PrivacyBadger
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EFF's browser extension that blocks spying ads officially launches
After more than a year of testing, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is releasing Privacy Badger 1.0, a browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that prevents ads and sites from tracking your activity on the web. The EFF says over a 250,000 users have used the early versions of the extension, following a call for testers last May. So how does it work? Privacy Badger blocks so-called super cookies and browser fingerprinting, both of which can be used to track your browsing habits across multiple sites. It works together with the Do Not Track setting in browsers, which also allows you to opt out of ad tracking, but requires services to honor that setting. Together, they should both offer some peace of mind if you're worried about increasingly powerful web ads, but don't want to stop ads entirely with services like AdBlock.
The EFF wants your help testing a browser add-on that blocks spying ads
Like many privacy advocates, the Electronic Frontier Foundation isn't a big fan of advertisers and sites following you around the web. So, it's doing something about this nosy behavior -- it's launching a browser add-on, Privacy Badger, that lets Chrome and Firefox users limit site tracking. The tool automatically stops sites' attempts to shadow your surfing activity and lets you selectively grant permission when you're not worried. To get on the Badger's good side, a web host has to honor Do Not Track requests -- a not-so-subtle dig at Facebook, Google, Yahoo and others that so far insist on tracking visitors.
