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I highly recommend using uMatrix[1][2] if you're very privacy-conscious. It's the full-blown everything-at-your-fingertips console. By default, it blocks thir

I highly recommend using uMatrix[1][2] if you're very privacy-conscious. It's the full-blown everything-at-your-fingertips console. By default, it blocks third-party scripts/cookies/XHRs/frames (with an additional explicit blacklist). You then manually whitelist on a matrix which types of requests from which domains you want to allow. Your preferences are saved. It is a bit annoying the first time you visit any new domain, because you need to go through a bootstrapping whitelist process to make it work. After a while I find I do it almost automatically though. I use it in conjunction with uBlock Origin and Disconnect, and it still catches the vast majority of things. As a nice side-effect, I find I keep pretty up-to-date with new SAAS companies coming out! --- [1] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/umatrix/ogfcmafjalglgifnmanfmnieipoejdcf https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/umatrix/ogfcmafjal... [2] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/umatrix/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/umatrix/

michel__ 9y ago
How can you recommend these extensions without mentioning NoScript?
- e40 9y ago
  Every time this is brought up, in this context, people say the other things do what NoScript does. And, btw, I use Privacy Badger instead of Disconnect.
- BayesStreet 9y ago
  uMatrix supercedes NoScript by a wide margin.
  - wtallis 9y ago
    Not at all. NoScript does way more than just blocking JavaScript by domain.
    - abiox 9y ago
      what features does it offer over umatrix?
      - yjftsjthsd-h 9y ago
        One minor feature I miss from noscript is that (unless I've missed a setting) umatrix can't block site scripts but allow bookmarklets. Though with the new extension API, I don't know if it's possible at all or not.
      - forapurpose 9y ago
        Look up ABE, for example, or just look through the Options, especially under Advanced.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
turc1656 9y ago
I second this. uMatrix is my go-to add-on to prevent the vast majority of connections I do not want. However, I pretty much always use my browser in privacy mode no matter what (for several reasons), so the bootstrapping process never ends for me, but that's a price I am more than willing to pay.
- foldor 9y ago
  Just out of curiosity, ehst benefits do you get from privacy mode over several profiles?
  - turc1656 9y ago
    I don't know enough about how different profiles operate to say with any certainty, unfortunately. So it's possible there is no benefit. However, for mobile there does appear to be at least one benefit. When I recently checked to see what data Google had on me using their free tool, I saw that the only web history they had associated with my device was all from URLs visiting while not in privacy mode. These were all links that I clicked from text messages which will always default to open in the regular, non-private tabs, even if you only have incognito tabs open. That right there is enough for me to always and forever use nothing but privacy mode. For the PC, this is a non-issue as I never log into my browser. Although I do use privacy mode there near 100% of the time as well.
nf__85 9y ago
I have uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger. Would uMatrix replace those?
- beckler 9y ago
  If you want uMatrix like features in uBlock Origin, go to settings and just click "I am an advanced user". The dynamic filtering matrix should be available after that. Granted the defaults are not as strict as uMatrix, it's a good middle ground.
  - nf__85 9y ago
    Great, thanks!
  - ryuuchin 9y ago
    Just enabling dynamic filtering doesn't do anything as far as blocking is concerned. You'll still have to set up how you want to handle it. I would recommend "Medium mode"[1] as defined in the uBlock wiki. [1] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Blocking-mode:-medium-mode https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Blocking-mode:-medium...
- not_kurt_godel 9y ago
  Same here. I have zero desire to do any sort of manual configuration any time I visit a new website. Blocking third-party cookies will eliminate like 90% of tracking and uBlock origin and Privacy Badger handle a significant percentage of the rest.
kakarot 9y ago
I'm continuing to have issues with frames not displaying unless I completely disable the addon. It's extremely frustrating. I'm in advanced mode and all options are as they should be.
eatbitseveryday 9y ago
I'd prefer a solution that does not just work for a specific browser, but instead blocks all traffic regardless of browser, application, virtual machine, ... That's just putting rules into /etc/hosts ? edit - answered my own question :) Yes it will.
- ianai 9y ago
  Is there a way to export the list for a /etc/hosts.allow?
- jiaweihli 9y ago
