How to Enable Content Blocking Filters and Privacy Extensions in Firefox 67.0
Mozilla today announced several new privacy features for the desktop version of Firefox, including improved tracker protection and content blocking, a password manager, and new additional security extensions. Some of these features will need to be enabled and configured for existing users, although people who download a newer version of Firefox should be enabled by default. Anyway, we’ll detail all the changes in the update and how to enable them in the section below.
However, before we do that, here’s a quick rundown on how to update Firefox to the latest version, what you need to do in order to access the new features:
- Open Firefox
- Click the icon with three rows of lines to open the preferences window (or type “about: preferences” into Firefox’s address bar and press Enter )
- Scroll down to Firefox Updates to see if there are any updates available. (Latest version is Firefox 67.0 )
- If you chose to install updates manually, you may be prompted to apply the update. Those who have them installed automatically may not need to do anything here.
- Click Restart to Update Firefox to apply the update.
Now let’s take a look at the new features that will be available after applying the update and restarting Firefox.
New shortcuts for security and privacy settings
This small change adds an easily accessible shortcut to all of the new content blocking settings (detailed below) and all other privacy settings. You will find it by clicking the three folded dots icon and then the Content Lock shield icon.
Improved cookie protection and content blocking
Firefox’s content blocking has been strengthened and will now block third-party trackers and cookies, preventing them from tracking your browsing data. You can also choose to automatically delete all cookies when you close Firefox.
There are several predefined protection levels in the setting. Standard only blocks known trackers in private mode, while Strict blocks all trackers and third-party cookies in all browsing modes. Firefox has warned that strict mode can break some sites, although it’s easy to switch between modes. Users can also customize the type of content to block – for example, cookies, trackers, fingerprints, or crypto mining code – and set options for specific sites.
By default, the new content blocking settings will be enabled for new users who install Firefox for the first time, and will be set to “custom” for new users based on their existing content blocking settings. All users can find these settings by clicking the three dots icon, then going to Options> Privacy & Security or the Content Blocking link mentioned above.
New Firefox privacy extensions
In addition to enhanced security for content blocking, Firefox now supports several new third-party add-ons that can further help with browsing security and privacy.
Lockwise on Firefox desktop
The desktop version of Firefox can now store and manage your passwords thanks to the new desktop version of the Firefox Lockwise extension , which was previously released for Firefox for mobile devices ( iOS / Android ).
This is useful because it means that users can now store our passwords and usernames without the need for third-party extensions. Lockwise desktop and mobile extensions even sync so that your saved logins can be transferred between devices.
New Firefox Monitor Control Panel
Firefox previously released the Firefox Monitor web tool, which looks to see if your email addresses have ever been compromised as a result of one of the many data breaches that occur each year. And now the new dashboard can also be added directly to your browser. The control panel can track multiple email addresses at once and even send you alerts if any of your addresses are compromised. You can subscribe to Firefox Monitor and download the new control panel here .
Facebook Container add-on
Finally, Firefox now has its own “Facebook Container” browser extension. This basically isolates Facebook from your other online activities, preventing Facebook from getting into your data. Once installed, you will no longer see the Facebook Share and Facebook Like buttons on non-Facebook sites when you browse, even if your cookies are set to stay on Facebook. A purple fence icon will be displayed whenever the extension blocks Facebook social features. You can download the Facebook Container add-on here .