We know that Facebook tracks the hell out of you in order to serve targeted ads across its network. That is why you could be searching for an item on Amazon and realize similar items appearing as ads on Facebook or on Instagram.
Facebook does all the tracking using cookies, which are packets of data that are used to identify the user and track them when their device is communicating to a server. Now Mozilla has come up with an extension that will help you take control of how you are tracked by Facebook across the web.
The Facebook Container Extension works by isolating your identity in a ‘separate container’ which makes it harder for Facebook to track your activity across the web via third party cookies.
Mozilla says that when you install this extension on Firefox, it will delete your facebook cookies, so this means you’ll have to log in back to access your Facebook account. When you attempt to log back in, it will show a new blue coloured browser which they call a container tab and can use Facebook as usual. However, when you click or navigate on a non-Facebook link, these pages will load outside the container. Other Facebook specific actions like Facebook Share buttons will load within the container.
In the spirit of declaring their privacy stands, Mozilla says that they don’t collect data when you use the Facebook Container extension and they only know the number of times the extension is installed or removed.
This announcement is timely as the issue of privacy online is becoming a hot topic after the Facebook- Cambridge Analytica story. However, this extension could prove to be useful to those who don’t like to be tracked everywhere by Facebook and be served ads.
