Advice Request Which browsers are best for privacy?

[silversurfer]

Comparison in this article is not about Privacy only, rather even other points what matters for users...

Pros	Cons
Chrome	The best performance and compatibility A massive library of third-party extensions Seamless cross-platform experience and sync	Google is after your data Bland and uninspiring design Lacks some features found in other browsers
Edge	Provides unique productivity and performance-oriented features No compatibility issues and overall good responsiveness Better integrated with Windows in terms of capabilities and UI Best-in-class password manager	Less data-hungry than Chrome but still wants to know much about you Can consume more RAM than competitors Lackluster mobile versions It will annoy the living hell out of you with its constant notifications and prompts Slightly bloated
Firefox	Open-source browser Chromium-free Privacy and security are a cornerstone of Firefox	Chromium-free, hence worse compatibility Notably slower performance
Vivaldi	Customization and productivity cranked to 11 with tons of unique features A solid balance between performance, features, and privacy Solid efficiency	Can feel slightly overcomplicated No version for iOS The UI looks outdated

In the end, selecting the best browser for Windows comes to finding a balance between features, privacy, and performance. It is not that difficult to understand why Chrome is so popular. It is a fast and reliable no-frills browser that gets the job done. For a regular consumer, faster load speeds and no-exceptions compatibility are more important than privacy.

If you have slightly higher privacy standards, you can consider Edge or Vivaldi. Both will provide you with a more than satisfactory experience without Google's data probes, plus you will get some useful productivity features and capabilities. Finally, Firefox is the best choice for those who value privacy and open-source software more than performance.

Comparing popular browsers to find the best choice for Windows

Here is how four popular browsers compare in terms of features and performance. Finding the best option for Windows is difficult, if not impossible, but this article might help you a bit.

www.neowin.net

 

[oldschool]

Neowin's browser comparison is pretty spot-on but no mention of Brave.

 

[Sammo]

Just add JShelter to Chrome or Edge.

 

[silversurfer]

Today 'ghacks' does reporting about PrivacyTests...

PrivacyTests reveals how your web browser does privacy-wise - gHacks Tech News

All web browsers support some privacy features, some more than others, but none protect users 100% against all privacy threats.

www.ghacks.net

 

[rain2reign]

Today 'ghacks' does reporting about PrivacyTests...

PrivacyTests reveals how your web browser does privacy-wise - gHacks Tech News

All web browsers support some privacy features, some more than others, but none protect users 100% against all privacy threats.

www.ghacks.net

Its quite nice to see that A. Edelstein became hired by Brave after he made his website and GitHub Source-code available to recreate his methodology.

 

[AG3S]

The answer is really easy... FireFox + FireFox Containers + Facebook Container + uBlock

I mentioned easy because the main point to get a good privacy is to stop websites tracking you...

FireFox containers does an amazing job in this regard...

 

[ItsReallyMe]

Just add JShelter to Chrome or Edge.

what is the link for JShelter extension?

 

[silversurfer]

what is the link for JShelter extension?

Chrome => JShelter
Firefox => JShelter – Get this Extension for Firefox (en-US)

 

[Kiss]

Firefox has improved a lot in privacy, I will give it another chance. updated tests;

Which browsers are best for privacy?

An open-source privacy audit of popular web browsers.

privacytests.org

 

[rain2reign]

In case, the curious among us want to know when seeing privacytests.org. With some manual, but minor fiddling within Firefox, some failed test parameters can be fixed due to the nature of their default setting/value. Know these are the things you don't need an add-on for, such as uBlock Origin, to get it working/blocked.

Note 1: I know there is a way to block blobs in Firefox properly (without add-ons), but I can't remember how. The settings with .blob in them don't seem to do much...
Note 2: Tracker content blocking should be done through either DNS filtering or add-ons like uBlock Origin or AdGuard.

Testing pages for some functions
GPC (Global Privacy Control):

Global Privacy Control — Take Control Of Your Privacy

Exercise your privacy rights in one step via the “Global Privacy Control” (GPC) signal, a proposed specification backed by over a dozen organizations.

globalprivacycontrol.org

webrtc/ip leakage:

WebRTC Leak Test

The WebRTC Leak Test is a critical tool for anyone using a VPN, as it leverages the WebRTC API to communicate with a STUN server and potentially reveal the user's real local and public IP addresses, even when using a VPN, proxy server, or behind a NAT. This tool can help verify whether a real...

browserleaks.com

To test query parameters, see test page within article:

New Firefox privacy feature strips URLs of tracking parameters

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.

