What tracking is
When you open a news site, the page is put together from pieces sent by dozens of other companies: ad networks, analytics firms, social media buttons, video players. Each of them learns that your browser visited, and many store a small file called a cookie so they recognise you on the next site that uses them. That’s how an advert for something you looked at once follows you around for a week.
It doesn’t stop at the browser. Phone apps share an advertising ID, smart TVs can report what’s on the screen, and Google, Meta and Amazon record what you do while you’re signed in. Data brokers buy pieces of all this and join them up.
You can’t disappear from the internet, and you don’t need to. The aim is to cut the collection that happens automatically, without you noticing. That takes a better browser, one extension and a few settings, and pages load faster as a side effect.
The browser decides most of it
Most tracking reaches you through web pages, so the browser matters more than anything else. Two things count: whether it blocks trackers itself, and whether it lets a strong blocker in.
Chrome now accepts only extensions built to newer rules, called Manifest V3, which limit what a blocker is allowed to do. That’s why the full uBlock Origin no longer runs there. Firefox still allows it, on computers and on Android. On iPhone and iPad, Firefox can’t run it, so Safari with uBlock Origin Lite is the practical choice.
How each kind of tracking is stopped
| Tracking | What it is | What stops it |
|---|---|---|
| Third-party cookies | Files from ad networks that recognise you across many sites | Firefox’s separate cookie jars, and uBlock Origin stopping the tracker loading |
| Tracking scripts and pixels | Hidden code or tiny images that report your visit | uBlock Origin |
| Fingerprinting | Recognising your browser by its screen size, fonts and settings | Firefox blocks known fingerprinting scripts. Mullvad Browser and Tor Browser, below, go further |
| App and TV tracking | Advertising IDs and viewing reports | The settings listed below |
| Signed-in activity | What Google, Meta and others record against your account | Their own privacy settings, or moving off them |
What it needs
Nothing to buy, and about half an hour. Installing Firefox and uBlock Origin takes ten minutes, the settings pages below take ten more, and your phone a few minutes after that. Firefox copies your bookmarks and history from Chrome or Edge, so you don’t start from scratch. Keep passwords in a password manager rather than the browser, and switching browsers never costs you them again.
How Firefox and uBlock Origin fit in
- Enhanced Tracking Protection. Firefox’s own blocking, on from the start. It stops social media trackers, cross-site tracking cookies, cryptominers and known fingerprinting scripts. Standard is the right level for most people. Strict also blocks tracking content in every window, and now and then breaks a site.
- Total Cookie Protection. Each site’s cookies go in a separate jar, so a cookie left by an advert on one site can’t be read on the next.
- uBlock Origin. Stops adverts, trackers and known malicious sites from loading at all, using lists kept by volunteers that update themselves. It works the moment it’s installed, with nothing to set up.
- One-click exceptions. If a site misbehaves, click the uBlock Origin icon and press the large power button. Blocking switches off for that site only.
- Sync, if you want it. A free Mozilla account syncs bookmarks, tabs and passwords between your devices. Firefox works without one.
The easy way to set it up
Everything here is an ordinary installer and a few settings pages. On a computer:
- Install Firefox from firefox.com with its normal installer.
- Bring your things across. The first time it opens, Firefox offers to import from Chrome or Edge. If you skip that, it’s in Settings, General, Import browser data.
- Add uBlock Origin. Go to addons.mozilla.org, search for uBlock Origin, check that it’s the one by Raymond Hill, and choose Add to Firefox. Leave its settings as they are.
- Turn off data collection. In Settings, Privacy & Security, scroll to Firefox Data Collection and Use and untick the boxes. If the same page has a section on website advertising, untick that too.
- Make Firefox your default browser when it asks, so links from email and other apps open in it.
On your phone:
- Android. Install Firefox from the Play Store, open its menu, go to Extensions and add uBlock Origin.
- iPhone and iPad. Install uBlock Origin Lite from the App Store, then turn it on in Safari’s extension settings and allow it on every website.
Then work through the settings listed below for your Google account, phone and TV. Each one takes a minute or two.
Questions people ask
Will websites break?
Now and then a video player, comment box or checkout page needs something uBlock Origin blocks. Press its power button for that site and reload the page. Blocking stays on everywhere else.
Isn’t blocking adverts unfair to the sites I read?
Some sites depend on advertising. You can allow adverts on the ones you want to support, or pay for their subscription, and keep blocking elsewhere. For privacy, the trackers matter more than the adverts themselves.
Does this hide what I do from my internet provider?
No. Your provider still sees which sites you connect to, and the sites still see your IP address. That’s a different job, explained on the VPN page.
What about adverts inside apps and on the TV?
A browser extension only covers the browser. A network ad blocker covers every device on your Wi-Fi, apps and TVs included. The ad blocking page explains how.
Why not Brave?
Brave blocks a lot with no setup and suits people who prefer Chrome’s layout. It’s built on Google’s Chromium, though, and comes with crypto, rewards and AI features to switch off. Firefox runs the full uBlock Origin and isn’t built on Google’s engine.
