Firefox Privacy: The about:protections Weekly Summary

The Firefox web browser features a built-in privacy dashboard accessible by typing about:protections into the address bar. This article provides a straightforward breakdown of the dashboard's weekly summary, detailing how Firefox visualizes and reports blocked cross-site cookies, social media trackers, fingerprinters, cryptominers, and personal data breaches.

The Weekly Tracking Protection Graph

At the top of the about:protections dashboard, Firefox displays a color-coded bar graph representing the activity of its Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP) over the past seven days. It also shows a cumulative total of all trackers blocked since you first started using the browser.

Hovering over any day on the graph reveals the exact number of threats blocked on that specific day, broken down into specific categories.

Blocked Trackers and Scripts

The weekly summary categorizes blocked privacy threats into the following specific metrics:

  • Cross-Site Tracking Cookies: These are cookies used by third-party advertising networks and analytics companies to follow your browsing habits from one website to another. The dashboard shows the exact number of these cookies isolated or blocked during the week to prevent companies from building a profile of your interests.
  • Social Media Trackers: Social networks often embed buttons and scripts on external websites to track what you read and watch, even if you do not interact with those buttons. The summary tallies how many times Firefox stopped these embedded scripts from sending your data back to social media platforms.
  • Fingerprinters: Fingerprinting is a tracking method that collects your device's unique configuration—such as screen resolution, operating system, installed fonts, and browser settings—to identify you without using cookies. The dashboard displays the number of hidden fingerprinting scripts blocked from harvesting your system specifications over the last seven days.
  • Cryptominers: Alongside fingerprinters, the weekly summary also counts blocked cryptominers. These are malicious or unauthorized scripts hidden on websites that silently use your computer's CPU and electricity to generate cryptocurrency for someone else.

Data Breaches Summary

Below the tracking protection graph, the about:protections dashboard displays a real-time summary of your exposure to data breaches, powered by Mozilla Monitor. Depending on whether you are signed into a Mozilla account, this section shows:

  • Monitored Email Addresses: The number of email addresses you currently have registered for breach monitoring.
  • Known Data Breaches: The total number of corporate data breaches where your monitored email addresses were found.
  • Exposed Passwords: If you use Firefox's built-in password manager, the dashboard cross-references your saved logins against known security breaches. It immediately alerts you to the exact number of saved passwords that have been compromised and need to be changed.

By consolidating these metrics onto one page, the about:protections dashboard gives you an immediate, transparent look at the background threats Firefox neutralizes every week and the current security status of your personal credentials.