Day 16

Set Up Privacy & Security Extensions

DAY 16: Set Up Privacy & Security Extensions

Today, we’re upgrading your browser with some killer privacy and security extensions. Let’s make your browsing experience more secure without sacrificing convenience.

What’s up, S’mores! I’m Shannon Morse, and welcome to Day 16 of the 30-Day Security Challenge - your guide to mastering privacy and security, one step at a time, with a few breaks built in.

You can follow along with the challenge via my blog at ShannonRMorse.com, where you can grab your checklist and skip ahead if you’re feeling ambitious. All of these videos are organized in a playlist, so you can binge-watch from Day 1 to Day 30!

Why Browser Extensions Matter

Browsers are your window to the world - but if you leave them unprotected, that window is wide open for anyone to peer right back at you.

When you're surfing the web, your browser collects a lot of information: your location, search queries, personal details, and browsing history. Without the right tools, this data is up for grabs. Privacy and security extensions are like armor for your browser. They stop trackers, block malicious ads, and ensure that every site you visit is as secure as possible.

This video builds upon yesterdays video, where we discussed the integrated settings that are already available in your browser, and choosing a third party browser instead of the one that comes with your operating system. So watch yesterday’s video for more context about browser security.

When it comes to extensions, they are going to be limited in what they can do. So using proper privacy and security practices while browsing will offer you more shields and defenses for day to day use. Extensions are only one of the layers to security that we’re talking about in this series. In general extensions should be privacy focused first - not profiting off your data. Here are a few that I have used, along with some pro tips.

HTTPS Everywhere

First on the list: HTTPS Everywhere.

When you visit a website, you’ve probably seen HTTP in the URL — but did you know that HTTP is insecure? It’s like sending your personal information out in the open. HTTPS is the secure version, encrypting your data to protect it from hackers.

What HTTPS Everywhere does is force every website to switch from HTTP to HTTPS, making sure you’re always browsing safely. It works silently in the background, and you don’t have to worry about anything!

It’s also a really nice, lightweight extension, so it doesn’t make your browser sluggish.

Privacy Badger

Next up: Privacy Badger by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Privacy Badger automatically blocks third-party trackers that spy on you while you’re browsing. It gives you easy-to-understand alerts, color-coding sites based on how much they track your activity. No more creepy advertisers following you across the internet.

If you want alternatives, Ghostery and Disconnect are both fantastic for blocking trackers as well. But my recommendation? Privacy Badger is open-source and works right out of the box.

Ad Blockers: AdBlock or uBlock Origin (or uBlock Origin Lite)

Here’s the thing - I love supporting creators, but ads on websites are a real headache. Some of them can even inject malware into your device. That’s where ad blockers come in.

AdBlock and uBlock Origin are my go-to options. They block all the annoying pop-up ads and banner ads that slow down your browsing.

Last year Google introduced this thing called Manifest V3, which is a new extension framework for Chrome and it was supposed to make improvements to security and privacy while also make performance better in browser, but that kinda screwed up some extensions and what they could do.

The uBlock Origin dev made uBlock Origin Lite in response, AKA uBOL, and it’s a simpler version of uBlock Origin but works with Manifest V3. So if you’re using Chrome, you may want to look at uBOL.

Advocating For Content Creators

Now for some self reflection and my personal bias:

But be mindful - some sites rely on ads for income, so you may want to whitelist those sites you want to support. If you hate paywalls on news resources, or dislike seeing integrated ads on Youtube, or have disappointment when your favorite creator stops creating, - sometimes it’s because they do rely on ads for income.

Some creators and small businesses have found ways to remove ads entirely, or offer alternative support options, like memberships. Youtube doesn’t give creators a way to disable ads for members on a channel, but some news sites do this.

Since I’m a content creator, part of the reason I’m able to make videos like this one, without a dedicated sponsor, is because of Youtube Ads. I do whitelist Youtube viewing so I can continue to support content creators that are my friends and colleagues, and if you don’t like seeing sponsorships in each video, I’d suggest you do the same, or pay for Youtube Premium.

I’m definitely not suggesting that you purchase Youtube Premium while you’re using a VPN to tunnel to another country and compare prices though, similar to what you can do when you buy hotel rooms or flights, because Google got smart and knows people do that…

If you don’t wanna pay for Youtube Premium, that’s cool too. One free way you can support creators is by just subscribing.

So if you’re following along with the challenge, hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications so you don’t miss tomorrow’s video. You can grab the full checklist and daily recap at ShannonRMorse.com.

BIG Patreon shoutout to to my smores! You can join them and support my channel by going to patreon.com/shannonmorse for perks like early video access and my private discord!

As usual, all the videos on my channel are free to watch, and I thank my youtube members and patrons for making that possible.

ProtonVPN

The last extension I’m shouting out is ProtonVPN’s browser extension, which will help with privatizing your browsing. It’s free, the data plans rock, and they have a no logs policy. Proton in general offers some pretty great privacy-centric tools, and the VPN in particular lets you get around geo-blocking, the speeds are reliable, and it’s great for general privacy use.

I pay for the VPN service plan as a desktop tool just to protect all of my data, not just what’s going on in my browser, but if you just want a free extension, the ProtonVPN is pretty sweet.

2025 Update: New Browser Features for Enhanced Privacy

Browsers nowadays do have a lot of AI features built in to “enhance your experience” but that also comes with some privacy issues. Data collection and lack of anonymity being two big culprits.

On the other hand, some tools are using AI-driven ad blocking and privacy features too, with smarter blocking thanks to machine learning, flagging and detecting vulnerabilities faster. So, not only is it important to test the extensions you choose to use, but it’s also important to customize them based on how comfortable you are with their features.

Not all extensions are created equal: you may notice sluggish behavior in your browser, or websites break due to code or ads being blocked. You may need to take some time to “fix” these problems by whitelisting or manually disabling the extensions for certain sites. If you run all sorts of extensions at once, this can sometimes cause issues too, so picking and choose which ones offer the most reliable experience will do you a world of good.

TLDR your mileage may vary.

That’s a wrap for Day 16! You’ve now got your browser locked down with the best privacy and security extensions. You can browse with confidence, knowing that your data is safe and secure (just remember to keep practicing good security and privacy hygiene and consider the layered approach to security by implementing other 30 Day Security Challenge tips too!).

Tomorrow for Day 17, we’ll talk about AI and how to control what data AI knows about you.

If you found today’s video helpful, make sure to give it a thumbs-up, subscribe, and hit that notification bell!

Grab your free checklist at ShannonRMorse.com/

I’m Shannon Morse, and I’ll see you tomorrow for Day 17 - bye yall!