Tcf362fT131417 PRIVACY GUIDES T969389~/privacy
T969389Desktop Browsers
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T969389Sections: Tcf362fMullvad Browser Tcf362fFirefox
Protects against the following threat(s):
* Tcf362fSurveillance Capitalism
These are our currently recommended desktop web browsers and configurations for standard/non-anonymous browsing. We recommend Mullvad Browser if you are focused on strong privacy protections and anti-fingerprinting out of the box, Firefox for casual internet browsers looking for a good alternative to Google Chrome, and Brave if you need Chromium browser compatibility.
If you need to browse the internet anonymously, you should use Tcf362fTor instead. We make some configuration recommendations on this page, but all browsers other than Tor Browser will be traceable by somebody in some manner or another.
Mullvad Browser
Mullvad Browser is a version of Tcf362fTor Browser with Tor network integrations removed. It aims to provide to VPN users Tor Browser's anti-fingerprinting browser technologies, which are key protections against Tcf362fMass Surveillance. It is developed by the Tor Project and distributed by Tcf362fMullvad, and does not require the use of Mullvad's VPN.
Homepage (https://mullvad.net/en/browser)
* Windows (https://mullvad.net/en/download/browser/windows)
* macOS (https://mullvad.net/en/download/browser/macos)
* Linux (https://mullvad.net/en/download/browser/linux)
Like Tcf362fTor Browser, Mullvad Browser is designed to prevent fingerprinting by making your browser fingerprint identical to all other Mullvad Browser users, and it includes default settings and extensions that are automatically configured by the default security levels: Standard, Safer and Safest.
Therefore, it is imperative that you do not modify the browser at all outside adjusting the default security levels (https://tb-manual.torproject.org/security-settings). When adjusting the security level, you must always restart the browser before continuing to use it. Otherwise, the security settings may not be fully applied (https://www.privacyguides.org/articles/2025/05/02/tor-security-slider-flaw), putting you at a higher risk of fingerprinting and exploits than you may expect based on the setting chosen.
Modifications other than adjusting this setting would make your fingerprint unique, defeating the purpose of using this browser. If you want to configure your browser more heavily and fingerprinting is not a concern for you, we recommend Firefox instead.
Anti-Fingerprinting
Without using a Tcf362fVPN, Mullvad Browser provides protections against naive fingerprinting scripts (https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/wiki/3.3-Overrides-%5BTo-RFP-or-Not%5D#-fingerprinting) similar to other private browsers like Firefox+Arkenfox or Brave. Mullvad Browser provides these protections out of the box, at the expense of some flexibility and convenience that other private browsers can provide.
For the strongest anti-fingerprinting protection, we recommend using Mullvad Browser in conjunction with a VPN, whether that is Mullvad or another recommended VPN provider. When using a VPN with Mullvad Browser, you will share a fingerprint and a pool of IP addresses with many other users, giving you a "crowd" to blend in with. This strategy is the only way to thwart advanced tracking scripts, and is the same anti-fingerprinting technique used by Tor Browser.
Note that while you can use Mullvad Browser with any VPN provider, other people on that VPN must also be using Mullvad Browser for this "crowd" to exist, something which is more likely on Mullvad VPN compared to other providers. Mullvad Browser does not have built-in VPN connectivity, nor does it check whether you are using a VPN before browsing; your VPN connection has to be configured and managed separately.
Mullvad Browser comes with the uBlock Origin and NoScript browser extensions pre-installed. While we typically discourage adding additional Tcf362fbrowser extensions, these extensions that come pre-installed with the browser should not be removed or configured outside their default values, because doing so would noticeably make your browser fingerprint distinct from other Mullvad Browser users. It also comes pre-installed with the Mullvad Browser Extension, which can be safely removed without impacting (https://mullvad.net/en/help/tag/mullvad-browser#112) your browser fingerprint if you would like, but is also safe to keep even if you don't use Mullvad VPN.
Private Browsing Mode
Mullvad Browser operates in permanent private browsing mode, meaning your history, cookies, and other site data will always be cleared every time the browser is closed. Your bookmarks, browser settings, and extension settings will still be preserved.
This is required to prevent advanced forms of tracking, but does come at the cost of convenience and some Firefox features, such as Multi-Account Containers. Remember you can always use multiple browsers, for example, you could consider using Firefox+Arkenfox for a few sites that you want to stay logged in on or otherwise don't work properly in Mullvad Browser, and Mullvad Browser for general browsing.
Firefox
Firefox provides strong privacy settings such as Enhanced Tracking Protection (https://support.mozilla.org/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop), which can help block various types of tracking (https://support.mozilla.org/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop#w_what-enhanced-tracking-protection-blocks).
Homepage (https://firefox.com)
* Windows (https://mozilla.org/firefox/windows)
* macOS (https://mozilla.org/firefox/mac)
* Linux (https://mozilla.org/firefox/linux)
* Flathub (https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.mozilla.firefox)
Warning
Firefox includes a unique download token (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1677497#c0) in downloads from Mozilla's website and uses telemetry in Firefox to send the token. The token is not included in releases from the Mozilla FTP (https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/).
