Firefox has created a Facebook Container extension to limit data collection

The Facebook/Cambridge Analytica controversy has left internet users in a state of privacy panic, leading many influential figures calling out Facebook’s data collection methods which form the backbone of the company’s infrastructure. The scandal has also renewed the #DeleteFacebook movement, where many users have deleted their accounts, including figures like Elon Musk and his companies. 

Mozilla, the creators of the Firefox browser, has taken a different approach to the problem, creating a “Facebook Container” extension to lock the website into a private bubble, where it cannot access data from cookies on other sites. In basic terms, this blocks Facebook from tracking data in separate browser tabs, limiting the amount of data that Social Network can harvest.   

The downside of this extension is that it will prevent specific Facebook features from working, with a prime example being websites that use accounts or log-in details that linked to your Facebook account or the fact that Facebook like and comment functions on external sites will not work correctly. 

Upon installing the Firefox “Facebook Container” extension, the browser will log the user out of Facebook, forcing users to log in using a “container tab”.