Every Google Chrome and Safari user urged to change settings now over privacy scare

REGARDLESS if you’re a Google Chrome, Safari, or Firefox user, your browser’s privacy settings could probably be tighter.

It seems like privacy is at the forefront of everyone’s mind as of late and by updating your browser’s privacy settings you could keep your data and search history safe from ad trackers.

Getty ImagesGoogle Chrome is one of the most popular web browsers around the world, but one of the least protective[/caption]

If you use Google Chrome

Google Chrome might be the world’s most widely used web browser, but it can also be one of the least private from a default setting perspective.

One of Chrome’s biggest pros, however, is that it has flexible and open-source settings.

This, in turn, has paved the way for independent developers to release numerous privacy-focused extensions.

You can find any specific extension by heading to the Chrome Web Store.

Once you find the correct extension, click Add to Chrome, then Add Extension.

Four privacy extensions to up your security game include Cookie Autodelete, uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, and HTTPS Everywhere.

If you wish to remove an extension, you can do so by clicking the More menu (displayed as three dots), selecting More Tools, and then Extensions.

If you use Safari

Safari’s default privacy settings are a bit more proactive than Chrome’s as the browser has its Intelligent Tracking Prevention tool perpetually turned on.

Safari 14 also has other helpful features you can utilize which include notifying you when ad trackers are running on a website, giving you a 30-day report of the known trackers it’s identified, and letting you know what websites those trackers came from.

Furthermore, you can make sure that ad-blocking is on by opening Safari and clicking Preferences > Privacy > Prevent cross-site tracking.

While in Privacy, you can also manually delete your cookies and click Manage Website Data to view a specific list of which sites have left their trackers and cookies behind.

If you want even more security, you can install these extensions from the App Store: AdBlock Plus and Ghostery Lite for Safari. 

If you use Firefox

Mozilla Firefox is considered one of the best browsers when it comes to privacy features.

Its default privacy settings are more protective than some of the others, and it has more security features as well.

To play around with these features, you can head to Firefox’s main menu and select Preferences, then Privacy & Security.

Once there, you can choose between three privacy options: Standard, Strict, and Custom. 

Standard is the default Firefox setting, which blocks trackers in private windows, third-party tracking cookies, and crypto miners.

The Strict setting may not let you browse certain websites but it keeps your data safe from everything that Standard mode does, as well as fingerprints and trackers in all windows. 

Custom lets you explore your options to pick and choose how trackers are being blocked. 

Mozilla Firefox is one of the best browsers for customizing your privacy settings

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