Firefox ditches “Do Not Track” option after admitting that it didn’t work anyway
A once-promising beacon of online privacy, undermined by non-compliance and occasional misuse by websites, has reached its end. Starting in Firefox version 135 (current version is 133), the “Do Not Track” (DNT) checkbox will no longer exist.
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A once-promising beacon of online privacy, undermined by non-compliance and occasional misuse by websites, has reached its end. Starting in Firefox version 135 (current version is 133), the “Do Not Track” (DNT) checkbox will no longer exist.
DNT, originally proposed in 2009, was designed to allow users to opt out of websites' tracking. Firefox was the first browser to implement this feature. Now, Mozilla is throwing in the towel.
“Many sites do not respect this indication of a person's privacy preferences, and, in some cases, it can reduce privacy,” Mozilla said.
Honoring this setting was voluntary and individual websites were not required to respect it.
Mozilla recommends an alternative way to ask websites to respect users’ privacy.
“You can use the “Tell websites not to sell or share my data” setting. This option is built on top of the Global Privacy Control (GPC). GPC is respected by increasing numbers of sites and enforced with legislation in some regions.”
GPC was introduced in Firefox version 120. It operates as a “Do Not Sell” mechanism in California, Colorado, Connecticut, and some other US states. This mechanism prohibits companies or organizations from sharing or selling personal information without permission.
According to Mozilla, this setting may be also used as an opt-out of targeted advertising in the European Union, United Kingdom, Nevada, Utah, and Virginia.
Mozilla also shares other tips to protect online privacy. Private browsing mode will not save any history, site preferences, cookies, or logins that could be later accessed by others. Firefox also contains a Forget button that quickly deletes recent information.
Firefox also has an experimental Tracking Protection feature that actively prevents tracking by using a blocklist of domains and websites that are known to track users. Additional privacy and security add-ons, such as adblockers, Privacy Badger, and others, are recommended.
“Most major websites track their visitors' behavior and then sell or provide that information to other companies,” Mozilla confirms.
“This information can be used to show ads, products, or services specifically targeted to you.”