'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
Firefox for Android just got an important privacy feature: How it could benefit you
Over the years, Firefox has always been the browser I turn to when I need a heightened level of security on the desktop. Although it might not bring the levels of security and anonymity found in Tor Browser, it doesn't suffer network slowdowns, which Tor often falls prey to, and it certainly isn't as insecure as Chrome.
One of the features that helps make Firefox more secure than other browsers is called Total Cookie Protection. This feature was added to the open-source browser some time ago and has done a bang-up job of keeping me protected against cookies.
Also: Here's the best way to ensure your privacy with a web browser
What is Total Cookie Protection? Essentially it creates what Mozilla calls a "cookie jar" for every website you visit. When you go to a website that includes third-party content which would normally inject a cookie into your browser, Firefox confines that cookie to that website's cookie jar. By doing this, no website's cookie can interact with another, ergo preventing cookies from reading other cookies from other sites. This helps to greatly reduce the amount of information a company is capable of collecting from you. And that, my friends, is a good thing.
Also: Best browsers for privacy
Total Cookie Protection is enabled by default on the Firefox desktop browser. You can disable it from within Settings > Privacy & Security > Custom, but I would not suggest doing so as this feature does a great job of protecting against cross-site tracking and information collection.
No one should allow such tracking via their desktop web browser and now you don't have to worry about it on your mobile device because Mozilla has added Total Cookie Protection to the Android version of its browser.
Also: What is Firefox Nightly and should you be using it?
Take that, Google.
If you've ever needed a reason to migrate away from the Chrome browser on Android, you now have it. With the addition of Total Cookie Protection on the Android version of Firefox, you can finally enjoy the same level of protection you do on the desktop.
Even better, like on the desktop, Total Cookie Protection is enabled by default on the Android version of Firefox. The only thing you need to do is install the open-source web browser on your device. Since this is done from the Google Play Store, not only is it simple, it's also safe.
Also: This might be my new favorite web browser
If you already have Firefox installed on your device, you should immediately go to the Google Play Store and check to see if there's an update for the browser. You want to make sure you're using at least version 111.0.
How to locate the version of Firefox on your device
1. Open Firefox
The first thing to do is open the Firefox web browser on your Android device.
2. Open Settings
Tap the three-dot menu button at the bottom right corner of your browser.
If the button isn't on the bottom right corner, it might be on the top right corner (depending on how you have Firefox configured). From the popup menu, tap Settings.
Accessing the Firefox settings page in Android 13.
3. Check the version number
Scroll to the very bottom of the Settings page and tap About Firefox. In the resulting page, you should see the version number. If it's less than version 111.0, Total Cookie Protection isn't there, so you'll need to upgrade as soon as possible.
If you have version 111.0 or greater, you have Total Cookie Protection.
Even if you don't pay any attention to such things, it's important that you understand cross-site cookie protection is actually important. If you value your privacy and security, I would strongly recommend you switch from Chrome as your default Android browser to Firefox.
Also: What are Firefox Container Tabs and how do you use them?
Total Cookie Protection is serious about keeping you safe from third parties using (and abusing) information about you via your mobile web browser.