This guide shows you how cookies are affecting your browser and how to get rid of them using add-ons.
The original cookie destroyer
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As you may know by now, I care about user privacy and am deeply concerned with the mechanisms employed to take it away from you. Today, I want to present you a further helpful extension that you may want to add to your toolbox.
HTTP cookies are tiny data files that are created by your browser when you access some pages. This data gets stored on your computer. Most commonly they are 'security' or 'authentication' cookies. They are the kind helpers, that store our passwords in web forms of websites we frequently login to. Further examples are online shops, that remember what items we added to cart or some forms where we filled the name out.
So far, so good.
First-party cookies are cookies employed by a site owner on his site. When he features content-with-cookies from a different advertiser on his site ( using banners/ads/modules) we refer to it as a 'third-party cookies'. Third-party cookies create an opportunity for advertisers to track your browsing pattern across websites.
Imagine you visit the website www.myexample.com. It contains advertisements from the website www.i-track-you.com. When you visit the site a cookie will be set. Now let's assume you visit the website www.exampleshop.com which also features banners from www.i-track-you.com. Another cookie is set. Eventually, the advertiser can collect the cookie data and build a browsing history of your behavior across all websites that have employed his ads. This can give a very indicative clue about your interests and online behavior.
You can install the Clear-Flash-Cookies add-on available for Firefox Browser.
Bang-bang let's kill some bad guys!
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This extension is used to chase and delete harmful Super-cookies. Specifically, it looks for the tracking cookies known as LSOs (Local Shared Objects). They are especially nasty, as they store a large amount of data on your device and cannot be removed like normal cookies.
Clear-Flash-Cookies will not effect your browsing speed, not even your browser. Much rather it finds the well-hidden location on your hard drive where these trolls are located, and removes them - after you finish your browsing session.
The configuration of Clear-Flash-Cookies is super easy and works without changing the default settings. Just install it and restart Firefox. After successful deployment, it will clean the LSOs automatically after you finish surfing and close your Browser.
Get yours here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/clear-flash-cookies
Additional info: This Add-on is a new alternative to the BetterPrivacy legacy extension which is no longer compatible with the new Firefox Quantum. If you are still using an old version of Firefox I recommend the BetterPrivacy add-on as it has a proven track record.
