New Browser Extension Protects Users From Facebook & Google Data Tracking

A new browser extension for Chrome and Firefox called PrivacyFix aims to give users more control over their privacy settings on webpages like Facebook by showing them how they are being tracked by online cookies. “Default privacy settings on sites like Facebook are revenue- driven, not privacy-driven,” PrivacyFix founder Jim Brock said in a press release. “PrivacyFix puts you back in control of your data.”

The extension will run you through Facebook and Google, and then show you in plain language how cookies are tracking you online. The extension promises to alert users whenever they visit a site that installs tracking cookies, and will block offline data tracking by Facebook. PrivacyFix was created by PrivacyChoice.org, an organization that seeks to give online users more choice over how their data and information is found and used by companies.

“The data collection industry sees easier privacy controls as a threat to its existence, so initiatives like Do-Not-Track have seen fierce opposition,” Brock said. “Our biggest risk is that Facebook and Google will interfere technically with how PrivacyFix operates. But that’s a battle we’d love to fight.”

Facebook has landed in hot water recently for its practice of selling its user’s data to advertisers. To put it mildly, Facebook has been less than transparent about its privacy practices; any product designed to protect consumers from the social media giant’s unseen privacy violations is a welcome one.


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