Latest Firefox version gets improved font fingerprint technology
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If you throw a rock in a room fool of browser users, you’ll probably hit one that uses Google Chrome. However, he might be standing near a Mozilla Firefox user, and that guy is definitely going to be excited about the latest news coming from the Firefox camp.
The latest Firefox version, Firefox 52, will be tentatively available on March 7th, 2017. However, there will be pre-release builds that will preview what Mozilla is planning with its browser, like enhanced protection policy for the font fingerprinting technology.
For anyone unfamiliar with the terminology, font fingerprinting refers to a technology which is used by website entities to create a login profile of sorts characteristic to each user. This form of authentication uses public data so it doesn’t violate any privacy rights, and many consider it to be a good initiative.
In Firefox 52, users will be able to restrict the way fonts operate, whitelist them, and manage which fonts operate at all — changes that pleased the browser’s fanbase. If you are interested in how you might whitelist a font, check out this easy tutorial:
- Enter about:config in the browser’s address bar;
- Aprove whatever prompt might come up;
- From the preferences section, chose New and then String, then rename your new string system.whitelist;
- Separated by a comma, add the fonts you want to whitelist.
In the same manner, you can whitelist whatever font you wish, adding to the uniqueness of your browser font fingerprinting profile. While pre-release builds offer this feature, keep in mind that the main browser version that will incorporate is Firefox 52.
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