In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, Ghostery is inviting folks to try their luck and spin a wheel full of discounts for the chance to win up to 30% off a subscription plan. Find out if March is your lucky month: spin the Wheel of Savings.
In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, Ghostery is inviting folks to try their luck and spin a wheel full of discounts for the chance to win up to 30% off a subscription plan. Find out if March is your lucky month: spin the Wheel of Savings.
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Ghostery Dawn is significantly more private than its competitors. This is because, in addition to hosting the typical features of a browser, our browser has Ghostery’s signature privacy protection technologies baked into it.
Like many browsers, we offer a private browsing mode (Ghost mode) and a private search engine. On top of that, Ghostery Dawn employs technology that actively shields your data from trackers. Those two signature technologies of Ghostery are known as (1) tracker-blocking, which stops trackers from being planted on the sites you visit, and (2) anti-tracking, our supplemental capability, which anonymizes your personally identifiable information should any trackers get through.
Not yet. However, we are working on building specific extensions on Chrome and Firefox that will let users set Ghostery Search as their default. Stay tuned!
You can install extensions via the Firefox store.
Redirect Tracking Protection is an advanced privacy setting offered in Ghostery Dawn. It is a tactic used by ad-technologies to bypasses third-party cookie restrictions by invisibly redirecting users that have clicked on an ad to a tracking URL before they arrive to their desired location such as an e-commerce store. This very brief stopover lets the tracker set a first-party cookie, bypassing third-party cookie protections, and makes it easier for them to track users at their final destinations. Redirect Tracking Protection is a technology built by Firefox that clears cookies from known trackers once every 24 hours, making it harder for these technologies to build a long-term profile using your browsing history.
Dynamic First Party Isolation is an advanced privacy setting offered in Ghostery Dawn. We have enabled first-party isolation by default to better protect users against cross-site tracking. This feature prevents cross-site tracking by keeping all browser storage (cookies, cache, etc) isolated between each site you visit.
Referrer Data Leakage Protection is an advanced privacy setting offered in Ghostery Dawn. When you click on links to navigate to websites, the URL from the original source – the referrer – will often include potentially sensitive private information that can be leaked to third-party trackers that are present on the destination website. For example, if you click on a link in an email, it could look something like this: https://website.com/?email=bob.smithl@email.com&firstname=Bob&lastname=Smith. This kind of link, also known as TellTale URLs, can include your name, email address, or other personal information that can then be linked to third-party trackers. Ghostery Protects against this with a method called referrer trimming where it strips out this personal information before the URL can be sent to a third-party tracker.
Tracker Cloaking Protection is an advanced privacy setting offered in Ghostery Dawn. Some trackers use a technique called CNAME cloaking where they pretend to be first-party code by mimicking legitimate subdomains of the websites they are present on, thereby avoiding detection as a third-party technology. The Ghostery Browser has a technology to unmask and block these cloaked trackers.
HTTPS-Only Mode is an advanced privacy setting offered in Ghostery Dawn. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the fundamental protocol for how browsers and websites communicate, is unprotected often susceptible to unwanted surveillance and possibly manipulation. HTTPS-Only Mode ensures that all communications made with the Ghostery Browsers are done so with HTTP over TLS (HTTPS), a secure and encrypted form of communication that is a much safer protocol.
Microphone/Camera Mute Switch is an advanced privacy setting offered in Ghostery Dawn. We offer our users a very convenient feature that makes it very easy to turn off your microphone and camera when the browser is asking you for access, like during a video conference call.
~/.ghostery\ browser directorytar zcPf ~/ghostery-backup-$(date +%s).tar.gz ~/.ghostery\ browser
~/Ghostery
tar jxf Ghostery*.tar.bz2 -C $HOME
~/Ghostery/Ghostery -ProfileManager to start the Ghostery Dawn Profile Managerghostery-buildmkdir -p ~/bin
cat > ~/bin/ghostery <<END
#!/bin/bash
exec "\$HOME/Ghostery/Ghostery” -P ghostery-build "\$@"
END
chmod 755 ~/bin/ghostery
ghostery command in your ~/bin directory will now run Ghostery Dawn with the ghostery-build profile.~/bin directory to your path so you can run the ghostery command from any folder.
