The Electronic Frontier Foundation has launched a browser add-on that will reportedly block the non-consensual tracking of people’s web-browsing habits carried out by advertising companies. Called the Privacy Badger version 1.0, the extension is now available for Chrome and Firefox. It was released as a public alpha in May 2014 and hit beta about two months later.
The new release adds a few extra features, including the ability to block select, unspecified “super-cookies,” as well as the ability to block browser fingerprinting. If you’ve never heard of the latter, it’s a common trick used to track users by collecting various facts about your system such as browser type, installed plugins, time zone, and screen resolution and depth, among others. Individually, those features may not be particularly revealing, but in combination they tend to allow for unique identification.
The release of Privacy Badger 1.0 follows EFF’s recently announced Do Not Track policy standard, formed together with a coalition of web companies including AdBlock Plus, privacy company Disconnect, publishing site Medium and search engine DuckDuckGo. It is even based on the same code as AdBlock Plus, however EFF cites key differences in the software’s functionality.
EFF claims that unlike current extensions, Privacy Badger does not require custom configuration to block non-consensual trackers. The organisation also cites the business models of other extensions that it is “not entirely comfortable with”.
The online media industry has often criticised such extensions for stifling advertisement revenue that media outlets require to survive, however EFF claimed that a balance should be made.
Privacy Badger’s source trees are available on Github. EFF also reveals that there’s a development mailing list for those interested in contributing to the subject.
