Firefox 91 New Feature | Browser Gets Enhanced Cookie Clearing, Blocking Third-Party Codes, Tracking, and More

Urian B., Tech Times 10 August 2021, 02:08 pm

Firefox 91 new feature could help protect its users even more! The browser is rolling out enhanced cookie cleaning, designed to help wipe out all the tracking traces that websites, advertisers, and others could leave on the computer.

Mozilla Firefox 91 Enhanced Cookie Clearing

According to the story by CNet, with the release of Firefox 91, Mozilla introduces an even more giant hammer to help smash cookies which advertisers, websites, and other tracking companies use to help them record their online behavior. The feature is called the Firefox 91 enhanced cookie clearing.

The new feature is designed to block tracking from websites and third parties with code that appear on the site. The technology helps its users clear not just the typical cookies for websites but also the more aggressive "supercookies" designed to evade those lesser privacy protections.

Mozilla on Handling Cookies

This feature is now an option for those that enable Firefox's more strict mode of handling cookies. This mode partitions website data into certain separate storage containers. A Mozilla blog post notes that users can easily recognize and remove all data that a website has stored in their computer.

This can be done without them worrying about any leftover data coming from third parties embedded in the website. Cookies are text files that websites and partners can store on one's web browser. A previous Mozilla Firefox update was also made available for Linux and Windows while fans were wondering when an M1 version would be ready.

Cookie Convenience

This is convenient for certain tasks like remembering a username, choosing a preferred language, and even getting the contents of one's shopping cart. The downside is that they allow companies to track users' activity.

An example of this is the Facebook "like" button. As of the moment, privacy is a top priority, and the browser industry is looking for ways to make the web feel less intrusive. Free websites and online services aren't so great when they are actually supported by advertising technology that peers too closely in one's life.

Firefox and Other Browsers

Firefox and some other browsers like Brave Software's Brave, Apple Safari, and Microsoft's Edge are all investing engineering resources in technology to block cookies and other tracking technology. Google, which has quite a huge online advertising business and likes the idea of personalized ads, is still trying to look for ways to offer both targeted ads as well as privacy within its Chrome browser.

Firefox has also helped invigorate the browser competition that stalled shortly after Microsoft's Internet Explorer dominated about two decades ago. Firefox, however, has seen a steady decline in influence after Google Chrome was introduced in 2008.

Smartphones have also had an effect on Firefox's usage, which is now down to just 3.4%. Most users are choosing Chrome and Safari by default. While the previous Firefox 89 already had cookie protection, the new Firefox 91 seems to be an improved version.

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Written by Urian B.