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New Firefox add-on shows you how your browsing is being monitored

Published Oct 25th, 2013 1:45PM EDT
Firefox Add-on Internet Tracking

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Mozilla has developed a Firefox add-on called Lightbeam that could change the way you look at your daily Internet activity. Mozilla says that Lightbeam “enables you to examine individual third parties over time and space, identify where they connect to your online activity and provides ways for you to engage with this unique view of the Web.” As you browse, your activity is constantly being monitored by third parties on the websites you visit, often without any signs or warnings whatsoever.

Lightbeam delivers an interactive visualization of each third-party element on the sites you visit, increasing in size with every new site you travel to. All the information is stored locally as well and can be removed instantly by uninstalling the add-on. Mozilla has been passionate about Internet tracking for quite some time and hopes to illuminate the Internet even further with Lightbeam, giving users a simple tool to keep track of the countless connections occurring through their browsers every day.

Jacob Siegal
Jacob Siegal Associate Editor

Jacob Siegal is Associate Editor at BGR, having joined the news team in 2013. He has over a decade of professional writing and editing experience, and helps to lead our technology and entertainment product launch and movie release coverage.