Privacy Possum

Generally speaking, browser trackers do not need special tools to gather data about you. In fact, in most cases, they just exploit the framework on how the Internet works in a number of ways. Regardless of their techniques, the truth is that nobody wants this industry to know which sites they visited, on what devices and the email addresses they are using.

Privacy Possum is a Firefox extension designed to block some of the most common tracking methods and hence, make you less exposed to this phenomenon.

A common issue you are likely to be confronted with is ads related to pages you previously visited. In case you are wondering, this is achieved via two methods, namely browser fingerprinting and 301 redirects. It is worth mentioning that both methods inspect your browser's cache and cookies to determine what is unique about you and deliver, advertisements that may be interesting.

Another method that is detected and blocked with this utility is the etag tracking, a vector that is usually used in lieu with cookies. Simply put, the tool strips the etag header and thus prevent the browser from revealing some data via the cache information.

Referer headers are also considerably reduced via the extension. Even though they are not designed for tracking, when used with other methods they can disclose various information stored in the browser.

It is important to note that the addon cannot and does not block all tracking methods out there. After all, these companies are growing along with their gigantic infrastructure few can actually compete against. Nevertheless, it is able to detect and prevent most well-known tracking method and protect your privacy.

If you value your privacy and would like to minimize tracking and targeted advertisement when browsing, then perhaps Privacy Possum could come in handy.