~/bin to your $PATH in your shell config:bash:
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:~/bin"' >> ~/.bash_profile
zsh:
echo 'export PATH="$PATH:~/bin"' >> ~/.zshrc
ghostery from any folder to start Ghostery DawnThere are 3 symbols in the purple box that provide alerting.
Explosion = Broken Page
Snail = Slow Page
Shark Fin = Non-Secure Tag Detected
In our 8.2.5 hotfix, we made an important improvement to our Ad Blocker that allows Ghostery to more rigorously detect and block ads (specifically, those served over web sockets).
Because this introduces a new detection mechanism in our extension, Firefox requires that users acknowledge the update.
You will therefore see a prompt from Firefox that you must approve in order for Ghostery to update. To proceed (highly recommended), simply click “Update.” This will also grant permission for all future Ghostery updates, so you will not be prompted again.
If you click “Cancel,” your extension will NOT be updated, will not receive any fixes or new features. In this case, you will be prompted again each time there is a new release.
The prompt says Ghostery needs permission to “Access your data for all websites.” What does this mean?
In order for Ghostery to block trackers and ads, it needs to be able to detect and take action on elements of a web page as you browse. We do not record sensitive information, record browsing history, or disclose user data. Note that despite the prompt being new, Ghostery is not introducing any new permissions with the update.
Ghostery is an open source technology and we invite you to take a look and see what we are doing behind the scenes on our Github page.
With the update of Safari 12, all extensions using legacy code have been disabled. We have built a new Ghostery Lite extension that will work with the updated Mojave/Safari 12 release. However, its not in production yet. For now… Here are the instructions on how to reinstall Ghostery 5.
1) Open Safari
2) Go to Preferences in Safari
3) Select the ‘Extensions’ icon
4) Find Ghostery in the left panel
5) Check the box near Ghostery
6) A message will pop up saying: “Are you sure you want to enable the extension ‘Ghostery’“, then select Enable
7) You’re good to go!
Ghostery 8 introduces a new suite of features designed to strengthen privacy, block ads, and enhance website performance.
Enhanced Anti-Tracking: Developed by our parent company Cliqz, our Enhanced Anti-Tracking feature is a heuristic approach to real-time, algorithmic tracking protection. Like Ghostery’s main blocking mechanism, it monitors all third-party requests. However, instead of simply blocking those requests, it analyzes them for personally identifiable information and then strips out that information before the request is sent. Enhanced Anti-Tracking supplements Ghostery’s block-list approach by catching anything that might have been missed. Therefore, even if trackers are allowed to execute, you can feel safe knowing that all personal information has been anonymized in the request.
You can learn more about how it works in this article from Cliqz. Under the section header “Building the Global Safe Set”, we discuss what data is collected via anti-tracking. In order for this system to work, we must analyze the tracker requests for patterns to determine what should be deemed unsafe. However, this is done anonymously and without compromising user privacy.
On the Cliqz browser, this feature is active by default and can be accessed from the Cliqz control panel.
Enhanced Ad Blocking: Our new visual ad-blocker complements Ghostery tracker blocking and anti-tracking. It catches and eliminates ads from a filter list and does not require any user-generated data.
On the Cliqz browser, this feature is active by default and can be accessed from the Cliqz control panel.
Smart Blocking: We developed our automatic Smart Blocking feature to make it easier for users to optimize their browsing experience and blocking choices. It automatically blocks slow or non-secure trackers, for example, and allows certain trackers that we know may cause breakage on popular websites when blocked. This function is run locally and does not use any personal data.
Ghostery, Inc. is a NYC-based subsidiary company of Cliqz GmbH that offers a free browser extension and mobile browser that make navigating the internet smarter, faster, and safer. Ghostery detects and blocks tracking technologies on the websites you visit to speed up page loads, eliminate clutter, and protect your data and privacy. It keeps you informed on what companies are tracking you and provides you the tools you need to control what to block and when.
We’ve been experimenting with potential new features to deliver more value to our users.
These include several new dashboard concepts to help users browse smarter:
History dashboard: A log of your tracking history that shows what Ghostery has done for you, including trends about trackers you’ve encountered and blocked over time.
Performance dashboard: An analysis of website performance, such as data transferred, page load quality and number of data requests.
