Its browser extension blocks trackers and shows lists of which ones are blocked for each site (including those that are slow to load), allows trusted and restricted sites to be set up and also lets people you block ads. This New York-based firm – which has five different tools – is owned by the same company that was behind Cliqz, a privacy-focussed browser and search engine, which was shuttered earlier this year due to the impact of Covid-19. It also adds its non-tracking search to Chrome. The tool also highlights how websites collect data through a partnership with Terms of Service Didn’t Read and includes scores for sites’ privacy policies. The Privacy Essentials extension blocks hidden third-party trackers, showing you which advertising networks are following you around the web over time. DuckDuckGo also makes an extension for Chrome. But in recent years the firm has also been moving more into privacy controls for the whole web (including introducing its own mobile browser).

DuckDuckGoĭuckDuckGo is best-known for its anonymous search engine that doesn’t collect people’s data. There are Privacy Badger extensions for Chrome, Firefox (desktop and Android), Microsoft Edge and Opera. You can disable the tool for individual sites and change settings if you don’t mind being tracked by some sites. This includes how many trackers and what type each website is using. Like many of the extensions in this list the tool will also show you which trackers are blocked on each site you visit.

The organisation says it doesn’t keep lists of what to block but discovers trackers as you browse the web and is more effective as time goes on.

If it sees these appearing across multiple sites you visit then the extension tells your browser not to load any more of that content. Privacy Badger tracks all the elements of web pages you visit – including plugins and ads placed by external companies.

Story planner app chrome webstore