New Mozilla Firefox Privacy Feature Stops URLs from tracking you
The latest version of Mozilla Firefox contains a new privacy feature that strips parameters from URLs that are used to track you around the web. Several companies such as Facebook, Marketo, and HubSpot use custom URL query parameters to track link clicks.
For example, Facebook appends a fbclid query parameter to outbound links to track clicks.
With the release of Firefox 102, Mozilla added a new ‘Query Parameter Stripping’ feature that automatically strips various query parameters used for tracking URLs when you open them, whether that be by clicking on a link or pasting a URL in an address bar.
Once enabled, Firefox will strip the tracking parameters from URLs when you click on links or paste a URL into the address bar.
How to enable the new privacy feature
The new Query Parameter Stripping feature is part of Firefox’s Enhance Tracking Protection.
To enable Query Parameter Stripping:
Go Into Settings
Click on ‘Privacy and Security’
Change ‘Enhanced Tracking Protection’ to ‘Strict’
These featured will not be stripped in private mode, even with strict enabled. To enable this feature in Private Mode:
Enter about:config in the address bar
Search for strip
Set the ‘privacy.query_stripping.enabled.pbmode’ option to true
It should be mentioned that setting Enhanced Tracking Protection to Strict could cause problems when navigating to certain websites. If you notice certain sites not working correctly, you can always change the setting back to ‘Standard’.
Story via Bleeping Computer