Tracker alerts dashboard: Control center where users can “tag” trackers to follow their activity on the web, receive insight into loading behavior, and alerts when they appear on a page you visit.
Rewards dashboard: A hub that displays Ghostery Rewards earned and redeemed.
We are also gauging interest in a website snapshot function, an interactive mode where users can view which elements on a page are linked with trackers, make adjustments, and see before/after page comparisons.
Finally, our development team is experimenting with a native Ghostery desktop application that provides system-wide privacy protection and in-depth tracker analytics.
Yes, all the Ghostery Browser Extensions and Mobile Apps are completely free to download and use.
The Human Web is an open-source technology built by our parent company, Cliqz, that uses the power of anonymous group data create innovative browser technologies to make the internet more private. Users that participate in the Human Web contribute anonymous information related to trackers, websites, and search queries that are then analyzed and evaluated for relevance and safety. This data is used to create anonymous group models that power the private quick-search, anti-tracking, anti-phishing technologies featured in Cliqz products and which will soon be featured in Ghostery.
The Human Web is built using world-leading privacy-by-design practices that ensures that any data that is collected is done completely anonymously without any personally identifiable information. To achieve this, the Human Web implements two core components: its data collection framework and its proxy network.
The Human Web data collection framework requires that the data points contributed by users are evaluated only as a single, aggregated event, disentangling these signals from any personally-identifiable information such as timestamps or user IDS. Furthermore, The Human Web filters out any sensitive or personal information from URLs that are deemed unsafe (e.g., twitter.com/username) that can be used to identify an individual person. Thus, we are neither able to combine data from multiple entries or multiple visits to websites, nor to link this information with any personal information, like email addresses or user IDs, that can be used to identify an individual.
As a further safety precaution, this information is sent through the Human Web proxy network, a series of peer-to-peer proxies that remove information like the user IP addresses, making it virtually impossible to determine who or where the data comes from. The proxy network itself is blind to the content of the data its sending, adding a further security measure to the process. Consequently, all data we collect is virtually unidentifiable by anyone, including ourselves, so that even if our security were breached by a hacker our outside organization, there would be absolutely no way to tie this information to individuals.
The specific data contributed through the Human Web includes:
Though the Human Web is more powerful as more Cliqz and Ghostery users join it, participation in it is completely optional. If you do not want the Human Web to collect anonymous statistical data about your searches and website visits, you can adjust your settings in the Ghostery Menu.
If you’d like to dive into the weeds and learn more about the Human Web, you can check out the source code in our open-source Github repo.
Currently, Ghostery does not make money from our free extension. However, we are owned and funded by Cliqz GmbH, a privacy-centric company based in Germany that is focused on building a large, passionate user base across several products. Our combined audience and technological infrastructure will empower us to evaluate several different business models to drive both new and traditional digital economies. These models will come into focus alongside new Ghostery features in 2018.
Ghostery has a proprietary library of over 4500 trackers from over 2600 companies that we update continually.
Ghostery differs from simply “blocking cookies” because that still allows the browser (with your IP address) to communicate with the web server — it just prevents cookies from being placed on your machine. The requests are still happening, and data about you is still being transmitted. Ghostery completely intercepts those requests and never allows the communication to happen in the first place.
Ghostery is a browser extension, a piece of software that extends the functionality of a web browser on a desktop computer. Ghostery monitors all the different web servers that are being called from a particular web page and matches them with a library of data collection tools (trackers). If it finds a match, Ghostery shows that tracker in the list in the pop-up information bubble or control panel. If you’ve configured Ghostery to block communication with one or more of these companies, it interrupts the call from leaving the browser.
This is different than opting-out or blocking cookies because those strategies still allow the browser to communicate with the web server (they just try to alter the communication or the response). When blocking is enabled, Ghostery never allows the communication in the first place.
Ghostery analyzes every network request generated by a web page, and matches the outgoing URL patterns against a proprietary database of known tracker vendors to determine if the user is being tracked and by whom.
From within the drop-down control panel, you can click on any tracker to reveal a short description of who provides it. You can then view more details about this tracker and what it collects by clicking the ‘learn more’ link.
Ghostery does offer a mobile browser with anti-tracking features as standalone app for iPhones, iPads, and iPods and Android. We also work inside Firefox on Android phones.
