Mozilla adds fingerprinting and cryptocurrency mining protection to Firefox

Mozilla is adding a new feature to protect you against web annoyances in future releases of Firefox. The new feature is currently available in the beta version of Firefox 67, and the nightly version of Firefox 68. They will be available in the stable release of Firefox in a few weeks.

The cryptomining and fingerprinting blocks work pretty much like anti-tracking blocks in current version of Firefox. The company has partnered with Disconnect to include scripts that prevent your browser from loading disingenuous content.

Cryptomining and fingerprinting blocks will be disabled by default — at least for now. But you can activate them in a couple of clicks in the browser settings under “Privacy & Security”.

Mozilla already says that these settings will be turned on by default in future nightly versions of Firefox 68. So you can expect cryptomining and fingerprinting blocking by default in a few months.

You can check if those features are activated by clicking on the shield in the address bar. It tells you if scripts are blocked on the current site. You can also whitelist a site from this menu.

Fingerprinting is a creepy method used by adtech companies to identify a user based on multiple factors, such as the browser you’re using, the fonts you have on your computer, your operating system, etc.

Some websites also use cryptocurrency mining scripts to leverage your unused computer ressources to mine Bitcoin, Monero and other cryptocurrencies. Those scripts are automatically enabled by default when you visit a website.