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The EFF has a new tool that will stop websites from spying on you

Published Jul 22nd, 2014 6:35PM EDT
Privacy Badger Plugin

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Things have gotten to the point where many Internet users are starting to assume that almost every website on the Net is spying on them or tracking them in some way. And the sad reality is in most cases, they’re correct — nearly all websites people might visit contain some code that is intended to monitor, track or even “spy” on users. So for the privacy conscious among us, is there anything we can do to stop the madness?

The answer, of course, is yes.

There are several tools out there that look to curtail or even completely prevent website spying and tracking, and one of them comes from what is perhaps the most familiar name in digital rights: The Electronic Frontier Foundation. The group’s browser plugin, dubbed Privacy Badger, is now a publicly available beta that can be downloaded for free.

Privacy Badger had previously been an alpha release that, according to the EFF, has been downloaded by more than 150,000 people to date. The free tool “detects and blocks online advertising and other embedded content that tracks you without your permission,” the EFF said in a recent press release.

This great free plugin is available for both Chrome and Firefox, and it can be downloaded from the EFF’s website, which is linked below in our source section.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.