Ghostery is supported in Cliqz, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Yandex, Safari, Edge, and Internet Explorer. Each browser extension must be downloaded and installed separately.
No. Data shared with Ghostery through the opt-in program is solely related to tracking technologies that the user encounters – it is not connected with user accounts in any way.
No account needs to be created to use the Ghostery Extension; it is simply an option to make things more convenient for the user. However, an account will need to be created to access Ghostery Midnight.
If you choose to open a user account, we will collect your name and email address. Usage of this data is limited to: (i) syncing your settings across our products, (ii) serving as your login credentials to access certain products and features, (iii) communicating directly to you through your email address to give you information about our products, updates and upgrades.
Note that no account needs to be created to use Ghostery Dawn or Ghostery Browser Extension.
More information on what and how we use data can be found in our privacy statements. In addition, our Ghostery Extension source code is public and can be viewed freely on Github.
Transparency and integrity are important to us. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at privacy@ghostery.com.
No. Ghostery does not share collected data of any kind with third parties.
Transparency and integrity are important to us. If you have any questions or concerns, you may view the Ghostery source code on Github or reach out to us at privacy@ghostery.com.
Evidon, Inc. is a New York City-based tech company owned by Crownpeak that provides Digital Governance solutions for Business. The Ghostery brand and products were owned by Evidon, Inc. from 2010 to 2017 (during which time it was called Ghostery, Inc.), before they were sold to Cliqz GmbH in 2017.
Ghostery does not sell or otherwise share data of any kind with Evidon, Inc.
Ghostery Rewards is an optional, private-by-design feature that delivers you high-value offers as you browse and make purchases online. Rewards can be viewed, managed, and turned on or off at any time within the Ghostery extension or Ghostery Tab. It is powered by our sister company, MyOffrz.
How does it work?
All Rewards come pre-loaded within your local Ghostery extension, where they remain passive until unlocked. A Reward is unlocked when you complete a set of action triggers that indicate your active interest in making a purchase for which a related offer exists. These triggers funnel potential Rewards based on a set of logic criteria until a match is found and displayed.
How is my data kept private in this process?
Ghostery Rewards operates locally, meaning it is completely contained within your browser and does not transmit personal information back to Ghostery, Cliqz, or any other third party companies. Because your data never leaves your device, it remains in your possession and under your control – we do not collect, process, or store it centrally on a server. We cannot profile you or share your data with anyone else. In this way, Rewards is fully private-by-design, making it a powerful new way to gain real value by completely anonymous means.
What can I expect in the future from Rewards?
We are working hard to improve Rewards by expanding our client base and improving usability and design. We also plan on integrating Rewards into future products, including a new Ghostery Tab currently in the works.
Your feedback is welcome! Please let us know your thoughts or if you need assistance at support@ghostery.com.
If you’re interested in Partnering with Ghostery, you can reach us at sales@ghostery.com.
As a subsidiary company, Ghostery will collaborate closely with its parent company, Cliqz, on both new and existing products. This means that Ghostery will be implementing proprietary Cliqz technologies, such as its anti-tracking functionality with Human Web, and that the Ghostery product and brand will be available immediately for download on the Cliqz browser. Both companies will also participate in joint messaging to promote products and solutions.
Ghostery and Cliqz technologies will evolve in parallel and become more closely integrated as these two organizations strive to set a new benchmark in consumer privacy protection.
Cliqz GmbH is a German company owned by Hubert Burda Media who has acquired the popular Ghostery brand and consumer products, including the anti-tracking browser extensions and mobile apps, from Evidon, Inc. Cliqz is a provider of innovative, privacy-focused browser technologies with integrated quick-search functionality. By combining algorithmic and blocklist anti-tracking approaches, Cliqz and Ghostery will together raise the benchmark in privacy protection. The acquisition of Ghostery’s 10 million active users around the globe will spur Cliqz’s international growth.
You password must be between 8 and 50 characters and only contain letters, numbers and/or the following symbols: ! @ # $ % ^ & * = + ( ) < > { } [ \ ] ; : , . / ?
Currently, Ghostery Insights Beta is only available in English.
Currently, Ghostery Insights Beta can support subscriptions and payments from the following countries:
USA
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
China
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Ukraine
UK
Currently, Ghostery Insights Beta is only available for the Chrome browser.
