By On September 3rd, Mozilla released Firefox 69, the latest version of Mozilla’s Firefox browser, for Linux, Android, macOS, and windows. The new version comes with a feature that will block crypto miners and third-party tracking by default.
The feature of enhanced tracking protection was first introduced to users in June where it blocked third-party tracking cookies based on a list stored in Disconnect. You can determine whether the new version is active on your browser by looking for a “shield icon”. Clicking the shield icon will show you a list of companies that Mozilla is blocking.
Blocking Unauthorized Crypto Miners by Default
Back in May, Mozilla compared unauthorized crypto miners with programs running on your browser without your consent stealing your computing power to make cryptocurrency. A process that resulted in a high electricity bill, and increased wear on your hardware as well as slow performance.
Mozilla team deemed such activities as rather shady and should not be condoned. Therefore, they started working to develop a fully functional and enhanced protection feature.
This feature was available since June, but then, it was functioning by default. Now in this new upgrade, users only need to install or update to the latest version, and it will be active whenever online.
All Users Will be Protected from Unauthorized Third-party Tracking
Mozilla released a new anti-tracking policy where they outlined the types of tracking the system will target.
Besides the standard or default settings, the new Firefox version has the strict settings where it blocks fingerprinting techniques on top of the things blocked in the standard settings.
Only 20% of Firefox users have the tracking protection. This new version is expected to increase these numbers. That is because, since third party tracking protection is on by default in Firefox 69 version, 100% of Firefox users will be protected.
Other Features of Firefox 69
Besides blocking third-party tracking cookies, Firefox 69 also introduces a feature that blocks autoplay of any videos, inclusive of those without sound. This feature was still available in the previous versions of Firefox but was limited to blocking videos with sound from auto-playing.
More features to come with the new version of Firefox include the ability to import data from other browsers.
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