Get Back Some Online Privacy with Facebook Container

Facebook is everywhere in the news recently, and none of it is good. Many people are debating whether or not to #DeleteFacebook, while others argue that move may be self-defeating. For those who don’t want to delete their accounts, but do want to exert a bit more control over what Facebook can learn about them, the team at Mozilla have released a Firefox browser extension that can help.

I recently wrote about test driving Firefox Quantum, created by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation. One reason I wrote ProfHacker readers might consider giving the new Firefox a chance is that the browser takes privacy and tracking protection seriously. Now they’ve extended those concerns to social media with the release of Facebook Container. As they describe on the extension’s page:

Facebook Container works by isolating your Facebook identity into a separate container that makes it harder for Facebook to track your visits to other websites with third-party cookies.

In other words, this extension helps ensure that Facebook knows what you do on Facebook, but not elsewhere on the web. As described on the extension’s page, it cannot prevent Facebook tracking what you do on the site, or what other site’s trackers might be able to determine about your activity. But it’s a start.

So, if you can’t (or don’t want to) give up Facebook, consider reigning it in just a bit using Facebook Container.

Are you deleting Facebook or using another method to increase your privacy when using the service? Tell us about it in the comments.

[Creative Commons licensed photo by Flickr user Paul VanDerWerf.]