When you install Ghostery Lite for the first time, you’ll receive the following message: “Ghostery can read, modify, and transmit content from all web pages. This could include sensitive information like passwords, phone numbers and credit cards.” This text is different depending on which browser you are using, but the intent is the same and is controlled by the browser itself. We can’t change this text in any way.
Why does Ghostery need to read and change content on the websites you visit?
Script/Ad Blockers work by blocking a web page’s requests to download content from the servers that host them. Then, the magic happens. But in order to do that, the extension needs to be able to:
• See every page you open. If Ghostery can’t see the page, it can’t do anything. This means that Ghostery knows the URL (Internet address) of the pages you visit, when you have Ghostery running.
• See all the data on the page to find any unblocked scripts/ads nestled in with the other page data. This also means that Ghostery can see any forms you submit and your browsing history on that tab.
• Have access to modify data on the page. Ghostery changes things around by adding some HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code to the page to block unblocked ads/scripts.
Please know that even though the Ghostery extension can see all these elements of a web page, it does so with user privacy in mind. The extension does not record your browsing history, capture your passwords or bank account numbers, or secretly change data you submit on a web form. It’s important to remember that the warning from the browser is attempting to address all the possible ways an extension may interact with content on a web page. Ghostery is an open source technology and we invite you to take a look and see what we are doing behind the scenes here.
Ghostery Lite is a result of Safari’s security and privacy updates to create a product that not only elevates Safari users privacy, but also increase page load speed. We built Ghostery Lite through collaboration with some of our most dedicated users on Safari who asked for a redesigned experience.
When you install Ghostery Lite for the first time, you’ll receive the following message: “Ghostery can read, modify, and transmit content from all web pages. This could include sensitive information like passwords, phone numbers and credit cards.” This text is different depending on which browser you are using, but the intent is the same and is controlled by the browser itself. We can’t change this text in any way.
Why does Ghostery need to read and change content on the websites you visit?
Script/Ad Blockers work by blocking a web page’s requests to download content from the servers that host them. Then, the magic happens. But in order to do that, the extension needs to be able to:
• See every page you open. If Ghostery can’t see the page, it can’t do anything. This means that Ghostery knows the URL (Internet address) of the pages you visit, when you have Ghostery running.
• See all the data on the page to find any unblocked scripts/ads nestled in with the other page data. This also means that Ghostery can see any forms you submit and your browsing history on that tab.
• Have access to modify data on the page. Ghostery changes things around by adding some HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code to the page to block unblocked ads/scripts.
Please know that even though the Ghostery extension can see all these elements of a web page, it does so with user privacy in mind. The extension does not record your browsing history, capture your passwords or bank account numbers, or secretly change data you submit on a web form. It’s important to remember that the warning from the browser is attempting to address all the possible ways an extension may interact with content on a web page. Ghostery is an open source technology and we invite you to take a look and see what we are doing behind the scenes here.
Absolutely. While Ghostery Lite has been specially designed for Mojave, it will work as effectively when installed on any computer with the High Sierra operating system or later (Version 10.13+).
Safari has reengineered the way it deals with browser extensions to improve security and performance for users. We designed the dual components of Ghostery Lite (the browser extension and the app) to respond to Safari’s security updates and to provide more power to the product to increase the security of your browsing experience.
Ghostery Lite is meant to run in the background of your browser. For that reason, the Mac App portion does not need to be open for Ghostery Lite to run. If you ever need to change your Customer Protection or want to add sites manually to your Trusted Sites list, you can do so via the Mac App at anytime.
As with any ad or tracker blocker, there is the potential that Ghostery Lite will cause your page to load incorrectly. Your first recourse should be to switch to Ghostery Lite’s default settings – these settings have been chosen to maximize page performance while keeping you safe from malicious ads and trackers. If this doesn’t work, or you are already in default mode, you can choose to pause Lite or Trust Site in order to see how the page reacts without our protection. These two options will allow the website unfiltered access to your browser and should only be employed if you are confident in the site or willing to take the risk.
