The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) doesn't just inform and assist users in protecting their digital rights; it also offers more active resources, such as the Privacy Badger browser extension. It has been around for about two years, and its main function is to detect and block tracking from advertising networks.
Users are the fuel that powers the Big Data engine, and no one dares dispute that. Dozens of background algorithms work to adapt a traditional browsing session to your preferences, and if possible, convince you to spend some money. Every “like” on Facebook, every retweet, every heart on Instagram, every visit to eBay or Amazon… they all want to know more about you. And this extends to visits to regular portals that rely on advertising to finance their operations. The problem is that these portals cannot regulate the behavior of advertising networks. Many see their constant tracking as a problem, and that's when the Electronic Frontier Foundation steps in with its Privacy Badger extension.
Basically, what the extension does is interrupt (or rather, “try” to interrupt) unauthorized tracking of browsers. From a technical standpoint, Privacy Badger is not an adblocker (as always, we humbly ask for an exception in your whitelist if you use one), but rather a kind of anti-tracker. Privacy Badger allows you to block and enable each detected domain as you wish; however, its work doesn't end there.
What's new in Privacy Badger 2.0
The new version 2.0 includes:
- Protection against IP address leakage via WebRTC
- Support for private browsing tabs (such as Chrome's Incognito)
- Compatibility with Electrolysis in Firefox
- Interface improvements
- Unified code across different editions
Privacy Badger is available for Firefox, Google Chrome, and Opera. In all cases you can get the extension manually or download copies through the official stores. Finally, don't forget that Privacy Badger may break a page or two while it works.
