µBlock 0.6.6.0

Experimental features

Since I started to work on HTTP Switchboard, then µBlock, this has been my stern observation: tracking/data mining and all such activities are just plain out of control. This can't be argued. See latest privacy exposure benchmark to get an idea.

Most people are aware of the visible part of this iceberg, the ads. In my opinion, users should care even more about the less visible part, the tracking/data mining to which they are subjected.

I made it my current hobby to try to give users the tools to escape that which they did not consent and explicitly opt-in in a fully informed manner.

So in that spirit, when I think of a feature which may be beneficial in foiling tracking/data mining, I will first introduce it as an experimental feature. "Experimental features" are disabled by default, and can be enabled in the Settings tab in the dashboard.

New:

• Experimental feature: "Local mirroring" (ideas for better name welcomed):
  • To reduce privacy exposure to 3rd-parties
  • Even with EasyList, EasyPrivacy et al., users are potential target for tracking/data mining through ubiquitous Content Delivery Networks.
  • This feature is an attempt to minimize this exposure.

Changes:

• "Fanboy's Social Block List" will now be selected by default when µBlock is installed by default (no change for existing users, but you are encouraged to selected it).

In the spirit of this release, I strongly encourage users to enable "Anti-ThirdpartySocial‎" (formerly named "Fanboy’s Anti-Facebook"): 3rd-party connections to facebook.com are not foiled by "Fanboy's Social Block List", and I observed in the latest benchmark that connections facebook.com have grown significantly (see for yourself, spreadsheets available here.)