Against the backdrop of increasing pressure from Washington for more consumer control over privacy, Mozilla has announced that it has added a default cookie-blocking setting on its Firefox browser.
In a blog post Tuesday (June 4), new Firefox SVP Dave Camp said that while Big Tech has been talking big about privacy, Mozilla was been doing something about it "long before" the issue became hot-button, but that given that current heat, the time was right to unveil it.
"For new users who install and download Firefox for the first time, Enhanced Tracking Protection will automatically be set [to] "on" by default as part of the ‘Standard’ setting in the browser and will block known 'third-party tracking cookies,' " he said.
Firefox is also updating other privacy procedures, including "an upgraded Facebook Container extension, a Firefox desktop extension for Lockwise, a way to keep their passwords safe across all platforms, and Firefox Monitor’s new dashboard to manage multiple email addresses."
"Competition between products that respond to different consumer preferences serves consumers better than heavy-handed regulation," said Computer & Communications Industry Association President Ed Black. "This action expands the choices consumers have when it comes to online privacy.”
