A new tool in the fight for data privacy has been launched by Mozilla for its Firefox internet browser.
Mozilla has unveiled an add-on, named Facebook Container, that aims to make it harder for Mark Zuckerberg’s firm to track your movements outside of the social network.
The plugin is a response to recent allegations that Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy, gained inappropriate access to data on 50 million Facebook users.
This was used to build psychological profiles of American voters that were used to target adverts that helped elect US President Donald Trump in 2016.
The new Facebook Container created by Mozilla opens a blue-colored browser tab that isolates your Facebook session (pictured). Any links you click on within the social network will then open in a new browser tab, not connected to that Facebook session
When you install the extension, it deletes your Facebook cookies and logs you out of the social network.
When you log on to Facebook again, you will see it’s been opened in a blue-colored ‘container’ tab.
Any external links you click on within the social network will then open in a new browser tab, not connected to that Facebook session.
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If you click on Facebook share buttons found on other websites, these will be loaded in the special isolated blue tab.
You also may not be able to login to third-party apps with your Facebook login details.
The embedded Facebook comments and Like buttons on other sites also won’t work.
This stops Zuckerberg’s network of ad trackers, found on tens of thousands of sites across the web, from linking your activity to your Facebook profile.
This should stop, for example, items you have bought or browsed online popping up in adverts while you navigate Facebook.
The plugin is a response to recent allegations that Cambridge Analytica, a political consultancy, gained inappropriate access to data on 50 million Facebook users. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has apologized for the company’s handling of user data (stock image)
HOW DO YOU INSTALL FIREFOX’S FACEBOOK CONTAINER PLUG-IN?
A new Facebook Container created by Mozilla aims to make it harder for Mark Zuckerberg’s firm to track your movements outside of the social network.
To install it, click the three-line menu button and choose the Add-ons icon. The Add-ons Manager tab will open.
In the Add-ons Manager tab, select the Get Add-ons panel. You can then search for Facebook Container in the search bar, top right.
Click on the install button and wait for the plugin to download and install.
The Get Add-ons homepage also has a list of featured add-ons that you can install.
Some extensions place a button in the toolbar after installation. You can remove those or move them into the menu by clicking the menu button and selecting Customise.
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In a written statement, a spokesman for Mozilla said: ‘The pages you visit on the web can say a lot about you. They can infer where you live, the hobbies you have, and your political persuasion.
‘There’s enormous value in trying this data to your social profile, and Facebook has a network of trackers on various websites.
‘Facebook container isolates your Facebook identity from the rest of your web activity. When you install it, you will continue to be able to use Facebook normally. Facebook can continue to deliver their service to you and send you advertising.
‘The difference is that it will be much harder for Facebook to use your activity collected off Facebook to send you ads and other targeted messages.’
While Mozilla admits that the new feature wouldn’t have stopped the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it represents a growing trend for tools that help manage online privacy and security.
The move follows an announcement last week that Mozilla was suspending advertising on Facebook‘s social media platform over data privacy concerns.
‘This news caused us to take a closer look at Facebook’s current default privacy settings given that we support the platform with our advertising dollars. While we believe there is still more to learn, we found that its current default settings leave access open to a lot of data – particularly with respect to settings for third-party apps,’ the company said in a blog post on March 21.
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Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg apologized for the company’s handling of a row over user privacy while promising tougher steps to restrict developers’ access to such information.
Mozilla said it would consider returning to Facebook if the company strengthens its default privacy settings for third-party apps.
WHAT IS THE CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA SCANDAL?
Communications firms Cambridge Analytica has offices in London, New York, Washington, as well as Brazil and Malaysia.
The company boasts it can ‘find your voters and move them to action’ through data-driven campaigns and a team that includes data scientists and behavioral psychologists.
‘Within the United States alone, we have played a pivotal role in winning presidential races as well as congressional and state elections,’ with data on more than 230 million American voters, Cambridge Analytica claims on its website.
The company profited from a feature that meant apps could ask for permission to access your own data as well as the data of all your Facebook friends.
The data firm suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix (pictured) after recordings emerged of him making a series of controversial claims, including boasts that Cambridge Analytica had a pivotal role in the election of Donald Trump
This meant the company was able to mine the information of 55 million Facebook users even though just 270,000 people gave them permission to do so.
This was designed to help them create software that can predict and influence voters’ choices at the ballot box.
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The data firm suspended its chief executive, Alexander Nix, after recordings emerged of him making a series of controversial claims, including boasts that Cambridge Analytica had a pivotal role in the election of Donald Trump.
This information is said to have been used to help the Brexit campaign in the UK.
Zuckerberg admits Facebook made ‘mistakes’ on user data.
Author: Michael
Handsome Devil..... and Smart too.
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