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Since online advertising took off, the internet has become a gold mine for big tech companies looking to profit from your data by digging into your browsing habits, activity, browser cookies, IP address and device identifiers.
Companies like Google and Meta track everything you do on the internet, but if you want to protect your privacy, the easiest way to do so is by switching to a private browser. If you are planning to ditch Chrome, Edge, or that pesky browser tracking your every move, here are some of the best privacy-friendly browsers you can try right now.
Tor
For decades, Tor has been the go-to browser for people who prioritise privacy above everything else. And while it is often linked to the dark web – a space popularly believed to host illegal marketplaces, it remains one of the most effective browsers in the world when it comes to protecting online privacy.
Since Tor encrypts the route where your internet traffic flows from, it is often safer than a dedicated VPN. However, this multi-routing process often leads to a slower browsing experience and breaks some sites.
Brave
Like Tor but don’t want to give up on ease of use and the faster browsing experience offered by the likes of Chrome and Edge? Maybe Brave will cater to your needs.
The browser not only focuses on online privacy, but also comes with a built-in ad-blocker that works right out of the box. While it is based on Chromium – the same engine that powers Google Chrome, the EFF’s Cover Your Tracks tool says it offers “strong protection against Web tracking.”
You also get messaging, news, video calling and search that focus on protecting your data, along with a paid VPN option that cloaks your app traffic. Brave also lets you earn crypto by browsing the internet, but you can also turn the feature off if you want.
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DuckDuckGo
The private search engine DuckDuckGo also has a browser for both mobile and desktop. Based on the open-sourced Chromium project, the browser uses the DuckDuckGo search engine to show you search results and has a pretty clean look.
You get automatic cookie consent management tools and support Duck Player for playing YouTube videos without ads. Users also have the option to install the DuckDuckGo Privacy Essential extension, which blocks third-party trackers and forces sites to use HTTPS connections whenever available.
Firefox
Mozilla has been a strong privacy advocate for decades now, and its open-sourced browser, Firefox, is one of the few that doesn’t use Google’s Chromium as its base.
Over the years, Firefox introduced various initiatives like Do Not Track that were later adopted by other browser companies. It even has a private browsing mode that not only automatically forgets all your browsing history, but also hides you from the sites you visit.
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Firefox also has a Total Cookie Protection and an Enhanced Tracking Protection started that blocks trackers like cross-site cookies, social media trackers, and cryptominers.
FreeWolf
LibreWolf is another open-source browser that does not report information like location, username, and other identifiable data to any third party. Based on Firefox’s Gecko engine, it has a pretty bare bones interface and features, but offers really good anti-tracking protection powered by uBlock’s extension
It also comes with DuckDuckGo as the default search engine. If you don’t find yourselves using a ton of features in a browser and don’t want to compromise on your privacy, LibreWolf is worth a try.
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