Firefox creates Facebook Container extension to protect user data

Companies have been sent into a frenzy in the wake of the Facebook and Cambridge Analytica scandal, with many scrambling to show that their data protection methods are up to scratch. Mozilla is the latest on this front, creating a Facebook Container extension for its Firefox browser, stopping the social media platform from accessing data from other sites.

Anyone using the new Container extension is sending Facebook to sit on the naughty step away from others, essentially stopping third-party cookies from tracking the data held within other browser tabs.

Mozilla has also emphasised that this is simply a tool to enable users to continue using the platform with minimal risk or worry, and that the company “does not collect data from your use of the Facebook Container extension.” The only thing that Mozilla tracks is the number of installs and removals of the extension.

Users who are already logged in when the extension is installed will be automatically logged out and asked to sign in once again. Facebook will then be placed in a “container tab” as indicated by its blue underline in the tab’s frame and blue text on the website’s description.

Links within Facebook will redirect the user to another normal tab, with the social media platform remaining in the container tab until manually closed. Navigation throughout Facebook itself, however, will all be situated within the Container Tab, such as shared posts.

Due to the nature of prohibiting Facebook from accessing the information of other websites, using the platform to log in to other sites and embedded comment sections might not work as well as intended. This, however, is the trade-off for security.

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KitGuru Says: This is a great initiative by Mozilla, but it is questionable as to whether it is too late as the damage has been done. If anything, it’s still good to see companies trying to bolster their security and win the trust of its users. Will you be installing the container or do you value Facebook’s integration with other sites too much to sacrifice it?

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