If you’ve ever spent some time on your browser’s privacy settings page, you’re probably familiar with the “Do Not Track (DNT)” feature. When enabled, it sends a signal to the websites you visit, requesting them not to track you. A pretty useful feature from the looks of it, right? Well, Firefox will soon lose this feature.
Windows Report has verified that the feature has already been removed from a nightly build. While we can still see it in the current stable build 133, the feature is expected to leave with the release of build 135.
The feature was introduced in 2009 as a Firefox extension. In 2011, Mozilla became the first browser to include it. Later, Chrome, Safari, and other browsers followed. However, as it does not relate to any major data privacy laws like GDPR or CCPA, websites have always considered it optional and do not need to comply with it.
As few websites respected this request, DNT was a flop from the beginning. Moreover, the signal it sends could be used to track you even better as it acts as an identifier. According to Fast Company, this is the reason Apple removed this feature from Safari in 2019.
Now, what’s the alternative?
Well, all Chromium-based browsers like Chrome, Edge, Vivaldi, and Opera still have the DNT if you’d still like the option to use it. But Firefox isn’t exactly removing this feature without a better replacement.
In version 120, Firefox introduced a new feature called Global Privacy Control (GPC). Instead of asking not to track you, it asks websites not to sell your data. What difference does it make? It’s compliant with laws from US states like California, Colorado and Connecticut. And it could also work under jurisdictions like the EU, UK, Nevada, Utah, and Virginia. This means websites are bound to comply and take your request seriously.
If you’re on the latest stable version of Firefox, you can turn GPC on. Go to Firefox Settings, then Privacy & Security, and scroll down to Website Privacy Preferences. You will find “Tell websites not to sell or share my data” there. Enable it, and you’re good to go.
But we recommend a more holistic solution. Use a good ad blocker. Ad blockers don’t request websites. They filter out trackers, so you don’t have to encounter them. Check out our top 5 picks for best ad blockers on Firefox. We particularly like uBlock Origin for Firefox as it can block almost all ads, trackers, and annoyances. But you can’t go wrong with AdGuard, either.
The decision to remove this feature is just one of many changes Firefox and Mozilla in general are going through. Earlier this year, Mozilla appointed a new CEO, Laura Chambers. And she has made some controversial changes, like shutting down their advocacy department and trying to make Firefox more “ad-friendly”. Compared to a lot of those changes, this one actually feels like an insignificant one.