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Andrew Marder

While there are many web browsers to choose from, I’ve settled on Mozilla Firefox. This post is a checklist of how I’ve configured it to better protect my privacy online.

A quick note: If you’re looking for a browser that offers a high degree of privacy right out of the box with minimal setup, Brave is an excellent choice. However, I have a personal preference for Firefox for a few key reasons: it’s developed by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, I value its commitment to open-source principles, and I’m not interested in the cryptocurrency features that are integrated into Brave.

This checklist will walk you (and me) through the essential settings and add-ons I use to harden Firefox.

1. Basic Privacy Settings

Access Firefox’s settings by clicking the menu button (three horizontal lines) in the top-right corner and selecting “Settings.”

  • Change Default Search Engine: In the Search tab, change the “Default Search Engine” to a privacy-respecting option like DuckDuckGo.
  • Enable HTTPS-Only Mode: In the Privacy & Security tab, scroll down to “HTTPS-Only Mode” and select “Enable HTTPS-Only Mode in all windows.”
  • Disable Telemetry: Still in Privacy & Security, scroll to “Firefox Data Collection and Use” and uncheck all the boxes to stop Firefox from sending data back to Mozilla.
  • Set Enhanced Tracking Protection to Strict: Under Privacy & Security, set “Enhanced Tracking Protection” to Strict. This offers stronger protection against trackers. If a site breaks, you can easily disable it for that specific site by clicking the shield icon in the address bar.
  • Install uBlock Origin: A comprehensive content blocker that stops ads and tracking scripts, which speeds up page loading and enhances privacy.
  • Install ClearURLs: This add-on automatically removes tracking elements from URLs, helping prevent another form of web tracking.
  • Install Privacy Badger: From the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy Badger automatically learns to block invisible trackers. Instead of keeping lists of what to block, it discovers trackers based on their behavior.

3. Advanced Configuration (about:config)

To access this, type about:config into the address bar and accept the warning.

Warning: Changing these settings can potentially affect browser performance or cause some websites to break. Proceed with caution.

  • Isolate Cookies to the First-Party Domain:
    • Search for privacy.firstparty.isolate and set its value to true.
    • This prevents cookies from tracking you from one site to another but can break single sign-on for some websites.
  • Resist Fingerprinting:
    • I had set privacy.resistFingerprinting to true to make my browser fingerprint less unique.
    • This caused minor display issues on some sites, and broke file uploads to Bluesky. I’ve set it back to false.

By following this checklist, you can significantly improve your privacy while using Firefox. Please let me know if I’m missing anything in the comments.