As news continues to trickle out concerning the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal and Facebook's role in it, the social media network is receiving more scrutiny than ever. Of particular concern is the realization of just how much data Facebook has on its users. If you're a Firefox user, however, you can now limit at least some of your exposure with a new extension from Mozilla.
In a post on its blog, Mozilla has announced the new Facebook Container Extension, a tool that is intended to make it much more difficult for Facebook to track what you do on other websites with third-party cookies. It does this by entirely isolating Facebook from all of your other browsing activity. From Mozilla:
When you install this extension it will delete your Facebook cookies and log you out of Facebook. The next time you visit Facebook it will open in a new blue-colored browser tab (aka "container tab"). In that tab you can login to Facebook and use it like you normally would. If you click on a non-Facebook link or navigate to a non-Facebook website in the URL bar, these pages will load outside of the container.
The only downside to the container is that, if you use your Facebook account to create an account or log in with another service, Mozilla says that it may not work properly and you may not be able to log in. Likewise, embedded Facebook comments and Like buttons outside of the Facebook container tab will not work.
If all of the recent controversy surrounding Facebook has you concerned, but you're not quite ready to give it up, then Mozilla's extension looks to be a viable middle-ground. But there are also a number of other steps you can take to limit your exposure, and our friends at iMore have put together a pretty handy guide on how to make sure you're keeping your Facebook data as private as possible.
