Mozilla Firefox is the "most secure" web browser with Total Cookie Protection on by default

Mozilla is now offering Total Cookie Protection as a default setting for all desktop users of the Firefox web browser. The company claims this feature makes Firefox “the most secure and private web browser” on Windows, Linux, and Mac PCs.

Total Cookie Protection could be Firefox’s most promising and strong privacy protection to date. The feature essentially confines cookies to the site where they were created. This should help prevent tracking companies from using cookies to track an internet user’s browsing patterns as they move from site to site.

Mozilla assures that Total Cookie Protection offers strong protections against tracking. However, the feature does not affect a user’s browsing experience. It works by creating a separate “cookie jar” for each website users will visit. Previously, any and all cookies generated by any one website were pooled inside a common container. Needless to mention, this container, stored locally, was accessible to all websites and tracking companies that were interested.

Moving ahead, Mozilla Firefox users will have their cookies segregated into different containers, and these will be restricted to the websites that create them. This restriction and containerization should, in theory, offer some level of privacy. More importantly, Total Cookie Protection could significantly bring down invasive ads. It could also reduce the quantum of information companies can gather about and from users.

Total Cookie Protection is an interesting approach that attempts to strike a balance between privacy and information sharing. On one hand, the feature allows cookies to fulfill their primitive and much less invasive tasks such as providing accurate analytics. At the same time, it offers better privacy.

Mozilla introduced Total Cookie Protection in February 2021. However, the company restricted it to Firefox’s tracking protection feature called Enhanced Tracking Protection Strict Mode. Thereafter the capability was enabled by default in private browsing windows. As of today, Total Cookie Protection will now be on by default for all users worldwide.