Mozilla Firefox will soon block 'ad tracking' software by default

Mozilla has announced some hard steps to ensure user privacy on its Firefox browser. In its latest blog, the company said that over the next few months it will be rolling out certain key features which will give users more control over their data and also improve the web performance.

One of the most important changes will be the automatic protection against ad tracking. In Firefox 65 version, the company plans to strip cookies and block storage access from third-party tracking content.
In addition to this, future versions of Firefox will also cut down on harmful data collection or cryptomining practises by websites. With Firefox 63 version, the company will also block slow-loading trackers by default to help improve overall web performance.

Mozilla's Firefox browser hasl also blocked flash content which is reportedly, “not essential to the user experience”. The company made the announcement via a blog post that these and future changes will bring Firefox users enhanced security, improved battery life, faster page load, and better browser responsiveness.

Mozilla’s browser will require click-to-activate approval from users before a website activates the Flash plugin for any content. Firefox will continue to block specific Flash content invisible to users as this is expected to reduce Flash crashes and hangs by up to 10 percent. To minimize website compatibility problems, the changes are initially limited to a short, curated list of Flash content that can be replaced with HTML.

The main goal is to push as many sites as possible to HTML5. Firefox plans to drop support for all NPAPI plugins, except Flash, in March 2017. The next major Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) release, also scheduled for March, will continue to support plugins such as Silverlight and Java until early 2018, for those users who need more time for their transition.

With inputs from ANI

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