Firefox's New “Privacy" Feature Actually Gives Your Data to Advertisers



Firefox finds itself in a tricky position at times, because it wants to be a privacy friendly browser, but most of its funding comes from Google, whose entire business is advertising. With Firefox 128, the browser has introduced “privacy-preserving ad measurement,” which is enabled by default. Despite the name, the actual implications of the feature has users upset. Firefox’s parent company, Mozilla, has explained that the new feature is an experiment designed to shape a web standard for advertisers, one that relies less on cookies but still tracks you in some way. With privacy-preserving ad measurement, sites will be able to ask Firefox if people clicked on an ad, and if they ended up doing something the ad wanted them to, such as buying a product. You should immediately disable this feature by clicking the three-lines icon in the top-right corner of the browser. Then, go to Settings, Privacy & Security, and then scroll down to the Website Advertising Preferences section. There, disable Allow websites to perform privacy-preserving ad measurement. Given that there are ways to block trackers and cookies without accepting this compromise, you should feel no obligation to share your data with any advertisers.