Mozilla Firefox browser is among the most well-known web browsers and makes a good alternative to Google Chrome. Like Chrome, Firefox is also Chromium-based and offers a lot of similar features.

In recent times, however, Firefox is trying to shift its image from a Chrome alternative to a superior browser. To accomplish this vision, Mozilla has focused heavily on user privacy features. The latest of these is the ability to remove trackers from website URLs automatically that comes with the Firefox v102 update.

For those unaware, multiple companies like Facebook, Marketo, Olytics, and HubSpot, utilize custom URL query parameters to track clicks on links. These custom URLs are essentially used to track your activity around the web. With this new update, the browser will give you a shorter URL and also it blocks all the tracking URLs.

The feature is called ‘Query Parameter Stripping’ and removes various query parameters used by the companies mentioned above. The list of tracking parameters that will be automatically removed from the URLs is as follows:

• Olytics: oly_enc_id=, oly_anon_id=
• Drip: __s=
• Vero: vero_id=
• HubSpot: _hsenc=
• Marketo: mkt_tok=
• Facebook: fbclid=, mc_eid=

To enable this feature, all you have to do is open the Firefox browser, go to Settings, click on Privacy & security and change ‘Enhanced Tracking Protection’ to ‘Strict.’

One thing to note is that this feature only works while browsing in normal mode and does not apply while browsing in Private mode.

RELATED:

• Microsoft Edge Drop feature will bring file & note sharing across devices
• Microsoft Edge browser to soon get a free inbuilt VPN
• Google Chrome logo gets its first paint job in 8 years
• Chrome OS 103 update brings better integration with smartphones

The post Mozilla Firefox v102 update removes trackers from URLs automatically appeared first on Gizmochina.

Back in August, we had reported on Microsoft making it harder for users to switch the default browser in its latest version of Windows OS. But now, it seems that Mozilla has managed to beat this hurdle on Windows 11 for its Firefox browser.

For those unaware, the American tech giant had basically made it a one click process to set Edge as the default browser. However, browsers from other firms had to go through a complicated tasks, which would’ve been quite an annoying task for many users. Although, Mozilla has quietly managed to defeat this with its version 91 of Firefox. The company achieved this by reverse engineering the way Microsoft sets Edge as the default browser in Windows 10.

This enabled it to set Firefox as a default browser quicker. Prior to this, one would have to go to Windows 10’s settings to select Firefox as the default browser, all the while Microsoft would ask you to consider Edge. Furthermore, the reverse engineering also meant that you can even set the default browser from with Firefox itself without requiring any additional prompts. But keep in mind that this circumvents the Microsoft anti hijacking protections that is built into Windows 10 to prevent malware from hijacking default apps.

A Mozilla spokesperson stated that “People should have the ability to simply and easily set defaults, but they don’t. All operating systems should offer official developer support for default status so people can easily set their apps as default. Since that hasn’t happened on Windows 10 and 11, Firefox relies on other aspects of the Windows environment to give people an experience similar to what Windows provides to Edge when users choose Firefox to be their default browser.”

RELATED:

• Microsoft confirms that Windows 11 will not support Apple M1
• Microsoft Surface Go 3 to come with Intel Pentium Gold and i3 processor : Report
• Microsoft Xbox may also receive Windows 11 Android app support

The post Mozilla beats the difficult default browser switching game on Windows 11 appeared first on Gizmochina.

Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and other browsers are suffering from an ongoing malware campaign. The attack has affected various browsers and is designed to inject ads into search results and add malicious browser extensions as well.

According Gadgets360 report, a Microsoft blog post stated that from May to September 2020, the company recorded hundreds of thousands of encounters of the Adrozek malware across the globe. The tech giant even tracked 159 unique domains, each of which hosted an average of 17,300 unique URLs. This in turn hosted an average of over 15,300 distinct, polymorphic malware samples. The malware’s primary aim is to lead users to affiliated websites and even serve them ads by injecting them into search results.

Editor’s Pick: Samsung Galaxy S21 series new leak reveals names of accessories, new 30W fast charger

Furthermore, the malware achieves this by also silently adding on other malicious browser extensions as well. This changes the browser settings to insert ads into webpages, where one wouldn’t otherwise find them. These ads can then be found on top of other legitimate ads from the search engine and is claimed to also modify DLL per target browser. In simpler terms, it can turn of security controls on the browser.

According to a Microsoft researcher, “Despite targeting different extensions on each browser, the malware adds the same malicious scripts to these extensions. In the past, browser modifiers calculated the hashes like browsers do and update the Secure Preferences accordingly. Adrozek goes one step further and patches the function that launches the integrity check.”

UP NEXT: Vivo Y52s with 90Hz display, Dimensity 720, and 48MP dual cameras and 5G launched in China

The post Google Chrome, Firefox, and other browsers suffer from a widespread malware campaign appeared first on Gizmochina.

Gifting a loved one a gadget is a well-established tradition reflecting a token of our love. But times are indeed changing. These days it can be fraught with many previously unforeseen pitfalls as you may end up gifting your loved one a fitness tracker that can also track and record mood shifts, or a seemingly harmless doorbell that can also monitor police activity. Privacy watchdog, Mozilla has come out with a useful list of well-known gadgets with ratings on just how creepy they are.

While internet rights proponents continue to project “Privacy not included” mantra, this year 2020 has yielded a whole lot of quite creepy devices, which on their face value, seems to be wonderful gadgets worthy of being gifted to a loved one. Given the upsurge of “smart” speakers, security cameras, doorbells, and several other devices, caution and due diligence is needed before settling for a gift gadget.

It is suggested that Amazon is on the wrong end of this creepy spectrum, as virtually everything by company, with the exception of Kindle, sends huge amounts of data to Amazon, by design. However, Mozilla is of the view that Amazon has not earned its stripes and hence the trust to acquire such privacy data. Mozilla also placed Facebook on the wrong end of the creepy spectrum for a similar reason.

Devices that got creepy ratings are diverse. For example, a smart coffee maker and Moleskine smart notebook got unfavourable ratings because critical assurances about data protection and security were absent, which is unacceptable from any company that collects such information. This kind of behaviour – being silent on assurances on data security is prevalent with many smart gadgets. Indeed they may not be inherently creepy, but the company that produces these gadgets has the capacity to make them creepy at any time.

On the good end of the creepy spectrum is Withings (formerly Nokia Health). Withings got points for its range of smart devices with sufficiently acceptable privacy policies and data security. Some of the devices that got top marks were Withings’ Non-Ring smart doorbell and Garmin’s smartwatches.

These rankings by Mozilla (via) are informal, and could also be subjective. However they are based on the potential for abuse or breach of your data, and it does not necessarily imply that a device that is not “creepy” would keep your data perfectly safe or private. If you choose to buy any of these gadgets, it is advised to immediately scrutinize the settings and preferences and disable anything that seems invasive or creepy. This guides against putting your important privacy data in the open, because once your data is out there, it is almost impossible to retrieve it without damage.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi XiaoAI Speaker Art Battery Edition launched for 399 yuan ($59)

The post Mozilla releases a list of popular gadgets with “Creepy” privacy rating appeared first on Gizmochina.