Fortify Your Browser to Reduce Your Traces

Your browser is your portal to the internet, and if you suspect it’s another big contributor to data build-up, you’re right.

While your browser may protect your information in some ways, the websites you’re visiting may also override it, taking whatever information they want and even tracking your movements around the web.

Trackers on Your Tail

A tracker is a term used to describe a tool that has been added to a website to follow the website user’s journey. They can reveal how many visitors have viewed web pages, at which times they’ve visited, and the path they take through a website, to name a few.

Trackers owned by third-party companies who specialise in collecting data or building profiles sit behind the scenes in most of the websites we know, collecting a wide range of data.

Learn more about trackers in our Data Detox Digest: Browser Edition.

One of the ways trackers recognise you online is through your browser fingerprint:

Trackers can see all kinds of details about your browser and taken together these details often form a unique or near-unique pattern that can be used to identify you.
Companies with trackers across multiple websites recognise the pattern as you, and use your fingerprint to track your browsing habits.

There’s an online tool that gives you a browser protection diagnosis. Panopticlick analyses how well your browser is protected against tracking, and how easily it can be identified through its browser fingerprint. Panopticlick is developed and maintained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).

Try it! Go to Panopticlick now and click “Test Me”. Save your results – you’ll need them later.

You’ll now detox one of the browsers you use on your computer, smartphone or tablet. By the time you’ve finished, you should be blocking a lot more information from trackers, and this in turn should make your browser less unique – since there’s less information to form a “fingerprint”.

The Devil’s in the Default Privacy Settings

Most browsers are not private by default: that means that most of them store cookies, as well as your browsing history, webform entries, and other information – which can then be shared with third parties or sold to data brokers.

But Chrome, Chromium, Firefox, and Safari all offer a special “Private” or “Incognito” browsing mode, set to automatically delete your browsing history, cookies, temporary files, and webform entries every time you close the browser.

Note: your bookmarks and downloads are not deleted.

Private or incognito mode might even save you money. For example, if you’re searching for flight tickets, incognito mode can help ensure the prices don’t increase every time you refresh the page. Give it a try:

To open a new private browsing tab:
Chrome:
/ menu →
New incognito tab
Firefox:
/ menu →
New private tab
Safari:
File →
New private tab
To set private browsing permanently:
Chrome: there is not an option to set private browsing permanently in Chrome, but you can simply sign out of Chrome to help prevent some trackers.
/ →
Settings →
At the top you’ll see “Syncing to” and your Gmail address, tap it →
Sign out of Chrome →
Sign out
Firefox:
/ →
Settings →
Privacy →
Tracking Protection →
Enabled
Safari:
Safari in the top bar →
Preferences →
General →
Safari opens with: select A new private window

Note: Private/Incognito Browsing just prevents you from sharing certain things with trackers and websites; it doesn’t make you anonymous on the internet.

Phones, tablets, and computers tend to come pre-installed with browsers that don’t prioritize your privacy. Instead, you can download and use a browser like Firefox that already keeps your web activity more private by default, shielding you from trackers.

Browser Extension Therapy

You’re now ready for some added privacy boosters, install some little extras known as “add-ons and extensions” (these are easy-to-install mini-programs for your browser that can make your online activity more private).

To block spying ads and invisible trackers, install uBlock Origin (for Chrome, Safari, and Firefox) or Privacy Badger (for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera).

To make sure your connections to websites are encrypted where possible, install HTTPS Everywhere: a browser extension that ensures that your communication with many major websites is encrypted and protected in transit. If you’re a Safari user who’d like this feature, set your default search engine to DuckDuckGo, which redirects you to encrypted connections automatically.

Firefox offers many other ways to further fortify your browser. Check out addons.mozilla.org to find more.

Do Not Track
Firefox, Chrome, and Safari are a few of the browsers that have implemented the Do Not Track (DNT) feature. DNT sends a request to websites in order to disable tracking. It’s good to switch it on in your browser settings, as it may help deter excess tracking.

Firefox:
menu →
Settings →
Privacy →
Toggle on “Do not track”
Chrome:
menu →
Settings →
Privacy →
“Do Not Track” →
Toggle it on
Safari:
Click Safari in the top bar →
Preferences →
Privacy →
Under Website tracking you can click on Prevent cross-site tracking and also Block all cookies

Note: Websites are, unfortunately, not required to respect the Do Not Track message, but it can work quite well in combination with Privacy Badger.

Find more add-on and extension suggestions in the Alternative App Centre.

See Your Detox in Action

You should already be able to see some of the result of your detox. Revisit Panopticlick with the browser you’ve just taken through a detox, and click “Test Me.”

Compare the new results with your previous ones. Have they changed?

Refresh and Renew

Well done – you’ve made it much more difficult for companies to follow you around the web.

Detoxing your browser is not just a one-time activity. It’s good to revisit and refresh sometimes.

In case you chose not to set private browsing permanently, make it a habit each month to clear your cookies and browsing history:

To clear your cookies:
Firefox:
Menu →
Privacy & Security →
Under Cookies & Site Data select Clear Data...
Check the box to clear Cookies
Safari:
Menu →
Preferences →
Privacy →
Manage Website Data... →
Remove All →
Remove Now
Chrome:
Menu →
Settings →
Clear Browsing Data →
Check the box for Cookies and other site data →
Clear data
To clear your browsing history:
Firefox:
/ menu →
Settings →
Clear private data
Safari:
Settings →
Safari →
Clear History and Website Data