Mozilla has updated its privacy-oriented Firefox Focus web browser on Android with added protection against cross-site tracking. According to its official blog post, the company has brought its desktop browser’s Total Cookie Protection feature over to the app, which stores cookies separately for this purpose.
For the uninitiated, the feature stores cookies from each visited website into isolated locations, which Mozilla aptly refers to as “cookie jars.” Doing so is intended to prevent these websites, notably Facebook and Google, from tracking your browsing behaviour around the web. These include off-site interactions such as visiting a brand’s website, searching for certain products or topics, and so on – basically any information that can be used for ad targeting and other purposes.
In addition, Mozilla also noted that it had added SmartBlock and other fixes to Firefox Focus as a way to keep web browsing running smoothly on the app. This particular feature provides replacements for commonly-blocked trackers – an element that will often lead to breakage on certain websites if missing, especially when blocked by Total Cookie Protection and other pro-privacy measures.
The Firefox Focus web browser app is available on both Android and iOS devices. However, as mentioned earlier, Mozilla revealed that this new cross-site tracking prevention feature is only available for the former, while its availability on the latter platform has yet to be confirmed.
(Source: Mozilla [official blog])
