Privacy Hive has written several blog posts about Firefox, a popular web browser that offers many features and options to customize your browsing experience. Individuals with a high personal risk profile, such as those who handle sensitive information or are in the public eye, may need to take additional precautions to protect their digital privacy. One of these options is the Firefox configuration manager, which allows you to view and modify advanced settings that are not available in the regular settings menu. This blog post will explain how to access the configuration manager and what privacy-related settings you can change to enhance your online privacy.

How to Access the Configuration Manager

To access the configuration manager, type “about:config” in the address bar and press Enter. You will then see a warning page that says, “This might void your warranty.” This is because changing some of the settings may affect the stability and security of Firefox. Therefore, you should only proceed if you know what you are doing and be careful not to change anything you are unsure about. To continue, click “Accept the Risk and Continue”. You will then see a list of preferences, each with a status, type, and value. You can use the search box at the top to filter the list by preference name.

What Privacy-Related Settings to Change

Many preferences affect your privacy in different ways. Some relate to how Firefox handles cookies, tracking, fingerprinting, geolocation, WebRTC, and other features that may expose your personal information or online behavior to third parties. Here are some of the more important preferences that you can change to enhance your privacy:

  • browser.safebrowsing.phishing.enabled. If this setting is “true,” Google can scan and store the sites you visit for the presence of malware. Set this value to false.
  • privacy.firstparty.isolate – This preference isolates all browser identifier sources (e.g., cookies) to the first-party domain to prevent tracking across different domains. To enable this feature, set the value to true.
  • Privacy.trackingprotection.enabled – This blocks website tracking. Set the value to true.
  • privacy.resistFingerprinting – This preference makes Firefox more resistant to browser fingerprinting, a technique that uses various characteristics of your browser and device to identify you uniquely. To enable this feature, set the value to true.
  • dom.battery.enabled—This technique tracks your battery usage. To block this information, set it to false.  
  • network.cookie.cookieBehavior – This preference controls how Firefox handles cookies, which are small pieces of data that websites store on your browser to remember your preferences, login details, or other information. Third parties can also use cookies for tracking purposes. To block third-party cookies, set the value to 1. To block all cookies, set the value to 2.
  • network.cookie.lifetimePolicy – This preference controls how long cookies are stored on your browser. To delete cookies at the end of the session, set the value to 2. To delete cookies after a certain number of days, set the value to 3 and specify the number of days in the network.cookie.lifetime.days.preference.
  • network.http.referer.trimmingPolicy – This preference controls how much information is sent in the Referer header, which tells the website you are visiting where you came from. This can reveal your browsing history or other sensitive information. To send only the scheme, host, and port in the Referer header, set the value to 2.
  • network.http.referer.XOriginPolicy—This preference controls when to send the Referer header across origins, which are different websites or subdomains. Set the value to 2 to send the header only when the full hostnames match.
  • network.http.referer.XOriginTrimmingPolicy – This preference controls how much information is sent in the Referer header across origins. To send only the scheme, host, and port in the Referer header of cross-origin requests, set the value to 2.
  • geo.enabled – This preference controls whether Firefox allows websites to access your geolocation, which can reveal your physical location. To disable geolocation, set the value to false.
  • media.navigator.enabled – This preference controls whether Firefox allows websites to access your microphone and camera, which can reveal your identity or surroundings. To disable media access, set the value to false.
  • media.peerconnection.enabled—This preference controls whether Firefox supports WebRTC, which allows real-time communication between browsers, such as video calls or file sharing. However, WebRTC can leak your IP address, even when using a VPN. To disable WebRTC, set the value to false.

Conclusion

By changing these settings, you can improve your privacy and reduce the risk of being tracked, identified, or exposed by websites or third parties. However, these settings are not a complete solution. You should also use other tools and methods mentioned in other Privacy Hive blog posts to protect your online privacy, such as a VPN and browser extensions blocking ads and trackers. You should also review your settings regularly and update your browser to the latest version. If you have other suggested configuration changes, please let us know. Stay safe, and happy browsing!