  I use Little Snitch[1] (and its sibling Micro Snitch[2]) for filtering connections at the system level. I don't interact with it too often though, because I rarely install new apps. Not to say /etc/hosts doesn't work, these days I just find I prefer things with better UX. --- [1] https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html [2] https://www.obdev.at/products/microsnitch/index.html https://www.obdev.at/products/microsnitch/index.html
  - dotsh 9y ago
    Using Little Snitch to block all Facebook connections is like using goat to land on moon...
    - ReverseCold 9y ago
      What a funny example, why is that?
      - dotsh 9y ago
        Because it is completely impractical. I used LS but it's a waste of time to check and block ads servers or malicious domains, which is why most garbage should be blocked from hosts or dnsmasq.
        9y ago
nijaru 9y ago
You can turn on disconnect’s blocklists in ublock origin rather than run both. ublock origin comes with quite a few lists, but most of them are turned off by default.
joeblau 9y ago
Any browser plugin is inferior to using a hosts file. Hosts file's blackhole any network request before even attempting to make a connection. These browser plugins only help if you're using the specific browser — they aren't going to help that electron/desktop app that's phoning home. They wont help block inline media links (Messages on a Mac pre-rendering links) that show up in your chat programs which attempt to resolve to Facebook. They also wont block any software dependency library that you install without properly checking if it's got some social media tracking engine built in. I don't even waste time or cpu cycles with browser based blocking applications. Steven Black's[1] maintained hosts files are the best for blocking adware, malware, fakenews, gambling , porn and social media outlets. [1] - https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts/ https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts/
- fwip 9y ago
  apk, is that you?
  - joeblau 9y ago
    LOL who is that? — I don't think I'm apk.
    - nneonneo 9y ago
      A troll on Slashdot who commonly advertises a HOSTS-based block list, claiming it superior to practically every security solution ever.
      - joeblau 9y ago
        Oh now I have to look this up. Whomever that person is sounds quite entertaining.
- hiccuphippo 9y ago
  What if the ad networks start using IPs directly instead of domains?
detuur 9y ago
Using uMatrix together with uBlock Origin is a little bit redundant, as uBlock also offers a matrix functionality (enable advanced options). As a matter of fact, iirc uBlock is developed upon uMatrix's codebase by the same author.
alcover 9y ago
I tried uMatrix several times and quit. It's crazy heavy. It takes forever to whitelist parts of a page until functional. Scripts then XHR then more cascaded scripts then frames..
gpvos 9y ago
I do the same thing with uBlock Origin with the "advanced user" setting enabled.
flukus 9y ago
I swear by uBlock/uMatrix, but it's amazing how much of the web it breaks and how little of the content of some sites are hosted by the site itself. The web has become very reliant on CDN's. My public broadcaster (http://www.abc.net.au/news/ http://www.abc.net.au/news/) for instance is completely reliant on third parties for it's "live story" functionality. It loses half it's functionality at work where twitter is blocked and uBlock kills the other half. It also kills the live stream when it can't load one of the half a dozen trackers on the page. I'd love the no-script functionality to be merged in too so that I could turn off javascript by default.
clouddrover 9y ago
You can also turn on Tracking Protection in Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/tracking-protection https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/tracking-protection It runs after any add-ons. It's a useful second step that can catch things add-ons miss.
Kiro 9y ago
> As a nice side-effect, I find I keep pretty up-to-date with new SAAS companies coming out! What do you mean?
KozmoNau7 9y ago
I recommend uBlock Origin in medium mode (check "I'm an advanced user" in the settings, and read this guide: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Blocking-mode:-medium-mode https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Blocking-mode:-medium... I default deny all 3rd party scripts and frames, in addition to the blocklists, and I only sparingly noop relevant domains, the bare minimum to make pages work, on a page-by-page basis. On top of that, I have Privacy Badger, Cookie Autodelete Decentraleyes and I've turned on first-party isolation. It's mostly unobtrusive once my most important websites have been properly noop'ed, and it's relatively simple to add temporary exceptions if needed.
everybodyknows 9y ago
A hidden beauty of uMatrix is that with a little training, it doubles as a reminder against low-value search results -- content scrapers, marketers you've already decided never to buy from again. Just red-out the first-party web site. Search engines that can't keep up with the SEO-optimizers e.g. Duckduckgo become more usable.

