Firefox update adds Facebook Container to stop trackers for targeted ads

If you’ve ever been served a Facebook ad that was a little too relevant you’ll be glad to know there’s now a way to stop them.

There’s around a 70 per cent chance you’re reading this using Google’s Chrome web browser, but if you’re in that majority there’s a compelling new reason to switch.

Rival browser Firefox, made by Mozilla, has added a prompt for users in the latest update to stop Facebook tracking you across the internet when you’re off Facebook, and using that data to serve you ever-creepier ads when you’re on it.

If you’ve ever found yourself in the uncanny situation of having an ad served to you on Facebook (or its increasingly profitable Instagram subsidiary) that’s a little too personal, it might be something you want to consider.

RELATED: Facebook sued for “systemic failures”

The trackers that follow you around the web to serve you more targeted ads on Facebook can be annoying, but you can avoid them. Picture: Joel Saget / AFP

RELATED: Teen’s prank gets tick of approval

Facebook and other sites use “trackers” that follow you around the web collecting data on your browsing activity that it can then use to serve you more “relevant” advertising.

The sites argue increasing the relevancy of ads is done as a favour to you, but making you more likely to click on an ad also does wonders for their bottom line.

If you want to stop them from following you around the web, the Facebook Container add-on in the Firefox browser does the trick.

While it’s been around for some time, the latest version of Firefox prompts users to install it following the update.

The container works by essentially creating two browsers inside your browser: one where you’re logged into Facebook, and one where you’re not.

Installing the add-on logs you out of Facebook and deletes the “cookies” that store information like login info.

The next time you open a tab and go to Facebook, it will open in a new blue tab.

Any links you click that take you off Facebook will open outside the “Container” to stop Facebook trackers.

It’s not a perfect solution.

Firefox might not be as popular as some other browsers but it offers privacy and security features others don’t.

RELATED: What you’ll stop seeing on Facebook

Facebook still gets information if you share something from another site to your Facebook using a button from that site.

The container also prevents you from using some Facebook features embedded on other sites.

Things like logging into a site with your Facebook credentials also stop working.

Facebook still has access to the data you provide it as well as your activity on the Facebook site itself, but Mozilla said the container allows you to stop Facebook’s more intrusive behaviours without cutting yourself off from the platform entirely.

“Rather than stop using a service you find valuable, we think you should have tools to limit what data others can obtain. This extension focuses on limiting Facebook tracking,” Mozilla said on the extension’s website.

Mozilla and its owner, the Mozilla Foundation, is focused on keeping “the internet open and accessible to all” and makes web products and tools that “put people before profit”.

These include the Firefox browser and Thunderbird mail client.

Mozilla makes a little bit of money through the products it makes but is mostly funded through donations, including from rival tech companies like AOL and Google.

Will you be using the Facebook Container to block creepy ads? Let us know in the comments below.