Episode 8: Browsers That Don’t Spy on You
Duration: ~8 minutes | Format: Practical
📝 Correction
This episode recommends the HTTPS Everywhere browser extension. The EFF retired HTTPS Everywhere at the end of 2022 — every modern browser now enforces HTTPS automatically. Instead of installing it, just turn on your browser’s built-in HTTPS-Only Mode (Settings → Privacy). Everything else in the episode stands.
Episode Summary
Your browser knows more about you than your closest friends — every site you visit, every search, what you read at 2 AM. If that browser is Chrome, all of it flows straight to Google. This episode breaks down why Chrome is built for data collection and walks through the browsers that actually respect you.
This episode covers:
- The Chrome problem: Default history sync, Incognito tracking, and Manifest V3 gutting ad blockers
- Firefox: Enhanced Tracking Protection, container tabs, and real extension support
- Brave: Built-in Shields, fingerprinting protection, and Tor windows with zero configuration
- Mullvad Browser: Hardened, anti-fingerprinting, designed for use with a VPN
- Essential extensions: uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger — and why more isn’t better
- A six-step migration you can finish in ten minutes
Key Quotes
“Your browser knows more about you than your closest friends.”
“Using Chrome while trying to be private is like hiring a private investigator to follow you and then asking them not to take notes. They work for someone else.”
The Takeaway
Download Firefox or Brave, import your bookmarks and passwords from Chrome, install uBlock Origin, and set the new browser as your default. The critical step is making it your default — if Chrome stays default, you’ll keep using it. The switch takes ten minutes, and you won’t notice the difference except in the data that’s no longer being harvested.
Learn More
Start here: Privacy 101 Week 3: Browser Privacy
Transcript
Coming soon