Firefox's privacy crusade now targets a key form of tracking

Firefox continues to protect user privacy, and the latest "Query Parameter Removal" feature can automatically remove identifiers and trackers from URLs when you click on a link. This feature effectively prevents websites (such as Facebook) from circumventing cookie blocking using URL strings, thereby tracking your network activity.

Let's take a look at an example. You may notice that when you copy and paste a link from your social media or email newsletter, there are often a lot of extra information attached to the end of the link.

For example, an article about sharks adapting to coastal urban life, with a Facebook link: https://www.php.cn/link/86b83f4a0ef92968bc1d225a5a7802bb

But after actually clicking, the URL becomes: https://www.php.cn/link/86b83f4a0ef92968bc1d225a5a7802bb?utm_campaign=trueanthem_AI&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0e807ix9JPTB_PwVoVw422Y7cXJ-iw-NvqamcKqCpe1Imgdc4f2u1Ccuc.

All content after the question mark has no effect on the link itself, but only provides Facebook (and PopSci) with information such as users who clicked the link, the reason for clicking it.

All "UTM" parameters (abbreviation of Urchin Tracking Module)—such as utm_campaign, utm_medium, and utm_source—are used by web analytics applications such as Google Analytics to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and compare traffic sources. As you can see, this link comes from social media, specifically Facebook, and is part of a marketing campaign called “trueanthem_AI.” If the link is posted on Twitter, utm_campaign and utm_medium will remain the same, while utm_source will be different. This is not particularly sinister in itself, it just depicts what factors drive traffic to a particular article.

However, fbclid URL query parameters are more invasive. Even if the site you visit does not have Meta Pixel, Facebook’s tracking tool, installed, installed, Facebook uses it to track which websites users visit and which links they click. Facebook collects data, places ads, and harms your privacy for profits.

It should be noted that Facebook is not the only service to do so, and linking to the target website is not completely unaware of it. Almost all websites that serve ads rely on some kind of profile of their user identity and interests to maximize their advertising revenue. Features like Firefox’s “Cookie Can” may make this portrait meaningless and incomplete, but without such protections, it could leak shocking personal information about you.

While Bleeping Computer discovered that new features in Firefox can prevent URL tracking parameters from Olytics, Drip, Vero, HubSpot, Marketo, and Facebook, there are a few things to note. Firefox is not the only browser that blocks URL trackers—Brave has long had similar features—but it is the most popular browser right now. Also, if you want to remain anonymous on the web, just blocking URL tracking is not enough. This is an excellent backup strategy for ad tech companies when cookie-based tracking fails, but if you don't enable "full Cookie Protection" it won't make much impact.

If you use Firefox, you can enter about:config in the URL address bar and set privacy.query_stripping.enabled.pbmode to true Enable query parameter removal. Make sure you also set enhanced tracking protection (located in Settings > Privacy & Security ) to Strict to clear cookies at the same time.

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