Firefox Privacy Checklist - Additional Context
/ 3 min read
Table of Contents
I posted my Firefox privacy checklist on Hacker News and received excellent feedback. This post collects what I learned from the comments, providing broader context for the checklist.
When browsing the web, there are often trade-offs between privacy and convenience. My checklist aims to maintain a convenient browsing experience while reclaiming as much privacy as possible.
Firefox Forks
If you want more privacy (though likely with a less convenient browsing experience), consider a Firefox variant that offers enhanced privacy out of the box:
I have very little personal experience with these browsers.
Desktop Hardening
There are great resources for hardening the desktop version of Firefox:
I do a lot of browsing on mobile, so one thing I like about the checklist is that it works on both desktop and mobile. If you want to optimize your desktop browser, customizing user.js is probably the way to go.
Browser Fingerprint
There are websites you can use to inspect your web browser’s fingerprint:
After using these tools, I concluded that my browser fingerprint is unique; I am not covering my tracks.
Extensions
Several great extensions came up in the comments. I’ve listed them in the table below.
| # Users | Extension | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 9,846,109 | uBlock Origin | Efficient wide-spectrum content blocker. Easy on CPU and memory. |
| 1,821,323 | Privacy Badger | Automatically learns to block hidden trackers. Made by the digital rights nonprofit EFF to stop companies from spying on you. |
| 537,303 | ClearURLs | Removes tracking elements from URLs. |
| 378,338 | Multi-Account Containers | Keep parts of your online life separated in color-coded tabs. Cookies are separated by container. |
| 264,525 | NoScript | Only runs web content from sites you trust. Protects against cross-site scripting and other web security exploits. |
| 250,837 | Decentraleyes | Protects against tracking through “free”, centralized content delivery. |
| 184,798 | Cookie AutoDelete | When a tab closes, any cookies not being used are automatically deleted. Keep the ones you trust (forever/until restart) while deleting the rest. |
External Tools
A couple of firewall applications were mentioned as helpful for monitoring and managing Firefox connections:
- “The Little Snitch Network Monitor shows you where your Mac connects to on the Internet. You decide what you want to allow or deny.”
- “OpenSnitch is a GNU/Linux interactive application firewall inspired by Little Snitch.”
AI and CPU Usage
Several readers suggested turning off Firefox’s new built-in AI features. I found this article from Neowin especially informative: Mozilla under fire for Firefox AI “bloat” that blows up CPU and drains battery. TLDR: When Firefox introduced its AI features, it also introduced a performance bug. I am currently running Firefox version 143.0.1 and haven’t seen any performance issues with the AI features enabled. That said, the AI features don’t seem particularly useful, so turning them off makes a lot of sense.