www.bleepingcomputer.com

---

about:preferences#privacy

HTTPS-Only Mode set to 'Enable HTTPS-Only Mode in all Windows'​

about:config

Global Privacy Control (GPC):​

privacy.globalprivacycontrol.enabled toggle to true​

privacy.globalprivacycontrol.functionality.enabled toggle to true​

​

IP address leak is connected to webrtc, but disabling can break some online peer services like Discord voice chat for example.​

media.peerconnection.enabled toggle to false,​

// to disable media devices​

media.navigator.enabled toggle to false​

​

Document referrer:​

// 0 = Disable || 1 = Send referrer on link click and for subsequent linked page. || [Default] 2 = Send Referrer header on click link or image load.​

network.http.sendRefererHeader change numerical value to 0​

​

Tracking query parameter:​

// Toggle only useful when using custom ETP settings, like block all 3rd party cookies. Enabled by default when using ETP on strict.​

privacy.query_stripping.enabled toggle to true​

​

Resist fingerprinting:​

// I don't use it, find it annoying. However, it has subsequent values to fiddle with.​

privacy.resistFingerprinting to true​

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Whoa...look at LibreWolf. It's by far the best for privacy. But I prefer strong security over strong privacy. So I am staying with Chrome. Google Chrome now comes with up to 50x faster phishing detection

For security Edge is superior to Chrome according to this post:

Five security advantages of Edge over Chrome (and Firefox)

1. De-elevation on launch.
   When Edge is started with high integrity rights (admin) the broker process is automatically brought back to medium IL/standard user rights. This effectively puts Edge the broker process in an additional standard user sandbox. Edge and Chromium both use a Separate update process, therefor the broker process does not need admin rights. Firefox surprisingly still offers the option to disable updating Firefox using a separate update service (requiring admin rights for the broker to update Firefox).
   
   
2. Code Integrity Guard for broker process (option)
   The broker process is often attacked by spyware and banking malware. That is why it is an advantage to allow only Microsoft signed DLL's to load into the broker process. You must enable CIG in Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard (the exploit guard also works when you are using another AV). This additional security requires a user interventions and can only be used when your AV is co-signed by Microsoft (a lot of security programs inject a DLL into browser broker process). Chrome and Edge by default enable CIG for the renderer process (a security feature which Firefox lacks).
   
   
3. AppContainer for renderer process (option)
   In the future this will be enabled for stable versions, since V96 by setting a registry key RendererAppContainerEnabled to 1. AppContainer is a more restricted level than Untrusted in which the Chrome renderer process runs ( again Firefox lags behind because Firefox renderer runs with Low level rights, that is one level higher rights than Chrome Untrusted level).
   
   
4. Super duper secure mode
   On strict this disables the Just In Time javascript compiler on all websites, on balanced Edge will disable JIT on websites you do not visit often. JIT means that the Javascript code is compiled just before it is executed (Just In Time), this increases speed (a little in modern browsers for most websites), but reduces security (a lot) Windows can do on the code. Disabling JIT would cause 90% of the browser based exploits to fail.
   
   
5. Smartscreen
   As this video (and often other studies) show Smartscreen is better than Chrome's safe browsing and Firefox's weaker version of Google's safe browsing.

This technical only comparison is unfair for Firefox. One must also take the return on investment into account for hackers. Because Firefox has a lower market share (and probably near zero market share in the corporate market), it is also less under attack than Chromium based browsers.

App Review - Best Browser Security: Edge vs Firefox vs Chrome | The PC Security Channel

malwaretips.com

 

[blackice]

For security Edge is superior to Chrome according to this post:

App Review - Best Browser Security: Edge vs Firefox vs Chrome | The PC Security Channel

malwaretips.com

Not only is it advantageous security wise, but it is the only windows browser that does above 720 HDCP for netflix. Safari is the only other browser that provides the license for copy protection to stream above 720.

 

[Jan Willy]

Should we rename this thread in Which browsers are best for security?

 

[Moonhorse]

Seems brave and librewolf are even

But there is no android version of librewolf so it would be brave that wins for me

Im currently running Firefox, but it sometimes lags/stutters when watching twitch.tv

 

[Slerion]

Pretty much brave , even firefox started questionable stuff like unique install identifier.

Brave is also Opensource and save and comes safely preconfigured.

 

[SpiderWeb]

I think it's the base that matters. Firefox out of the box is private but you can tweak it to be far more private without sacrificing convenience or usability which is so important. Chrome can only be tweaked so much. Safari only so much. Brave only so much. Edge? lol.

 

[AG3S]

Seems brave and librewolf are even

But there is no android version of librewolf so it would be brave that wins for me

Im currently running Firefox, but it sometimes lags/stutters when watching twitch.tv

I like LibreWolf a lot and I am using it as my test browser however, I believe if you install uBlock on the normal FireFox and also disable the telemetry, you will have similar results.

 

[Kongo]

I like LibreWolf a lot and I am using it as my test browser however, I believe if you install uBlock on the normal FireFox and also disable the telemetry, you will have similar results.

There are quite a few additional tweaks enabled in LibreWolf compared to Firefox. Not only the disabled telemetry.

 

[rain2reign]

I like LibreWolf a lot and I am using it as my test browser however, I believe if you install uBlock on the normal FireFox and also disable the telemetry, you will have similar results.

Librewolf, is basically Firefox + Arkenfox's template user.js + in-house modifications. Somewhat alot more than just telemetry disabling.

 

[AG3S]

Librewolf, is basically Firefox + Arkenfox's template user.js + in-house modifications. Somewhat alot more than just telemetry disabling.

Sorry for my lack of knowledge .... and thank you for the info.