Mozilla said that its popular Firefox browser will eventually block ad-based tracking by default. To get there, the company plans to roll out new features over the next several months, such as a new ad-blocking component that is already available in Firefox Nightly. If this component works as expected, it will go mainstream with the launch of Firefox 63.
But that’s just one-third of Mozilla’s assault on tracking. The company also injected Firefox Nightly with a component that will “strip” cookies and block third parties from storing tracking content on your PC. Mozilla will conduct a “shield study” with a limited number of beta participants and, if the tool performs well, it will be made generally available in Firefox 65.
“In the physical world, users wouldn’t expect hundreds of vendors to follow them from store to store, spying on the products they look at or purchase,” Mozilla says. “Users have the same expectations of privacy on the web, and yet in reality, they are tracked wherever they go. Most web browsers fail to help users get the level of privacy they expect and deserve.”
The first and final prong in Mozilla’s assault on ad-based tracking doesn’t have a planned, definitive release. Instead, the company said that future versions of Firefox will prevent “fingerprinting,” a means to lurk behind the scenes to identify web surfers by their device properties. The company also plans to block cryptocurrency mining scripts.
As Mozilla states, many websites will still require your information in return for their services, but with these components in place, sites must now ask for your information rather than take it by force. Mozilla’s angle is that it’s giving you a “voice,” which started with blocking pop-up ads in 2004.
Mozilla’s plan surfaces after the company introduced a new extension to control Facebook. Called Facebook Container, it essentially locks your identity in a virtual vault so that Facebook can’t track you across the internet through third-party cookies. Mozilla says this extension doesn’t interrupt the services you enjoy.
Mozilla also promotes an extension called Disconnect for Facebook. This tool blocks third-party requests sent to Facebook’s servers, but allows you to use Facebook without any problems. In other words, this extension prevents Facebook from tracking the websites you visit.
“Blocking pop-up ads in the original Firefox release was the right move in 2004, because it didn’t just make Firefox users happier, it gave the advertising platforms of the time a reason to care about their users’ experience,” Mozilla adds. “In 2018, we hope that our efforts to empower our users will have the same effect.”
If you want to see the two new ad-based tracking blocks in action, download the Firefox Nightly build here. After that, navigate to the Control Center menu located to the right of the address bar (the icon with three lines) to access a new “Content Blocking” section in the drop-down menu. It’s toggled on by default.
After clicking “Content Blocking,” you can block third-party cookies that track you across the web and more.
Did you think hitting delete on your AI chatbot conversation actually makes it disappear? Georgia Tech researchers just proved that's not entirely true. They have built a forensic tool called ORISA that can dig deleted conversations from your phone and even rebuild them into a working chatbot session you can keep talking to.
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Touchscreen laptops have been around for years. You can get them in all sizes and shapes. Just not from Apple. For years, the Cupertino giant has treated the idea of a touchscreen MacBook the way I treat a meeting that could have been an email: with open contempt. However, Wednesday looks like the day the company could finally change its mind.
The latest Apple invite puts the “Pro and Tell” showcase in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) on October 28, 2026. Instead of a regular live-streamed keynote, it is an invitation-only, hands-on event for a handful of press and creators (similar to what the company did for the MacBook Neo earlier this year).
Two residents of Chicago have filed a lawsuit in the US over claims that robots run by Coco Robotics and Serve Robotics captured their facial and hand measurements without consent, bringing renewed attention to the food delivery robots. The cases raise a troubling question: If a robot delivers food to your door, can it also be gathering sensitive information about you?
According to a report by The Associated Press, the proposed class-action lawsuits were filed in Cook County on Oct. 9 and allege violations of Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. The complaints claim that the robots’ cameras and LiDAR sensors captured information on customers’ faces and hands as they approached the machines to pick up their orders. Both have denied the allegations.