Recommended Firefox Configuration
These options can be found in → Settings.
Search
* [ ] Uncheck Show search suggestions
Search suggestion features may not be available in your region.
Search suggestions send everything you type in the address bar to the default search engine, regardless of whether you submit an actual search. Disabling search suggestions allows you to more precisely control what data you send to your search engine provider.
Firefox Suggest
Firefox Suggest (https://support.mozilla.org/kb/firefox-suggest) is a feature similar to search suggestions. We recommend disabling it for the same reason we recommend disabling search suggestions. If you don't see these options under the Address Bar header, you do not have the new experience and can ignore these changes.
* [ ] Uncheck Suggestions from Firefox
* [ ] Uncheck Suggestions from sponsors
According to Mozilla, "Certain parts of Firefox Suggest are currently available only in some regions." (https://support.mozilla.org/kb/firefox-suggest)
Privacy & Security
Enhanced Tracking Protection
* [x] Select Strict Enhanced Tracking Protection
This protects you by blocking social media trackers, fingerprinting scripts (note that this does not protect you from all fingerprinting), cryptominers, cross-site tracking cookies, and some other tracking content. ETP protects against many common threats, but it does not block all tracking avenues because it is designed to have minimal to no impact on site usability.
Sanitize on Close
If you want to stay logged in to particular sites, you can allow exceptions in Cookies and Site Data → Manage Exceptions...
* [x] Check Delete cookies and site data when Firefox is closed
This protects you from persistent cookies, but does not protect you against cookies acquired during any one browsing session. When this is enabled, it becomes possible to easily cleanse your browser cookies by simply restarting Firefox. You can set exceptions on a per-site basis, if you wish to stay logged in to a particular site you visit often.
Telemetry
* [ ] Uncheck Send technical and interaction data to Mozilla
* [ ] Uncheck Allow personalized extension recommendations
* [ ] Uncheck Install and run studies
* [ ] Uncheck Send daily usage ping to Mozilla
* [ ] Uncheck Automatically send crash reports
According to Mozilla's privacy policy for Firefox,
Firefox sends data about your Firefox version and language; device operating system and hardware configuration; memory, basic information about crashes and errors; outcome of automated processes like updates, safebrowsing, and activation to us. When Firefox sends data to us, your IP address is temporarily collected as part of our server logs.
Additionally, the Mozilla Accounts service collects some technical data (https://mozilla.org/privacy/mozilla-accounts). If you use a Mozilla Account you can opt out:
1. Open your profile settings on accounts.firefox.com (https://accounts.firefox.com/settings#data-collection)
2. Uncheck Data Collection and Use > Help improve Firefox Accounts
HTTPS-Only Mode
* [x] Select Enable HTTPS-Only Mode in all windows
This prevents you from unintentionally connecting to a website in plain-text HTTP. Sites without HTTPS are uncommon nowadays, so this should have little to no impact on your day-to-day browsing.
DNS over HTTPS
If you use a Tcf362fDNS over HTTPS provider:
* [x] Select Max Protection and choose a suitable provider
Max Protection enforces the use of DNS over HTTPS, and a security warning will show if Firefox can’t connect to your secure DNS resolver, or if your secure DNS resolver says that records for the domain you are trying to access do not exist. This stops the network you're connected to from secretly downgrading your DNS security.
Sync
Firefox Sync (https://hacks.mozilla.org/2018/11/firefox-sync-privacy) allows your browsing data (history, bookmarks, etc.) to be accessible on all your devices and protects it with E2EE.
Arkenfox (advanced)
Use Mullvad Browser for advanced anti-fingerprinting
Mullvad Browser provides stronger anti-fingerprinting protections out of the box than Firefox, and does not require the use of Mullvad's VPN to benefit from these protections. Coupled with a VPN, Mullvad Browser can thwart more advanced tracking scripts which Arkenfox cannot. Firefox still has the advantage of being much more flexible, and allowing per-site exceptions for websites which you need to stay logged in to.
The Arkenfox project (https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js) provides a set of carefully considered options for Firefox. If you decide (https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/wiki/1.1-To-Arkenfox-or-Not) to use Arkenfox, a few options (https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/wiki/3.2-Overrides-%5BCommon%5D) are subjectively strict and/or may cause some websites to not work properly—which you can easily change (https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/wiki/3.1-Overrides) to suit your needs. We strongly recommend reading through their full wiki (https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/wiki). Arkenfox also enables container (https://support.mozilla.org/kb/containers#w_for-advanced-users) support.
Arkenfox only aims to thwart basic or naive tracking scripts through canvas randomization and Firefox's built-in fingerprint resistance configuration settings. It does not aim to make your browser blend in with a large crowd of other Arkenfox users in the same way Mullvad Browser or Tor Browser do, which is the only way to thwart advanced fingerprint tracking scripts. Remember that you can always use multiple browsers, for example, you could consider using Firefox+Arkenfox for a few sites that you want to stay logged in on or otherwise trust, and Mullvad Browser for general browsing.
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