I looked for an existing thread to tag this on to but couldn’t see one that fitted that well.
I am concerned about the way that many browsers report your activities, your location and anything else they can glean about you for commercial purposes. Some companies provide browsers, search engines and other “free” software and services for that specific purpose. Microsoft and Google seem to be battling to be the one who locks you into doing all things their way with their systems that provide the richest source of personal data.
Then there are web sites that want to keep data about what you browsed or bought. Also there are social media platforms that do the same and in many cases these are linked up behind the scenes. I am hoping that by getting away from Microsoft & Google (including Chrome) a different browser would also help limit that kind of data collection too.
So my question is which browser(s) that do all the basic functions well and are stable, secure and easy to use also protect your privacy well?
I know there are review sites that produce reports on such issues but I was after personal recommendations from users. Why did you pick the one you have? How do you know it helps protect your privacy?
I am gradually transitioning from Chrome to Firefox. The latter is considered reasonably privacy-respecting, and while Chrome isn’t too bad the knowledge that it’s owned by Google does not help.
You may wish to look at Brave. It is intended to be privacy focused, and has good reviews.
On my iPad, rather than changing browser, I have opted to install an app called Weblock. It’s intended as an advertising blocker which it does quite well, but also seems to do more. I use the proxy, but theres an option to use it VPN also.
I used to use Firefox extensively about a decade ago but over time found it became very bloated and slow. Even after a uninstall and reinstall it ended becoming a significant sized program with extensions added and not as user friendly as it should have been.
This is why I left Firefox and it would be interesting to know if it is lighter on resources today.
It seems to do both, but when you activate all the filters, lots of websites get broken. For example, because I have google blocked, I can no longer get youtube… and I have had to unblock the facebook stuff too, because I am still on fb and gaining some value from that.
[edit] retracting comments about youtube and google. Youtube ad server was proxied and I removed that and can now get youtube. Of course that means google knows what I’m up to, there. However I have re-proxied the rest of the google stuff and so far so good.
Firefox on PC for previous 20 years, private use. It has progressively improved. Updates are flagged as they become available and install usually without a restart. Perhaps Crome and Edge do to. I’m now so used to Firefox it would need good reason to change.
Safari on iPad and iPhone. Because it just works and supposedly has easy privacy and security as is.
I’ve not tried MS Edge, but used IE often where it was the only work option and Crome occasionally.
Are slow browser speeds more an issue related to Wifi and internet speed, and the graphical bloat ware on some pages? Just asking as when I’ve been In Japan or in the city (eg Sydney) on Telstra 4G most web cruising seems to happen 2-3 times faster. Although when using a VPN and Norton’s browser security enhancements, it all slows down again.
Being a long term Firefox fan I have dabbled with a few others. Browser load speeds vary considerably, and there are apparent differences in rendering speed as well as dealing with some of the rubbish displayed, even from picking a favourite to it beginning to load (all the handshaking one can watch in the status bars)
If you are experiencing slow page loads, then I recommend an adblocker. The size of many pages is multiplied by the number of ads they serve, all drawn from another server from the one serving the page.
Unfortunately the current web monetisation model is incredibly broken, because of large and intrusive ads and because ads can be used to deliver malware.
I’ve used Firefox for many years, and have ‘do not track’ set, pop-up blocker, FB container (in case I accidentally click on a link that goes there) and I’m running AdBlock+. I also semi regularly delete all the cookies, other than for sites with logins - bank account etc. I use Startpage for searching.
I find it generally only slows down when I have > 20 tabs open, not that it is ever super fast on nbn satellite!
I use several browsers but my go to for security is Tor (based on Firefox), followed by Epic (based on Chromium) for sort of secure mainstream browsing. Otherwise when I don’t care too much it is Firefox with a few extensions including Privacy Badger, UBlock Origin, Blur, HTTPS Everywhere, & NoScript Security Suite.
Many of these extensions and Tor & Epic can break sites so you have to judge sometimes what to let through to get a site to display the content you want. It is a trade off sometimes.
You don’t need the extension. Chrome and most other browsers allow you to set the search engine default when you type a query into the address bar. Go to chrome://Settings, and on the first page you see (you may need to scroll down) there is a heading “Search engine”. This has a drop-down choice, or you can manage search engines and physically type in the address you want to deal with search queries.
I’m using the latest Firefox Version 77.0.1 and have been using Firefox for a long time now.
I find it very fast to load, and I have had no issues whatsoever with it since I first started
using it.I always keep it regularly updated.
I like the Bookmarks Feature - works very well. Another useful feature is Hyperlink forwarding via email, which automatically brings up a new email for you to send to a contact.
I also have it set to Permanent Private Browsing and have no issues with that either.
In summary, I highly recommend Firefox, as there are a lot of customisable options for you to set to your own personal requirements.
Epic and Tor have been my go to on Windows based computers for a couple of years now with only a handful of compatibility issues with certain sites but great for the odd online banking enquiry.
Tor is VPN by default and Epic has the ootion of toggling VPN on or off and AdBlocker as standard with the latest version requiring you to add these from the Epic app store because for some strange reason they did not come standard.
Epic also has its own private search engine but I’ve found that results are better substituting this with DuckDuckGo.
Goto on Android is DuckDuckGo browser and search engine and no issues so far.
Epic is also available on Android but I’m happy with the little duck so not sure how it performs.
I too use Duck Duck Go and have done so for years now. Very occasionally I need to use Chrome because I have been advised that the program used at particular site is suggested by the company’s programmers as being the 'best browser to navigate their site. It is a company that I deal with regularly, and I have continued to complain that the programmers should not be dictating what browser I use.
I use duckduckgo, just download version for Mac or other. It does not record, follow or sell information. It provides information google does not. I searched for 14 years multiple times a week after being given large doses of corticosteroid then developed asthma and sent home with a seratide puffer, a cortisol mimic, catabolic systemic hormone mimic. Duckduckgo solved my questions in an hour and I am recovering from damage and asthma. Brave is also very good, blocks ads but last I looked was not for Mac. Duckduckgo has given me pages of research papers on Aus climate in the past including the harsh 1800 to 1830 period, instead of just global warming supplied by google.
nb duckduckgo is a search engine, not a browser. It also offers a firefox browser extension to enhance privacy. As such it is a fairly painless way to ‘go privacy’.
I’m just (as I type) testing Ghostery on iOS. Its speedy and excellent blocking both trackers and ads. i detest the pale blue, but it works. As with Brave in iOS, a bit tiresome having to type in URLs for your most used sites, at first.
