EFF is excited to announce that today we are releasing Privacy Badger 2.0 for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. Privacy Badger is a browser extension that automatically blocks hidden third-party trackers that would otherwise follow you around the web and spy on your browsing habits. Privacy Badger now has approximately 900,000 daily users and counting.
Third-party tracking—that is, when advertisers and websites track your browsing activity across the web without your knowledge, control, or consent—is an alarmingly widespread practice in online advertising. Privacy Badger spots and then blocks third-party domains that seem to be tracking your browsing habits (e.g. by setting cookies that could be used for tracking, or by fingerprinting your browser). If the same third-party domain appears to be tracking you on three or more different websites, Privacy Badger will conclude that the third party domain is a tracker and block future connections to it.
Privacy Badger always tells how many third-party domains it has detected and whether or not they seem to be trackers. Further, users have control over how Privacy Badger treats these domains, with options to block a domain entirely, block just cookies, or allow a domain.
New features with 2.0
Version 2.0 of Privacy Badger includes many improvements for users and developers, including:
• Support for “incognito” or “private” browsing
• Import/export capabilities, so you can export a backup of what Privacy Badger has learned about your tracker-blocking needs and import that into another browser
• Fixes to “break” fewer websites, ensuring that you can both block trackers and enjoy rich content
• Improved user interface translation for non-English-speaking users
• Blocks to prevent WebRTC from leaking your IP address
• Blocks to prevent HTMLl5 "ping" tracking
• Notable speed improvements (Firefox only)
• Multiprocess Compatibility (E10S) (Firefox only)
• A single code base for both the Firefox and Chrome versions
Ending non-consensual browser tracking
With the 2.0 release, the Privacy Badger team remains as committed as ever to end non-consensual browser tracking and promote responsible advertising. Although Privacy Badger blocks many ads in practice, it is more a privacy tool than a strict ad blocker. Privacy Badger encourages advertisers to treat users respectfully and anonymously rather than follow the industry status quo of online tracking. It does this by unblocking content from domains that respect our Do Not Track policy, which states that the participating site will not retain any information about users who have expressed that they do not want to be tracked.
Do Not Track and Privacy Badger 2.0 are here to help you block stealthy online tracking and the exploitation of your browsing history. Download Privacy Badger now to take a stand against tracking and join the movement to build a more privacy-friendly web.
