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Disable third-party cookies

Blocking third-party cookies in your browser is one of the most basic things you should do to protect yourself from trackers. The links below help you adjust settings for the most commonly used versions of web browsers. If yours is not listed, or if you are using a different version than these step-by-step guides detail, a simple internet search of your browser name, version, and "disable third-party" will likely find the directions you need.

 

Software to Help

The next step gives you a little extra protection. Here are some of the major players helping combat third-party tracking. If you agree with a company's policy when it comes to privacy, don't hesitate to support them in any way possible. Chances are they need it!

 

Ghostery: https://www.ghostery.com/

As you learned earlier, Ghostery is available on all browser types, and is one of the most powerful tools to control tracking on the internet. However, this program comes with a bit of a loyalty conundrum: It is owned by an advertising company. As a result, it has opt-out features like cookie blocking, but also opt-in features (called GhostRank) that notify advertisers that you blocked them, which of course means sending them your data. Still, it is very simple to use and highly effective.

 

Important note: Tracking is not blocked by default, so don't forget to change the settings! After you install Ghostery, there will be a step-by-step guide appear in your browser. Be sure to check all the boxes under the Trackers tab and Cookies tab.

 

Disconnect: https://disconnect.me/

Disconnect was founded by a software developer who left the world of tracking. It is available on Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera. Disconnect's original intent was to only block Google tracking, where the developer was previously employed. The program has since grown to be much more powerful and is an alternative to the loyalty-confused Ghostery.

 

Adblock Plus: https://adblockplus.org/en/firefox

Another powerful ad blocking, tracking blocking and social media button blocking program, Adblock Plus is available for Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Internet Explorer, Safari and Android. However, this company has the same loyalty conundrum as Ghostery - they make money by allowing what they call "acceptable" ads to pass through their blockers. While you can disable this "whitelist," the motives of such a move should be questioned. Why would a company intending to protect you be willing to play favorites to the ad industry? NOTE: If you decide to use this program, you may want to subscribe to some custom tracker lists.

 

We recommend the following lists. Just add a custom filter for each, and copy/paste the entire text into each one.

 

HTTPS Everywhere: https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

One way to be sure no trackers use your data is for all your data to be encrypted. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the TOR Project created HTTPS Everywhere to do just this. It is available for Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Android. The EFF is a non-profit organization claiming to defend civil liberties in the digital world. The TOR project claims to be dedicated to protecting anonymity online (it was originally a military project). Using the HTTPS Everywhere program will make every site that supports HTTPS (should be most) switch your browsing to encrypted browsing. Encrypted browsing is incredibly secure, and is already used by most banking and sensitive-information keeping websites.

Delete Your Cookies

Remember the loophole that was exploited in the section "How You Can Be Tracked Even If You Block Third-Party Cookies?" After you change your browser settings or install one of the programs above, you need to delete your already-existing cookies to be fully protected.

 

Important Note! There are probably many first-party cookies and third-party cookies saved on your computer. Deleting cookies removes them all. As a result, you will erase the often helpful first-party cookies, and may find yourself logged out of a website that usually logs you in automatically with the help of a cookie. Be sure to have your usernames and passwords for important websites recorded or memorized before taking this step. After deletion, you will rebuild your first-party cookies when you visit websites, but be rid of third-party cookies forever.

Tracking-Free Search Engines

Since Google is one of the main trackers on the internet and retains information on all your searches, you may want to consider a search engine that doesn't track you. Be prepared for a slight shock, since we as a culture have come to expect the conveniences Google can provide, at the trade off of privacy.

 

DuckDuckGo: https://duckduckgo.com/

DuckDuckGo does not record your searches or allow your searches to be tied together, because it doesn't hold on to your computer's online identifier (the IP address). As a result, this search engine is completely safe for those wishing to avoid tracking. DuckDuckgo is funded by advertising in the form of a "sponsored result", which throws up a red flag, but the company explains that it serves one ad related to your search term.

 

Start Page: https://startpage.com

This is a hybrid search engine combining the privacy ideology of DuckDuckGo and the search results of Google. Start Page uses a proxy, which is a fake browser ID, to give you Google search results without Google knowing you are there. This page is funded the same way as DuckDuckGo - by serving up "sponsored results."

Block The Trackers

It's time to protect yourself from third-party tracking. With the latest and greatest privacy-protecting software and a few simple actions, you can be invisible to trackers on the web.

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