Mozilla today announced the release of Firefox 87 in the stable channel fitted with a new intelligent tracker blocking mechanism.
Called SmartBlock, the feature works in Firefox Private Browsing and Strict Mode and is meant to improve users’ browsing experience through fixing pages that Mozilla’s tracking protections break.
Firefox has had a built-in Content Blocking feature since 2015, providing increased protections to those who use Private Browsing windows and Strict Tracking Protection Mode. The feature was designed to block third-party scripts, images, and other content if loaded from known cross-site tracking companies.
Thus, Firefox Private Browsing windows could prevent these companies from tracking users across the web, but the privacy protections often resulted in the blocking of components essential for the proper functioning of some websites.
Some of the effects users have been experiencing include poor website performance, images that would not appear on the web page, certain features not working, and even pages that would fail to load entirely.
“To reduce this breakage, Firefox 87 is now introducing a new privacy feature we are calling SmartBlock. SmartBlock intelligently fixes up web pages that are broken by our tracking protections, without compromising user privacy,” Mozilla announced.
To improve user experience, SmartBlock provides local stand-ins for the third-party tracking scripts that are blocked. Designed to “behave just enough like the original ones,” these scripts ensure that websites load and that their functionality is intact.
With the SmartBlock stand-ins bundled with Firefox, no third-party tracking content is loaded, thus fully preventing potential tracking attempts. SmartBlock automatically replaces specific common scripts that are classified as trackers on the Disconnect Tracking Pro ..
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