In version 107 of its flagship browser, Mozilla now limits cookies to only their site of origin. This is a significant step forward in protecting user privacy on mobile.
Good news for Internet users concerned about privacy. Involved for a decade in its "fight to build a more secure Internet", Mozilla does not intend to stop in its tracks. While the German computer security agency BSI has recognized Firefox as the most secure, the foundation has generalized, on Android, one of its innovations in this direction: Total Cookie Protection (TCP), or "total protection against cookies ". And, in case you doubt seeing this term displayed on your application's release notes, this TCP has nothing to do with the well-known TCP/IP network protocol.
A separate “cookie box”
As Mozilla explains, this is a technology that limits cookies "to the site where they were created". Concretely, during a mobile browsing session, each site now has its own space, in which its small connection cookies are stored.
This prevents any other site or online tracker from entering this “box”, reading the cookies present there and discovering what the sites know about you, as they could with a common storage of cookies.
Indeed, website publishers are very fond of their users' data. Some use them to better target their ads in the context of retargeting, others use them to establish profiles and purchasing habits, or to offer videos based on interests. As scandals around the resale of personal user data multiply, this is therefore a feature that should put a spoke in the wheels of many firms that have made a business of it.
No user action required
Finally, the major advancement regarding this protection lies in its default deployment in the Firefox Enhanced Tracking Protection system. There is, therefore, no separate option to activate it and enjoy its benefits. Something to echo what the Firefox Focus browser already offered natively.
To ensure that the TCP works on the browser, you just have to tap on the lock present on the address bar. A purple button should appear confirming that Enhanced Protection is enabled.
However, Mozilla remains cautious, aware that some sites are too dependent on cookies. On its support pages, the publisher therefore gives a procedure for adding, to an exception list, those who could malfunction with TCP.