Best Free Firefox Add-ons: Page 4 of 13

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Submitted by MidnightCowboy | Last update on

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Best Free Privacy Add-ons for Firefox

Self-Destructing Cookies accepts cookies now, auto-delete them later.

SDC allows you to set cookie preferences on a per-domain basis. The difference with other cookie managers lies in how it handles blocked cookies: it actually allows them, but auto-deletes them after you've closed the last tab in which the blocked website was open. Doing so prevents websites from nagging about their cookies being blocked. It also means that cookie-based features (such as logins) will simply keep working during your visit, unlike what happens with regular cookie blockers.

Cookies can be set to be deleted when

  1. you close the last tab of the website;
  2. or when you close the browser;
  3. or never/only when they expire.

Configuring each domain's policy is simple. SDC puts an icon into the toolbars that reflects the current setting for the domain you're on. Simply click it to bring up the 3 options, then click the one you want to apply. There are more advanced options in the Add-ons Manager too, so you should check those out.

Cookies are little pieces of text that websites can store in your browser. They're a vital component for things such as login sessions, website preferences that aren't stored server-side, etc. Unfortunately, they can also be used to track you around the web and do other shady things since they can be uniquely identified and can store any kind of information.

Whether or not cookies are a good thing depends on their origin. On websites that are part of your routines, they're a necessity. On websites you distrust or never plan to visit again, they're an annoyance and possibly a privacy concern.

Ghostery blocks known malicious scripts and web trackers according to a blacklist and lets you select/deselect specific trackers or entire categories. It's regularly updated and seems to do its job very well. You can choose to have a blocking report displayed somewhere on the screen each time a page is loaded.

While it does its job well, it has a flaw common to all tools of this type: it operates based on only a blacklist. Therefore, it only blocks trackers the developers know about and want to block.

Be advised, I personally experienced a fairly noticeable performance penalty when running Ghostery.

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Comments

I know nothing of SecureLogin, i've been using LastPass for years.

Have you tested Cookie Controller?
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cookie-controller/

I think it's the same in firefox, but in palemoon flashblock is pretty much useless as the flash plugin itself can be set to Ask to activate.

This one Download Flash and Video pretty much always works.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/download-flash-and-video/...
For Youtube i use the feature of SmartVideo for Youtube and there's also SaveFrom.net when i'm not using my own Palemoon browser. I used to use DownThemall and DownloadHelper, but they aren't necessary anymore.

I like Stylish, it's just a bit hard to find styles that do what i want.

Palemoon commander, yes!

I also always have Mozilla Archive Format and FEBE.

Ghostery, AdBlockEdge & AdBlockPlus (with proper config) are all roughly equal in ability to protect privacy. Disconnect comes in at a distant 4th.

[There is an obvious opt-out choice for anonymous reporting to Ghostery - I don't see any issue unless you don't pay attention and you SHOULD pay attention when installing software.] You need to do your homework when you configure AND UPDATE these add-ons; the default settings are NOT usually the best.

All according to this useful continuous testing site:

http://www.areweprivateyet.com/

which also helps you to configure the add-ons properly.

If you browse widely to 'new' urls on a continuous basis, NoScript is a royal pain in the butt.

1/ Adblock has some deal with advertising company, I recommand the fork Adblock Edge
2/ Some website are blocking you if Adblock is enabled.
A Greasemonkey script removes many protections used on some website that force the user to disable the AdBlocker
Anti-AdBlock Killer : http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/155840

Do you have anything to back up your claim in #1? I've compared ABP to ABE and don't notice any improvement or other advantage. I can hardly imagine there being any bias in ABP if you use custom filters either, what's a deal with an ad company supposed to impact? It's also a fork of the original, which to me is a caution bell signaling reduced app quality. I'm a bit reluctant to post that script from #2 because it's not an add-on and it's only site-specific... It'll never be a comprehensive solution. Thanks for the reply though.

For #1 you'll find information for example here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5995140

For #2 It's not site specific. It's specific to all website tracking adblock users

#2 actually, it is. :) "However, this script is not a universal remedy for all anti-adblock protection. this is why I am counting on all user for my report." There's also the "Supported Sites" section. Yes, it does target 4 particular, popular anti-AB scripts websites use. But that does not make it specific to all websites blocking adblock, only to the specific sites that have been reported so far + the sites that use those 4 particular scripts. It's kind of the same problem as with ABP's EasyList: 9 bazillion filters of which you'll only use 5, and those 5 will only be 1% of your browsing habits. Either way, this article really isn't for GM scripts. Supporting a section for those would make this article far too large to maintain.

Some add-on suggestions for the editor

Page 1: Security
Secure Login

Page 3: Privacy
Disconnect
No Cookie for Google search

Page 4. Adblocking
SimpleBlock
Silent Block

Page 5: Downloading
Download Panel Tweaker
OpenDownload2

Maybe more categories, e.g.
-utilities/tools like FireFTP
-Photos, Music & Videos like ImageTweak, YouTube Grid View
-firefox customization like Tab Mix Plus, Location Bar Enhancer etc.
-performance like Local Load, Tweak Network
-advanced config like Pale Moon Commander, Configuration Mania, Config Descriptions

Very nice suggestions! :) I love how I already use half of those add-ons, I hadn't even thought of them yet xD

Flagfox.

It could either go in section 9 or section 2.

It displays a small country flag at the right hand side of your address bar, showing the country that the web server is located in. When you hover your mouse pointer over the flag it displays the server's name, IP address and name of the country of origin.

BTW, you should warn users of Ghostery not to agree to the information collection part of Ghostery. You're just replacing one set of spies with another, the Ghostery company itself.

Flagfox is already in there, waiting for a details paragraph. I'll add that, thanks.

"Anyone can make there own, incredibly useful, easy to use, takes up very little room, for me reliable."

There? How about their?

That's from the previous editor :) I'm only at page 5 at the moment, page 5 and every page after it still needs to be cleaned up and revised.
Not much listed under download managers: my favourite of the genre is DownThemAll (http://www.downthemall.net/) There's also a tiny extension called OpenDownload which simply adds the option to open a download from the usual "save" dialogue. Obviously, the rationale for NOT having the "run" option in that dialogue in Firefox is security, so the use of this extension has its risks. http://home.arcor.de/der_tuxman/ext/OpenDownload/index.htm There's a heading for it on the Forms page but no detail yet: Lazarus, to be found at http://getlazarus.com/ Lazarus is a safety net. It remembers what you've typed into a webform so, if something goes wrong or you lose what you've typed, it'll have quietly remembered what you did and offer to put it back for you. I commend it to your attention :)
DTA was already in there. The section as a whole is quite empty because the article is a WIP and because download manager add-ons are not something I've used often yet. I also avoid add-ons I believe to be too dumbed-down or case-specific, such as Youtube MP3 converters and such. OpenDownload is a nice suggestion, thanks. I'm an opponent of boxing users into cages under the false motto of protection and security, like Mozilla is trying to do. Installed already and loving it. And yes, I'm familiar with Lazarus, that's why I put it there: so I can work on it when I get to that section. Textarea Cache does something similar, but of course only on textareas. Handy to rescue WIP forum posts without revealing possibly sensitive form info. :)