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In the wake of the massive Facebook data leak and scandal, Mozilla Firefox has released an official extension that confines Facebook and Instagram to their own isolated tabs (container) which prevents both websites gathering data from your travels in other tabs. The extension isn’t installed or active by default, so if you’d like to set it up, this guide will show you how.
How to Chat Anonymously Over the TOR Network.
As the massive fallout from the Facebook, Cambridge Analytica saga continues, companies and developers are beginning to distance themselves from the social media platform and Mark Zuckerberg at a blistering pace. One such company that has always been critical of the way Facebook does business is Mozilla, the company behind Firefox. In the wake of this leak, Mozilla has taken action and released a specifically designed container to isolate Facebook whenever it is open in your web browser.
Although containers aren’t a new concept, with Firefox having an official container extension available since the launch of Firefox Quantum, this is the first time one has been specifically designed to target a service like Facebook. Even though containers are designed specifically as a security feature, they can be used in other ways some of which are explained in the below article.
How to Setup and Use the Firefox Containers Extension.
Even if you have the most up to date tracking and ad-blocking protection enabled on your browser, Facebook is very good at acquiring data from other all the other tabs you have open. Most of the data is used for more specific ad targeting, however, after the massive leak, it's become increasingly more obvious the data can be used for just about anything.
This is where Firefox’s Facebook Container steps in, keeping certain parts of your identity online hidden by isolating cookies used by the websites and services. The Facebook Container add-on also prevents the tracking of cookies by Facebook so your browsing activity is kept as isolated as possible from the social network.
Note: Although it isn't mentioned on the extension download page, the Facebook container also locks down Facebooks partner website and service Instagram.
How Do You Prevent Facebook and Instagram From Collecting Your Data? Simple! With Firefox’s Facebook Container.
As we mentioned above, even if you have the latest version of Firefox, you won’t automatically get the Facebook container. To get the container you will need to visit the Firefox add-on page and search Facebook Container or use the direct link to the extension below.
Once you have the extension added to Firefox, you won’t have to make any adjustments or configure settings. If you are already signed into Facebook, the extension will sign you out of Facebook and remove all stored cookies and data from your system, giving you a fresh, clean start. As soon as you have signed in again the extension automatically detects Facebook and places it into a container every single time you visit the website using Firefox.