michel__ 9y ago

How can you recommend these extensions without mentioning NoScript?

e40 9y ago
Every time this is brought up, in this context, people say the other things do what NoScript does. And, btw, I use Privacy Badger instead of Disconnect.
BayesStreet 9y ago
uMatrix supercedes NoScript by a wide margin.
- wtallis 9y ago
  Not at all. NoScript does way more than just blocking JavaScript by domain.
  - abiox 9y ago
    what features does it offer over umatrix?
    - yjftsjthsd-h 9y ago
      One minor feature I miss from noscript is that (unless I've missed a setting) umatrix can't block site scripts but allow bookmarklets. Though with the new extension API, I don't know if it's possible at all or not.
    - forapurpose 9y ago
      Look up ABE, for example, or just look through the Options, especially under Advanced.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

turc1656 9y ago

I second this. uMatrix is my go-to add-on to prevent the vast majority of connections I do not want. However, I pretty much always use my browser in privacy mode no matter what (for several reasons), so the bootstrapping process never ends for me, but that's a price I am more than willing to pay.

foldor 9y ago
Just out of curiosity, ehst benefits do you get from privacy mode over several profiles?
- turc1656 9y ago
  I don't know enough about how different profiles operate to say with any certainty, unfortunately. So it's possible there is no benefit. However, for mobile there does appear to be at least one benefit. When I recently checked to see what data Google had on me using their free tool, I saw that the only web history they had associated with my device was all from URLs visiting while not in privacy mode. These were all links that I clicked from text messages which will always default to open in the regular, non-private tabs, even if you only have incognito tabs open. That right there is enough for me to always and forever use nothing but privacy mode. For the PC, this is a non-issue as I never log into my browser. Although I do use privacy mode there near 100% of the time as well.

nf__85 9y ago

I have uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger. Would uMatrix replace those?

beckler 9y ago
If you want uMatrix like features in uBlock Origin, go to settings and just click "I am an advanced user". The dynamic filtering matrix should be available after that. Granted the defaults are not as strict as uMatrix, it's a good middle ground.
- nf__85 9y ago
  Great, thanks!
- ryuuchin 9y ago
  Just enabling dynamic filtering doesn't do anything as far as blocking is concerned. You'll still have to set up how you want to handle it. I would recommend "Medium mode"[1] as defined in the uBlock wiki. [1] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Blocking-mode:-medium-mode https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Blocking-mode:-medium...
not_kurt_godel 9y ago
Same here. I have zero desire to do any sort of manual configuration any time I visit a new website. Blocking third-party cookies will eliminate like 90% of tracking and uBlock origin and Privacy Badger handle a significant percentage of the rest.

kakarot 9y ago

I'm continuing to have issues with frames not displaying unless I completely disable the addon. It's extremely frustrating. I'm in advanced mode and all options are as they should be.

eatbitseveryday 9y ago

I'd prefer a solution that does not just work for a specific browser, but instead blocks all traffic regardless of browser, application, virtual machine, ... That's just putting rules into /etc/hosts ? edit - answered my own question :) Yes it will.

