Mozilla started building a safety browsing engine in 2015 with the built-in Content Blocking feature that automatically blocks images, scripts and related content from third-party entities. This capability helps to prevent cross-site scripting tracking by companies blacklisted with the help of Disconnect– a data protection company.

However, when providing these tracker blocking features developers realized that such safety mechanisms can also block necessary web page functions.

To mitigate these potential obstacles, the SmartBlock feature automatically restores websites that have been damaged by other blocking features without disrupting user privacy. It operates by providing scripts for the web page that supports the site exactly how its original scripts would, so that the web page can render normally without risking user security.

Furthermore, the Mozilla team plans to keep improving upon such features that continue to protect users browsing the Web while also maintaining their access to and intended destination web pages. The teams behind the NoScript and uBlock tools have assisted with developing SmartBlock’s capabilities.

What is more, SmartBlock also has the ability to trim URLs from embedded images and scripts. This sort of referrer trimming removes everything from cross-origin web requests save for the embedding domain itself. The reason for safeguarding your data while browsing the Internet lies in how third-party websites track that data— by ingesting bits of your information whenever you embed an image or script from their web page into your own.

This means that whenever you implement an artefact from their website, the owners of that site receive a URL containing some of your data along with their own. Luckily, SmartBlock ensures third-parties cannot view any bits of information from your end.