New Update Privacy Possum is Privacy Badger on Steroids

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CyberTech

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Privacy Possum is Privacy Badger on Steroids

Privacy Possum is a new open source browser extension for the Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome web browser by a former developer of the EFF's Privacy Badger extension.

The extension focuses on blocking data that companies may use to track you across the Internet. Tracking has gotten way out of hand on today's Internet thanks to a growing list of technologies that companies may use to track users and the financial incentives.

Tracking happens in the background most of the time; while you may notice that some company must have been tracking you if all sites start to display product ads after you looked at the product on a single site, it is often the case that there is no indicator that you are being tracked by companies.

Internet users may install browser extensions that improve privacy, and Privacy Possum looks to be a good choice in that regard.

Privacy Possum
privacy-possum.png


Privacy Possum is available for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Like most privacy extensions, it adds an icon to the main toolbar that acts as an indicator of blocking activity and control panel when clicked on.
The current version of the extension blocks four different tracking methods:
  • blocks referer headers that may reveal the browsing location.
  • blocks etag headers to block browser caching tracking. Privacy Possum strips and stores etag header data and compares it with third-party requests to the URL to determine whether the header is used for tracking or not.
  • blocks (all third-party) cookies that are used to track users.
  • blocks some browser features that may be used to fingerprint users. If a site mixes first-party fingerprinting code with code necessary to run the site, Privacy Possum won't block but will dilute the data by injecting random data to "spoil the fingerprint".
Privacy Possum runs automatically; it blocks elements automatically and there is nothing that you need to do.

The extension indicates blocking activity by adding a number to its icon. A click on the icon reveals how many tracking related elements it blocked and the type of the blocked elements.

The interface has an on-off switch that you may use to deactivate the extension. Privacy Possum supports whitelist functionality. It lists blocked elements, e.g. tracking headers or JavaScript files that get loaded in the interface; just click on a checkbox in front of a blocked element to disable the blocking for that particular site.

Closing Words:
Privacy Possum is a promising new browser extension for Chrome and Firefox that improves your privacy while you browse the Internet. It offers more protective features than Privacy Badger and is certainly an extension that privacy-conscious users may want to try out or at least keep an eye on to see how it evolves over time.

Source: Privacy Possum is Privacy Badger on Steroids - gHacks Tech News
 

LDogg

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I'll see what this is like. Looks promising so far as some features on this are not even built into uBlock.
 
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yitworths

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I'm using it for a while. It seems good. It would be great if it provides some options to fiddle with it.
 
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HarborFront

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Comparing Privacy Possum vs Trace

Privacy Possum has

Current features
  • blocks cookies that let trackers uniquely identify you across websites
  • blocks refer headers that reveal your browsing location
  • blocks etag tracking which leverages browser caching to uniquely identify you, even in incognito mode
  • blocks browser fingerprinting which tracks the inherent uniqueness of you browser
Trace has the following tracking techniques:
  • Canvas Fingerprinting
  • Audio Fingerprinting
  • WebRTC Leaks
  • User-Agent Tracking
  • Browser plugin fingerprinting
  • Beacon Requests
  • Bad Top Level Domains
  • Hyperlink Auditing
  • HTTP Referrer Headers
  • Chrome Header Tracking
  • E-Tag Tracking
  • JavaScript Crypto Mining
  • URL Tracking Cleaner (experimental)
  • Trace Page (injects code into sites to disable certain functions)
And a soon-to-be-released version will protect against specific tracking cookies and URL parameters on top of that.

Add-on - Trace blocks multiple tracking techniques in Firefox and Chrome

So, it makes Privacy Possum redundant

Trace might make a good companion with ScriptSafe if they don't clash especially ScripSafe covers more types of fingerprintings
 

Moonhorse

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im usign since they anounced in this site and actually removed the famous ublock, this ext + malwarebytes extension for firefox + popup blocker are unstopable
I've nanoblocker, but some extra privacy is always welcome. Seems more effective than ghostery / privacy badger on websites i tested
 
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