Firefox 102 has a new privacy feature called Query Parameter Stripping, which prevents sites from tracking users of the web browsers through URLs.
The browser of Mozilla has already gone past its version 100, and now Firefox is on its way to its version 102.
Firefox 102 Privacy Feature
While Firefox is no longer as popular as it was two decades ago, the team behind the Mozilla browser still works to make its privacy experience competitive.
As per a news story by Ghacks, the upcoming Firefox 102 update comes with an all-new feature that seeks to improve the privacy of its users.
The new privacy feature prevents various sites from tracking their users across the web by simply ditching the tracking parameters on URLs.
Ghacks notes in its report that the upcoming privacy feature first saw the light of day in the Firefox Nightly 96 update as it was still in its testing stage. This time, the Query Parameter Stripping is on its way to the stable version of the browser.
URL Tracking
According to a recent report by Bleeping Computer, URL tracking is prevalent online due to various websites using it to track their users across the web.
If we are going to be more precise, giant platforms like Facebook, as well as HubSpot, Marketo, and Olytics, have their own custom URL parameters, Bleeping Computer notes.
For instance, Facebook has its "fbclid" tracker, which automatically tracks all outgoing links of its users.
As such, when users click links outside the social media platform, Facebook could still track its users through this URL query parameter.
Bleeping Computer illustrates how the whole thing works. A website that is supposed to be https://expample.com gets an extended with the URL tracker, making it https://example.com/?fbclid=12.
Firefox Query Parameter Stripping
However, the new Query Parameter Stripping feature on Firefox 102 automatically removes URL trackers such as Facebook's "fbclid."
In turn, Firefox users would no longer be tracked using the custom URL parameters of various sites. Thus, improving their overall privacy.
Ghacks reports that the new Firefox privacy feature creates a long list of known URL parameters from giant sites like Facebook to block them altogether.
How to Enable Firefox's Query Parameter Stripping
There are two ways to enable the new Query Parameter Stripping on Firefox, one way is to open Private mode and the other route is by turning on the Enhanced Tracking Protection.
To enable it throughout your browsing session, go to Firefox Settings, then select the Privacy & Security option. From there, choose the Strict Enhanced Tracking Protection.