ianai 9y ago
Is there a way to export the list for a /etc/hosts.allow?
jiaweihli 9y ago
I use Little Snitch[1] (and its sibling Micro Snitch[2]) for filtering connections at the system level. I don't interact with it too often though, because I rarely install new apps. Not to say /etc/hosts doesn't work, these days I just find I prefer things with better UX. --- [1] https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html [2] https://www.obdev.at/products/microsnitch/index.html https://www.obdev.at/products/microsnitch/index.html
- dotsh 9y ago
  Using Little Snitch to block all Facebook connections is like using goat to land on moon...
  - ReverseCold 9y ago
    What a funny example, why is that?
    - dotsh 9y ago
      Because it is completely impractical. I used LS but it's a waste of time to check and block ads servers or malicious domains, which is why most garbage should be blocked from hosts or dnsmasq.
      - 9y ago

nijaru 9y ago

You can turn on disconnect’s blocklists in ublock origin rather than run both. ublock origin comes with quite a few lists, but most of them are turned off by default.

joeblau 9y ago

Any browser plugin is inferior to using a hosts file. Hosts file's blackhole any network request before even attempting to make a connection. These browser plugins only help if you're using the specific browser — they aren't going to help that electron/desktop app that's phoning home. They wont help block inline media links (Messages on a Mac pre-rendering links) that show up in your chat programs which attempt to resolve to Facebook. They also wont block any software dependency library that you install without properly checking if it's got some social media tracking engine built in. I don't even waste time or cpu cycles with browser based blocking applications. Steven Black's[1] maintained hosts files are the best for blocking adware, malware, fakenews, gambling , porn and social media outlets. [1] - https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts/ https://github.com/StevenBlack/hosts/

fwip 9y ago
apk, is that you?
- joeblau 9y ago
  LOL who is that? — I don't think I'm apk.
  - nneonneo 9y ago
    A troll on Slashdot who commonly advertises a HOSTS-based block list, claiming it superior to practically every security solution ever.
    - joeblau 9y ago
      Oh now I have to look this up. Whomever that person is sounds quite entertaining.
hiccuphippo 9y ago
What if the ad networks start using IPs directly instead of domains?

detuur 9y ago

Using uMatrix together with uBlock Origin is a little bit redundant, as uBlock also offers a matrix functionality (enable advanced options). As a matter of fact, iirc uBlock is developed upon uMatrix's codebase by the same author.

alcover 9y ago

I tried uMatrix several times and quit. It's crazy heavy. It takes forever to whitelist parts of a page until functional. Scripts then XHR then more cascaded scripts then frames..

gpvos 9y ago

I do the same thing with uBlock Origin with the "advanced user" setting enabled.

flukus 9y ago

I swear by uBlock/uMatrix, but it's amazing how much of the web it breaks and how little of the content of some sites are hosted by the site itself. The web has become very reliant on CDN's. My public broadcaster (http://www.abc.net.au/news/ http://www.abc.net.au/news/) for instance is completely reliant on third parties for it's "live story" functionality. It loses half it's functionality at work where twitter is blocked and uBlock kills the other half. It also kills the live stream when it can't load one of the half a dozen trackers on the page. I'd love the no-script functionality to be merged in too so that I could turn off javascript by default.

clouddrover 9y ago

You can also turn on Tracking Protection in Firefox: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/tracking-protection https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/tracking-protection It runs after any add-ons. It's a useful second step that can catch things add-ons miss.

Kiro 9y ago

> As a nice side-effect, I find I keep pretty up-to-date with new SAAS companies coming out! What do you mean?

KozmoNau7 9y ago

I recommend uBlock Origin in medium mode (check "I'm an advanced user" in the settings, and read this guide: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Blocking-mode:-medium-mode https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Blocking-mode:-medium... I default deny all 3rd party scripts and frames, in addition to the blocklists, and I only sparingly noop relevant domains, the bare minimum to make pages work, on a page-by-page basis. On top of that, I have Privacy Badger, Cookie Autodelete Decentraleyes and I've turned on first-party isolation. It's mostly unobtrusive once my most important websites have been properly noop'ed, and it's relatively simple to add temporary exceptions if needed.

everybodyknows 9y ago

A hidden beauty of uMatrix is that with a little training, it doubles as a reminder against low-value search results -- content scrapers, marketers you've already decided never to buy from again. Just red-out the first-party web site. Search engines that can't keep up with the SEO-optimizers e.g. Duckduckgo become more usable.