So I’m now a Top Writer on Medium for Privacy. I originally posted this article on Medium.
There are tons of options for browser extensions that will help improve your user experience on the web. If you are concerned about your digital privacy (you should be), you can use browser extensions to bolster your protection. In some cases, these extensions can speed up your browser by blocking website features that would slow down load times. Some of these tools are even endorsed by Edward Snowden.
Browser Extensions That Protect Your Privacy
These browser extensions have the Search Encrypt seal of approval. They all align with our vision for creating a safer web with more emphasis on privacy.
Ghostery
Ghostery detects tracking on websites you visit and then blocks the tracking to speed up page load times. It eliminates clutter while protecting your data. Ghostery recently deployed artificial intelligence which should greatly improve its already strong ad-blocking and tracker blocking. This extension is also the ad-blocker of choice for Edward Snowden.
Privacy Badger
This one is similar to Ghostery in that it blocks tracking. However, rather than blocking all content, it only blocks the tracking scripts that follow you from one site to another. When it Privacy Badger detects a source that is tracking you across different websites, it tells your browser to stop loading the content from that source. Although, Privacy Badger has one feature that really sets it apart. If the content that is tracking you is essential to a page’s functionality, Privacy Badger will allow it to load with the tracking capabilities blocked.
Disconnect
Disconnect offers many browser extensions for mobile and desktop. Its main browser extension is called Disconnect Private Browsing. Disconnect works by blocking third parties from tracking the webpages you visit. Whenever a site makes a network request to connect to anything besides the site you’re visiting, it won’t be able to load that extra content.
NoScript Security Suite
NoScript is an extension for Mozilla Firefox that blocks malicious scripts that could be used for tracking purposes. It blocks scripts, plug-ins and other code that could attack your system. Edward Snowden endorses NoScript Security Suite as a tool to fight Surveillance States.
ScriptSafe
ScriptSafe is like NoScript, but works for Google Chrome and other browsers. It has solid reviews and positive responses from its users online. It allows users to easily switch the blocking on and off, if they want to temporarily allow some feature to load. It has recently updated to be more intuitive and user-friendly. ScriptSafe also uses a privacy by design model, which means it uses a “block first, ask later” approach. So some websites you may visit regularly may be blocked by default.
Search Encrypt
Obviously, no list of ours would be complete without Search Encrypt. Search Encrypt is a tool that helps keep your search data private. It intercepts any tracked searches you may try. This is helpful if you are consistently using search engines that track you. You can easily avoid those searches with our extension. We use industry standard AES-256 encryption, and your search history expires so that it is invisible to anyone who may use your computer. Try Search Encrypt Here.
This guide can help you add the Search Encrypt extension to Chrome, if you need help.