Development status Active | ||
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Initial release 1 May 2014; 2 years ago (2014-05-01) Stable release 2017.1.26 / 26 January 2017; 59 days ago (2017-01-26) Repository github.com/EFForg/privacybadgerfirefox | ||
Privacy Badger is a free browser extension for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera created by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
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Its purpose is to promote a balanced approach to internet privacy between consumers and content providers by blocking advertisements and tracking cookies that do not respect the Do Not Track setting in a user's web browser.
The alpha version was released on 1 May 2014, followed by a beta on 21 July 2014. While some of its code is based on Adblock Plus, Privacy Badger only blocks those ads which come with embedded trackers.
Description
EFF says, "If an advertiser seems to be tracking you across multiple websites without your permission, Privacy Badger automatically blocks that advertiser from loading any more content in your browser. To the advertiser, it's like you suddenly disappeared."
Reception
Several publications reported on Privacy Badger in May 2014, following its release.
Ian Paul, for PC World, mentions that Privacy Badger "only blocks third-party tracking, not first party", and mentions that prevention of browser fingerprinting is planned for a future release.
Ars Technica notes that if an advertiser makes a commitment to respect Do Not Track requests, their cookies will be unblocked from Privacy Badger.
Nathan Willis, writing for LWN.net, describes the green, yellow and red sliders of the Privacy Badger menu as being a "nice visualization aid", making it easy for the user to toggle the trackers on and off, if desired - describing it as much easier to browse through than ad blocking addon interfaces.
Kif Leswing writing for GigaOM writes that "Privacy Badger’s blacklist is generated through heuristic blocking, which means it gets better the longer it is used", and wrote in May 2014 that Privacy Badger "breaks a lot of websites", but considers it important as it is created by a non-profit company, and sums it up as "more than good enough".