How to boost your online privacy, change these browser settings

If you’ve ever searched for a pair of headphones, only to have ads for those same headphones pop up on seemingly every site you visited for the next month, you’ve seen the insufferable side of online tracking.

                                         Google Chrome

The most popular browser for the average user but considered the worst browser among tech experts when it comes to Online privacy.

In other to boost online privacy on chrome, the browser developers have created extensions that can be added to the browser via the settings. Some of the extensions available to search for include Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin, HTTPS Everywhere and Cookie Autodelete.

1. In the Chrome Web Store, click Extensions on the left and type the name of the extension you’re looking for into the search bar.
2. Once you find the correct extension in the search results, click Add to Chrome.
3. A dialog will pop up explaining which permissions the extension will have for your browser.
4. Click Add extension to bring the extension into your browser.
5. The extensions can be managed or removed by opening Chrome and clicking the three dot More menu on the right.
6. Select More Tools and then Extensions. You will be able to  see more about the extension by clicking Details.
7. In the same three-dot menu in Chrome, you can also block third-party cookies by selecting Settings, then scrolling down to the Privacy and security section and clicking Cookies and other site data. From here, select Block third-party cookies.

Note: For all you Android users, the chrome extensions do not work. Therefor users will have to switch browsers.

                                            Edge

Microsoft’s Edge browser includes some simplified online privacy and tracker blocking options on its Tracker prevention screen.

1. Within Edge, select the three dot menu icon in the top right corner and select Settings.
2. From the menu that then appears on the left, select Privacy and services.
3. You’ll be offered three settings to choose from: Basic, Balanced and Strict.
4. By default, Edge uses the Balanced setting, which blocks trackers from sites you haven’t visited while still being lenient enough to save most sites from some of the loading problems that may come with tighter security.
5. Likewise, Edge’s Strict setting may interfere with how some sites behave, but will block the greatest number of trackers. Even the Basic setting will still block trackers used for cryptomining and fingerprinting.

                                           Brave

This is my favourite browser and the one I use personally. It is the best browser for online privacy thus far in my opinion. Brave comes packed with a lot of privacy updates by default.

1. Open up the Brave browser main menu,
2. Select Preferences to reveal the Settings panel on the left.
3. Select Shields to see a list of privacy options on the right side of the screen.
4. Select the Advanced view, you’ll be able to choose which kinds of trackers to block.
5. Scroll down to block login buttons and embedded content from Facebook, Twitter, Google and LinkedIn.

Brave blocks all third-party cookies, ads, trackers, and fingerprinters without affecting performance. Brave also offers a built-in Tor private browsing mode, a heavy-duty tracker blocking option, and added a built-in VPN for iOS users. For even more protection and privacy fine tuning, explore Additional Settings on the left, and select Privacy and security.

                                          Safari

Safari’s proprietary Intelligent Tracking Prevention tool is turned on by default in the settings.

To check that blocking is on, you should do the following:

1. Open Safari and click Preferences, then Privacy.
2. The box beside Prevent cross-site tracking should be checked. Cookies can be manually deleted in that setting.
3. Click Manage Website Data to see which sites have left their trackers and cookies hanging out in your browser.
4. Click Remove next to any of the individual trackers you’re ready to get rid of, or just nuke the whole list by clicking Remove All at the bottom of your screen.
5. To block all cookies check the box beside Block all cookies.
6. For additional layer of privacy you can install helpful extensions from the App Store like AdBlock Plus or Ghostery Lite for Safari.

Research/Source: https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/your-browser-privacy-stinks-change-these-settings-in-chrome-firefox-brave-and-more/