It’s safe to say at this point that a lot of people are disillusioned with the default web browsers on their devices, at least when it comes to Windows and Android. WhileMicrosoft EdgeandGoogle Chromehave a lot of privacy and security measures in place, their makers still have reason to collect data you might not want to share, particularly in the case of Google. Most of Google’s revenue comes from advertising – not thePixel phonesor Nest accessories you buy.
That’s given privacy-oriented browsers a little more traction, some well-known examples beingFirefoxand DuckDuckGo. But there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of Waterfox – here’s what you need to know about it if you think it might be worth a try.
Waterfox is a privacy-focused web browser that’s fast and full of options.
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What is Waterfox?
A familiar lineage
As you might gather from its name, yes,Waterfoxis a spin-off of Mozilla’s Firefox browser. It’s based on the same engine, Gecko, and supports many of the same add-ons, including not just native Firefox enhancements but Chrome and Opera extensions. Downloads are available forWindows, macOS, Linux, and Android.
There’s no iPhone or iPad version yet.
Waterfox was originally born to be a faster 64-bit version of Firefox, but with both browsers now on par in that area, the main distinction is an even more intense focus on privacy. While Waterfox gathers some basic device data to perform updates, that’s the limit. Its creators don’t collect any additional analytics, and for third-party websites, tracking protection is on by default. Companies shouldn’t be able to follow you via cross-site cookies, in other words, and there are anti-fingerprinting measures available if you want to risk the performance hit.
The main distinction is an even more intense focus on privacy.
At least some of this will sound familiar to Firefox users, but Waterfox also offers Private Tabs, which lets you perform fully anonymous browsing without having to open a separate window. The browser even disables closed-source integrations, likePocket’s read-it-later service. If you’re extremely concerned about privacy, there’s the option of Oblivious DNS, a domain name service that makes it tougher for your internet service provider to track web habits.
There aren’t too many other unique highlights to speak of, but you’re able to sync settings between devices, and import bookmarks and passwords from other browsers. The big design feature is something calledContainer Tabs– on a basic level, this lets you group tabs for different purposes, such as work versus shopping – you can color-code containers to make things easier. But containers also appear to silo personal data, keeping cookies, accounts, and search histories separate.
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Is Waterfox safe to use?
Just stay vigilant
There don’t appear to be any major problems, but be aware that Waterfox is a small-scale project if you don’t includeGitHubcontributors. It doesn’t have all the features of browsers like Chrome or Firefox, particularly since closed-source integrations are excluded. If you encounter any bugs, it could (potentially) take longer for them to be addressed, due to the size of the team working on them. When stability is a major concern, it’s best to check what people are saying about a new release before updating.
Be aware that you may be sacrificing some conveniences to maximize your privacy.
You should also be aware that Waterfox’s creators, BrowserWorks, depend on “search partnerships” to generate income. Those partners aren’t identified, and the only thing we know about corporate data sharing is that those partners return “data about the number of searches you request,” according to BrowserWorks’privacy policy. you’re able to select alternate search options if that bothers you, or simply if you prefer other search tools – but you’ll no longer be supporting the Waterfox project.
Overall, Waterfox should be safe to try. Just be aware that you may be sacrificing some conveniences to maximize your privacy.
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