Send yourtips [email protected] 11 -26December 2019^65WebUserMasterclassTAKE IT TOTHE NEXT LEVEL
Moreadvanced tipsforwhen you’refeeling braveNone of thesefeaturestakenon their
ownwill identify youbut youmay have
aunique combination. Forexample,you
maybethe onlypersonthatuses
browserXatscreenresolution Ywith
extensions A, Band Cand ahandfulof
specific fonts, withDoNotTrack setand
cookies disabled.
BlocktrackerswithFirefox
Chrome’srisehasdentedthe popularity
of Firefox(www.mozilla.org)but it’s
trying to winbackusers with itsprivacy
toolsand claimsto blockover2,000
trackers,keepingaweekly tallyofhow
manyit’sblocking. Clickthemenu
button in thetop-rightcorner andselect
PrivacyProtectionsto seethe number.
It canrun into thousands.
OnthePrivacy Protections page,
click thecog icon to seethe Privacy&
Securitysettings tab.Choose between
Standard, Strictand Customenhanced
trackingprotection. Whereother
browsers requireanextension in order
to blocktrackers, Firefoxhas itstools
built-in.It’sthe browser’sbestfeature.
Thereare many otherprivacy and
security settings thatmake Firefox
worthconsidering, suchas permissions
forthe camera,microphone,location,
notifications,add-ons,auto-play sound
andvideo,deceptive contentonweb
pagesandmore.
BlocktrackerswithOpera
Operaisbased on thesameengine as
Chrome butits interfaceand rangeof
featuresare very different.Clickthe
top-right ‘Easysetup’ button and,
halfwaydown, you’ll seeswitches to
blocktrackersand adverts.Turn them
both on to increaseyouronlineprivacy.
Clickthemenubutton,selectSettings
and goto PrivacyProtection in the
Basicsection.Enable‘Block trackers’
andclick thetwoitemsbelowto enter
anyexceptions,suchaswebsiteswhere
you’re happytodisable trackingand
ad blocking, andto manage any
individual blocklists.
tutorial explainingthemainfeatures.
Select CustomizeSetup in the
sidebarand youcan choose which
categoriesofitemsto block, including
advertising, websiteanalyticsand
social media.Click thetoolbar icon
when browsing awebsite to seea
handy controlpanelthat shows
trackers that areallowedorblocked.
Thereare buttonsto blockorallow
everything,too.Blockfingerprints
Your browserusesmanydifferent
systemattributes to create adigital
fingerprintofyourcomputerso
trackerscan identify you. Blocking
someof thoseattributes canreduce
or preventfingerprinting.
In Chrome, consider Canvas
Defender (bit.ly/candef490), Canvas
FingerprintDefender (bit.ly/
cafdef 490 ), WebGLFingerprint
Defender (bit.ly/wgdef490)and Font
FingerprintDefender (bit.ly/
ffdef490). Theseextensions all
producefakevalueswhen trackers try
to read your PC’s configuration.DisableJavaScriptandFlash
JavaScript is thecodethat powers the
weband it’s essential formany
websites.However,itcan also be used
to fingerprintyourbrowser for
trackingpurposes. In Chrome,goto
Settings,Advanced,‘Privacy and
security’, ‘Sitesettings’, then
JavaScript.Turningit offincreases
privacybutitcan breakalot of
websites so don’tbesurprised if you
have toturn it backon. Flashisrarely
used thesedaysand canbedisabled.Blocktrackers
with extensions
Thereare somegreat
browserextensionsthat
increaseyourprivacy
andprevent information
leaks.Apopularchoice
is PrivacyBadgerfor
Chrome (bit.ly/
pribad490)and Firefox
(bit.ly/pbff490). Once
installed, it works
instantly withoutthe
needfor configuration.
Browse theweb and
PrivacyBadger increases
your privacyby blocking
theworstof thetrackers. Goto a
websiteyou suspectofusing trackers
andclick thetoolbar icon.Apanelis
displayedthatlists thetrackers, with a
switch next to each one. Most trackers
areblocked,but afewareallowed.
However, youcan usethe switches to
blockall trackers or usethe option to
disable PrivacyBadgerfor this site
andallowall trackers.
If youwanttocustomisePrivacy
Badger,click thetoolbar button,then
click thecog icon in thetop-right
corner.Anewtabopens withsettings
spread across five sub-tabs.The most
useful is DisabledSites.Privacy
Badger is compatiblewith many
websites,but afewmaybreak when it
is enabled.Ifyou still want to access
thosesites, entertheminto the
DisabledSites list.
uBlockOrigin is anotherChrome
(bit.ly/ubl490)and Firefox(bit.ly/
ublff490)extension forblocking
trackers.Manypeople useitfor its
ad-blockingcapabilities,but that’s
onlyhalfthe story. It workswell
without anytinkering butthereare
configurationoptions foradvanced
users.Ifyou click thetoolbar icon in
Chrome,you’ll seealarge Offswitch
that disablesblockingfor thecurrent
site. Clicktheslidersicon to open a
settings tabwhereyou’llfindsub-tabs
forsettings, filter lists,whitelistsof
allowedsites and more.
Ghostery forChrome(bit.ly/
gho490)and Firefox(bit.ly/ghoff490)
is ausefulextension forblocking
undesirableitemsonwebsites, which
stopslotsoftrackersfrommonitoring
your activities.Whenit’s installed,
aGhosterytab openstolet you
customisethe settings or take aFirefoxhas buil t-in toolstostoptrackers
monitori ng youonline
UsePrivacy Badger for Chrome and
Firefoxtostopwebsitestrackingyou