiting Facebook. Facebook Container isolates our identity and movements in a kind of independent drawer. Consequently, it prevents Facebook from tracking our activity on other websites using third-party cookies. This means that Facebook cannot spy on us, and we will not receive ads according to our browsing history. For this extension to work properly, the ideal is not to use Facebook on mobile and not to have the application installed.
DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials
From the creators of the popular search engine DuckDuckGo, comes their privacy extension that will help us protect our personal data while surfing the Internet. This extension blocks hidden trackers on web pages and loads encrypted versions when possible. Even when we land on a website with bad privacy practices, we will be notified and a rating will be assigned to each website. One of the best browser extensions to protect your security and privacy.
Cookie AutoDelete
As its name suggests, Cookie AutoDelete automatically deletes HTTP cookies after closing the browser tab. This extension offers a high level of protection against cookie tracking without affecting the performance of websites. In addition, Cookie AutoDelete also provides protection against Flash code traces, ETags and cleans DOM storage.
uBlock Origin
And finally, let’s go with an ad blocker. As we know, there are several options here but on this occasion we wanted to recommend uBlock Origin, as it not only blocks ads, but also trackers and cookies to protect our online identity, thus preventing tracking and third-party advertising.
Okay, so ultimately we’ve looked at the best browser extensions to protect privacy and security. We hope that these tools will allow you to increase these aspects of your navigation. See you soon!
