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30 Best Free Chrome Extensions for Privacy & Security 4

DEV Community
Uncle Drew

We are past the halfway mark! Posts 1 to 3 covered the big names everyone knows. This batch gets into some seriously useful tools that fly under the radar. All confirmed live on the Chrome Web Store right now. Let's go. 16.Disconnect — Tracker Protection (Free) Disconnect is one of the most trusted names in online privacy and has been around for years. It blocks the trackers that feed advertising networks, analytics companies and social media platforms that follow you silently from site to site. What makes it stand out is that it also visualizes the invisible network of trackers on every page you visit so you can actually see who is watching you. It loads pages up to 44% faster as a side effect of blocking all that background noise. Named best privacy tool by the New York Times and trusted by over 350 million users. Search "Disconnect Tracker Protection" on the Chrome Web Store. 17.Privacy Guard (Free) Ever tried to read a website privacy policy and given up after the first paragraph? Privacy Guard solves that. It instantly analyzes any website's privacy policy and translates it into a simple colour-coded risk score from 1 to 5 so you can see at a glance whether a site is safe to trust with your data. No legal jargon, no walls of text — just a clear verdict in seconds. Really handy when you are signing up for something new and want to know what you are actually agreeing to. Search "Privacy Guard" on the Chrome Web Store. Try it 18.IDX Privacy (Free) IDX Privacy is an all-in-one tracker blocker that goes beyond just cookies. It detects and blocks fingerprinting attempts, the sneaky technique websites use to identify you even when cookies are cleared, as well as hiding your browser data and masking your browsing preferences. It also blocks ads and stops third party trackers from building a profile of your activity. The interface is clean and beginner-friendly so you do not need to be technical to use it. Search "IDX Privacy" on the Chrome Web Store. 19.NoScript (Free) NoScript is a award winning security extension that has been trusted by privacy experts for years and is even bundled with the Tor Browser. It works by allowing active content to run only on domains you specifically trust, so sketchy or unknown websites cannot execute potentially harmful scripts in your browser without your permission. It recently got a major update making it fully cross-browser and Manifest V3 compatible for Chrome. If you want one of the most battle-tested layers of protection you can add to your browser, this is it. Rated 4.8 stars. Search "NoScript" on the Chrome Web Store. 20.WebRTC Control (Free) Here is one most people have never heard of but genuinely need. Even when you are using a VPN, your real IP address can leak through a browser feature called WebRTC — a communication protocol used for things like video calls. WebRTC Control disables this leak with one click so your actual IP stays hidden even while your VPN is running. It also lets you run an IP leak test right from the extension to confirm you are fully protected. Rated 4.3 stars. Search "WebRTC Control" on the Chrome Web Store. 20 down and 10 to go! Post 5 is coming next with extensions 21 to 25. We are nearly at the finish line for the Privacy and Security category.