After first launching its Total Cookie Protection privacy feature back in early 2021 for Mac, Windows, and Linux, Mozilla is now making it the default for all users on desktop. The privacy change comes after the non-profit launched Firefox 100 back in May with new features for desktop and mobile.
The goal of Total Cookie Protection is to provide a strong defense “against tracking without affecting your browsing experience.”
As a refresher, here’s how Mozilla describes the feature that’s now the default for all desktop users around the world:
“Total Cookie Protection works by creating a separate ‘cookie jar’ for each website you visit. Instead of allowing trackers to link up your behavior on multiple sites, they just get to see behavior on individual sites. Any time a website, or third-party content embedded in a website, deposits a cookie in your browser, that cookie is confined to the cookie jar assigned to only that website. No other websites can reach into the cookie jars that don’t belong to them and find out what the other websites’ cookies know about you — giving you freedom from invasive ads and reducing the amount of information companies gather about you.”
Mozilla says the launch of Total Cookie Protection for all desktop users by default comes from years of work dating back to 2015. That has included ETP Strict Mode, testing in Private Browsing, and Firefox Focus.
“Over more than a decade, Mozilla has proudly been leading the fight to build a more private internet. Bringing Total Cookie Protection to all Firefox users is our next step towards creating a better internet, one where your privacy is not optional.”
For a technical breakdown of how Total Cookie Protection works, you can read Mozilla’s developer document.
And download the latest version of Firefox for Mac, Windows, or Linux for free.
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