Global Privacy Control

Global Privacy Control (GPC) tells the websites you visit not to sell or share information about your browsing session on that site. Waterfox sends the signal automatically.

Tip

Unlike Firefox, where GPC is off until you enable it, Waterfox turns Global Privacy Control on by default. You do not need to do anything to start sending the signal.

GPC operates as a “Do Not Sell” mechanism in some US states, including California, Colorado and Connecticut. It may also be treated as an opt-out of targeted advertising, or as a general request to limit the sale or sharing of your personal data, in those states and in jurisdictions such as the EU, the UK, Nevada, Utah and Virginia.

What GPC does and does not do

GPC is a signal, not a blocker. It asks a site to respect your preference; it does not prevent the site from loading trackers.

Where the law recognizes GPC, sites are obliged to honor it.
Elsewhere, compliance is voluntary and some sites will ignore it.

For protection that does not depend on a site cooperating, combine GPC with Enhanced Tracking Protection and Waterfox’s built-in content blocker, both of which act on your machine rather than asking politely.

Check or change the setting

Click the menu button, then select Settings.
Select Privacy and security.
Go to the Additional protections section.
Tell websites not to sell or share my data is checked by default. Clear the checkbox to stop sending the signal.

Changes are saved automatically.

You can also set privacy.globalprivacycontrol.enabled in about:config.

Frequently asked questions

Does this stop all tracking?

No. GPC only sends a request. Some websites will still track you. Use it alongside tracking protection and content blocking rather than instead of them.

Can websites ignore GPC?

Yes. Outside the jurisdictions where it carries legal weight, honoring the signal is optional.

Does GPC replace Do Not Track?

Effectively, yes. The Do Not Track setting was removed from the Firefox interface in version 135, and Waterfox follows that platform change. See What happened to the Do Not Track feature? for details. GPC is newer and has far stronger recognition in law.

Will enabling this break websites?

Almost never. It sends a header and a JavaScript property; it does not change how a page loads. If you do hit a problem, you can clear the checkbox.

Adapted for Waterfox from the original Firefox article Global Privacy Control. Original content by Mozilla Contributors. Licensed under the CC BY-SA 3.0.