Looking for the ways to stop being tracked online? Chances are that if you are visiting a major website, then you may have to go through a process called Cookie Profiling, without your knowledge or consent. Cookie profiling also known as Web profiling is a way to track users overall activity online. Marketers and major websites often use this kind of profiling activity to collate information about a user.
How to stop Cookie Profiling?
All major web browsers allow their user to use private browsing mode, Increase privacy option, check & delete cookies. This sounds simple, but it varies from browser to browser and remembering how to activate these features is not an easy task. To make your browsing experience pleasant and at the same time to maintain privacy, you can add plug-ins or add-ons to your web browser. In this post we will be talking about plug-ins that can be added to Firefox web browser, to avoid being tracked online.
Some Firefox & Chrome plug-ins to avoid being tracked online:
- Adblock Plus – This add-on comes handy in blocking all types of advertisement shown on a website. Apart from blocking ads, this plug-in also stops marketers from tracking your online activities.
- Better Privacy – With Better Privacy add-on you can opt for deleting LSO (Super Cookies) when launching your browser or shutting down. LSOs are flash cookies which are stored centrally and contain information about you and your online activity. Big website like Facebook, Google and many advertising companies use LSO.
- Ghostery – This add-on protects your privacy and online activities from being tracked by advertising companies. When you visit a webpage, it sees it and detects trackers, web bugs, pixels and beacons. With this add-on you can block scripts, images and iframes and delete LSO.
- Quick Java – it is a simple but useful add-on for Firefox. It allows you to turn On/Off Java, JS, Flash, Silverlight, Proxy and automatic loading of images on website you visit.
- Browser Protect – You might have noticed after installing software that your home page preference and search engine preference has changed for your browser. Its very frustrating as your again need to reset your browser according to your requirement. In situation like this Browser Protect comes handy. It’s an ideal add-on that protects your browser from hijacking.
- Abine – After you have installed this add-on on your browser. It will warn you whenever a website is placing a cookie or flash cookies on your machine. It also allows you to track and block web beacon (also known as Bug).
- Do Not Track Me – This add-on offers a drop down tool bar which shows which tracking cookie and script has loaded on a website. It also gives you the option of disabling them completely.
In the end I would like to add, that keeping too many add-ons is not a bad idea, but it will surely slow down your computer & at the same time it will not offer any extra protection. So choose the right one that suites your requirement. I hope this post is helpful and informative. If in case I have missed any add-ons that help user avoid being tracked online then please leave a comment.
