I ditched Firefox for this privacy-focused spinoff with better features

Mozilla's Firefox is a popular alternative to Chrome, Edge, and other Chromium-based browsers that dominate the market. Instead, it utilizes the Gecko engine, which is often used as the backbone for privacy-focused browsers, such as Mullvad and Zen, due to its speed, stability, and lack of Google involvement.

I'm a big fan of privacy-focused browsers and tried Waterfox to see what it's all about and how it differs from Firefox, on which it's based. It shares a similar interface to the standard Firefox browser but takes things a step further with additional features for those who want even greater security. I appreciate its simplicity, and I feel safer after switching from Firefox to this privacy-focused alternative.

Startpage search engine

Private browsing by default

It's no secret that Google tracks our searches and uses the data for personalized ads. That's why Waterfox uses the Startpage search engine by default. It features a dropdown menu to select from niche alternatives, such as Qwant, Ecosia, or DuckDuckGo, or mainstream options like Bing, Yahoo, and Google, which may defeat its purpose but are still nice to have. I appreciate that I can independently set the default engines for regular and private tabs, depending on the level of privacy I want.

I stayed with Startpage as the default search engine, and it found similar results to Google with many of my entries. The big difference was that I needed to click on a separate page for images, as there were none on the main search page. To me, this is a small price to pay for a search engine that removes all personal or identifying information, keeping my browsing anonymous. Startpage also deletes search queries and internal logs, so my search history will never be displayed to anyone else using my laptop.

The anonymous view feature in Startpage blocks cookies, trackers, and fingerprinting. It acts like a VPN between me and the website, which will only know that Smartpage is visiting it and won't have access to any of my personal information. A Smartpage search will produce a list of results, and I can click on the "Visit in Anonymous View" tag to use this feature or continue browsing as usual without it.

Container tabs

Separate your online activities

Container tabs are an easy way to keep my work and private tabs separate and use different accounts on each. This feature is enabled by default in Waterfox but requires the Firefox Multi-Account Containers extension to function. When activated, I can open each new tab in a separate container, like Shopping, Work, or Personal, with each linked to a different account. I can then have one browser window open with independent tabs that have unique bookmarks and accounts.

WaterFox elevates this Firefox feature to the next level by offering the option to open a private browsing tab as a container within the browser window. I find this feature helpful because I can easily switch between regular and private tabs in the same window without needing to minimize one to see the other. If I don't feel like using containers, I can use a simple Waterfox setting to ensure all browser tabs are private.

DNS over Oblivious HTTP

Encrypt DNS requests

DNS over Oblivious HTTP (OHTTP) is another Firefox feature that's activated by default on Waterfox. It prevents my ISP and other parties from tracking me by creating a buffer between my requests and the server handling them. When I browse a site, it sends all the information through a relay server, which removes the source IP address and other identifying information before forwarding it to the destination.

The destination server will then decrypt and process my request without seeing my information. This separation of information ensures that no single server has both my identity and browsing details and adds another layer of privacy.

Website Privacy Preferences

Request more privacy

Most modern browsers incorporate Global Privacy Control (GPC) settings to notify websites about your privacy preferences and opt out of them selling your data. Whether they comply or not depends on the individual site and jurisdiction, with states such as California and Colorado, as well as countries like the UK and EU, enforcing the rules.

Waterfox sets its website privacy preferences to "Tell websites not to sell or share my data" by default to opt out of targeted advertising and data collection. There's also a tick box to send websites a "Do Not Track" request, but its success depends on the voluntary compliance of each website and has questionable effectiveness.

Enhanced Tracking Protection

Increased safety

Firefox is known for its excellent privacy, and Waterfox tweaks many of its features to improve security. Enhanced Tracking Protection is a feature both browsers share, with Standard, Strict, or Custom settings to limit online tracking. I expected Waterfox to have a Strict default setting, but it matches the Standard offered by Firefox, which balances protection and performance.

It blocks fingerprinters, cross-site cookies, social media trackers, and cryptominers from tracking my activity. The stricter settings may cause performance issues with certain sites, but I can always add them to my exception list if I trust them. With Enhanced Tracking Protection activated, I can view the Protections Dashboard, which displays a chart of all trackers blocked while I'm browsing.

Should you use Waterfox as your browser?

It depends on what you want from your browser and if you value privacy. I consider Waterfox an enhanced version of Firefox, with additional features. Its main advantages are the no-telemetry design and improved containers with the option of a privacy tab. Many other features are shared between the two, with the primary difference being their configuration.

I'm happier using Waterfox instead of Firefox because it offers all the same great features and better security. As far as privacy is concerned, I think it's on par with Firefox-based rivals, like Librewolf, and Chromium-based alternatives like Brave.