Privacy on the internet is a luxury. We’ve simply accepted that websites we visit and apps we download are collecting our data. Companies have sold us on the idea that the “price” to use their apps is our data.

The largest internet companies in the world — Facebook, Google and Amazon — have failed to respect users’ privacy, but they have maintained their user bases of billions of users.

This is a clear indication that people have moved privacy down the list of their priorities in favor of other factors.

People stay on Facebook because of the social pressures and fear of missing out on content if they aren’t on the platform, among other reasons. People likely continue to use Google because they aren’t aware of alternatives or have been “trapped” in Google’s full product line.

Mozilla, like a few other companies, has made privacy a priority and has gone heavy on privacy in its marketing. Firefox has become a leader in internet privacy by continuously adding new features and tools for using the web safely and privately.

Firefox Privacy Features

Tracker Blocking By Default

In mid-2019, Firefox announced that it will begin blocking thousands of web trackers by default. Other browsers can do this with browser extensions, but what sets Firefox apart is that it does this by default, straight out of the box.

According to Mozilla, Firefox’s Enhanced Tracking Protection blocks social media trackers, cross-site tracking cookies, fingerprinters and cryptominers.

Firefox Monitor

Firefox Monitor makes it easy to see if any of your information has been compromised in online data breaches (similar to haveibeenpwned.com). If your information is involved in a breach, Firefox Monitor will give you actions to take to minimize the damage or impact of the breach.

Firefox Lockwise — Password Manager

Firefox’s integrated password manager tool, Lockwise, is enabled by default in desktop versions of Firefox. It is also available as a mobile app on Android and iOS. This way you can access your passwords anywhere you go.

This password manager is an important feature that makes it easier to switch to Firefox from other browsers. For example, if all of your passwords are stored in Google Chrome it can be difficult to switch to other privacy browsers that don’t have integrated password storage.

Firefox Send — Private Alternative To Dropbox or Google Drive

Firefox Send is a privacy-friendly file sharing tool that can replace tools like Dropbox and Google Drive. You can share files up to 1GB (up to 2.5GB when logged in) for free.

Your files will be protected with end-to-end encryption and an expiring link, so that you can minimize the risk of someone else besides the intended recipient accessing your file.

Firefox is Far Better Than Google Chrome

If you care about privacy, Firefox is far superior to Google’s Chrome browser. Chrome’s embedded tracking collects information about your browsing and your behavior within Chrome. This tracking makes Chrome more resource-heavy than Firefox and other browsers.

Firefox’s additional privacy protection make it a great choice for anyone worried about keeping their data more secure on the web. And what sets Firefox apart from other “privacy” browsers is the extremely user-friendly package.