New Firefox Browser Blocks Trackers by Default

The Mozilla organisation has launched a new browser, Firefox Focus, which blocks third party tracking software by default and allows users to erase sessions with a single tap.

Support for the idea of Do Not Track has ebbed and flowed over the past few years, with the public generally seen to be in favour of stricter regulations, trade associations weighing in on behalf of their members, Internet giants blowing hot and cold, and the browser makers themselves trading consultations and opinions with the Senate and W3C, among others.

Of late, Firefox has positioned itself as the champion of privacy, and the new release underlines the claim. Rival firms have added more effective opt-out settings - including Apple with its iOS10 operating system - and Mozilla itself has promoted a Firefox 'private browsing mode' which prevents analysts and advertisers from collecting users' data - but Focus is the first recent launch to make privacy the default setting.

In a blog post (https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2016/11/17/introducing-firefox-focus-a-free-fast-and-easy-to-use-private-browser-for-ios/), Mozilla explained that Focus 'is set by default to block many of the trackers that follow you around the Web. You don't need to change privacy or cookie settings. You can browse with peace of mind, feeling confident in the knowledge that you can instantly erase your sessions with a single tap - no menus needed'. It continues: 'We live in an age where too many users have lost trust and lack meaningful controls over their digital lives. For some users, it seems as though your web activities can follow you everywhere - across devices, across accounts'.

The organisation also says the exclusion of trackers will speed up the browsing experience, especially on mobiles, because 'Much of what makes mobile web pages slow is the technology used to track users on the web'. It adds: 'When you occasionally see a site that doesn't work because it is dependent on tracking, and if you don't mind that kind of tracking, Firefox Focus makes it easy to open your current site in either Firefox or Safari'.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.