Mozilla Firefox 102 was released today with a new privacy feature that strips parameters from URLs that are used to track you around the web.
Numerous companies, including Facebook, Marketo, Olytics, and HubSpot, utilize custom URL query parameters to track clicks on links.
With the release of Firefox 102, Mozilla has added the new ‘Query Parameter Stripping’ feature that automatically strips various query parameters used for tracking from URLs when you open them, whether that be by clicking on a link or simply pasting the URL into the address bar.
There probably were plugins for this before but I think it’s great to have it as a standard. I also love it when I open an Instagram link by accident and Firefox opens it in the facebook-container automatically. Like yeah, take that Zuck. Keep your gruby hands of my other browser data! (I do realize they have other methods too, but still. Give them as little as possible.)
How to enable the new privacy feature
The new Query Parameter Stripping feature is part of Firefox’s Enhanced Tracking Protection.
To enable Query Parameter Stripping, go into the Firefox Settings, click on Privacy & Security, and then change ‘Enhanced Tracking Protection’ to ‘Strict.’
Such a cool feature, I wish it was enabled by default.
Give them time.
Total Cookie Protection also was recently introduced as a “Strict mode-only” feature for a while and just with the latest version it became part of the default, same as every new big privacy feature they introduced.