Unfortunately Ghostery Lite is unable to provide information on who is tracking you on individual sites. However, if you enter any URL into the following Ghostery partner site – https://whotracks.me/, you will be able to find what trackers are on the page. Additionally, If you use alternative browsers to Safari, our Ghostery Classic extension details the information of every tracker on each site you visit.
Trackers and ads significantly increase page load time. A single page delay may not seem huge, but over a lifetime of browsing (and data usage) that wasted time stacks up. Ghostery Lite has employed a page performance visualization feature to allow users to see the effect Lite has on page load speed, as well as the load time of pages when Lite is paused. Page load speeds range from fast (0-5 seconds), medium (5-10 seconds) and – slow (10+ seconds). When reviewing page load times it is important to take into consideration that some great sites are ad and tracker-free, and will load quickly regardless of the presence of an ad and tracker blocker.
We’ve organized all the trackers in our extensive database by category. Of these categories, we block advertising, site analytics and adult advertising trackers by default, while the following categories remain unblocked: customer interaction, social media, essential, audio/video player, and comments. These unblocked categories have been deemed non-malicious and are less likely to hinder your browsing experience. The default settings offer immediate tracker and ad blocking upon installation, allowing you to visit the websites you love without any hassle and with a lot less clutter. For users who may prefer greater control over tracker categories, the custom settings pane in the Ghostery Lite Mac apps allows you to choose what tracker categories to block or unblock.
Users are currently unable to sync their settings using their Ghostery account login, however, this feature is being explored for a future update. We will notify all users when its becomes available.
Ghostery has grouped the extensive list of trackers that it has accrued over years of anti-tracking work into 8 categories: advertising, site analytics, customer interaction, social media, essential, audio/video player, adult content and comments. These lists are constantly maintained by members of the Ghostery team with help from our awesome users. By employing category control, users are able to quickly select their preferred method of protection in their custom settings.
At this point, users are unable to import settings from Ghostery 5, as the two products have different features and protection settings. That being said, Ghostery Lite’s default settings are designed to provide you with an easy set up and optimal browsing experience. If you want more control, it will take you only a few minutes to set up to your custom settings.
The two Ghostery Lite components that can be enabled in settings provide different capabilities: the Ghostery Lite UI allows you to adjust your Ghostery settings within your browser, while the Ghostery Lite Content Blocker works with the Ghostery Lite UI to keep your webpages clear of advertising only showing you the content you want to see. (Ghostery Lite UI + Ghostery Lite Content Blocker = comprehensive ad and tracker blocking).
Ghostery Midnight is currently supported on computers with Windows 10 (64 bit) or Mac OS X 10.13 (High Sierra), or newer.
If you are installing Ghostery Midnight for the first time on MacOS, you were likely met with a message that said “System Extension Blocked”.
This is a security feature which requires users to explicitly allow installation of a third party system extensions. Ghostery Midnight requires a system extension as part of its process to view the network traffic on your computer. To approve this manually, go to your System Preferences ‣ Security & Privacy ‣ General and click the ‘Allow’ button.
In addition, as of macOS Big Sur (11.0), two more features must be allowed in order for Midnight to function.
The first is to allow Midnight to install proxy configurations, which lets Midnight access your network traffic while its proxy is active.
You can tell if Midnight’s proxy is active by looking for “Midnight” in the left-side panel in your System Preferences ‣ Network.
The second is to trust our Root TLS certificate, which is generated locally on your computer during Midnight’s installation. TLS certificates are part of the process used by web browsers and other software to verify your connection to a website is legitimate. Without trusting Midnight’s Root TLS certificate, it is not possible for Midnight to read or modify your network traffic to perform its job of blocking ads and trackers system-wide.
An error message “You cannot install Ghostery Midnight in this location” usually displays if a user is on a device running an older MacOS version.
Ghostery Midnight is only supported on MacOS 13.0 (High Sierra) and newer. You can find which version of MacOS you are on by selecting ‘About This Mac’ under the top left Apple icon menu.
If you are on an older OS version, we recommend to upgrade your device if possible. If you are on a supported version of MacOS and still receive this error, please reach out to support@ghostery.com
The below provides instructions on how to locate Ghostery Midnight’s log files stored on your machine. Click the link below for instructions on your specific operating system.
The following provides guidance on where you can locate Ghostery Midnight’s log files on Windows 10 OS. Note: Log files are stored in two separate directories.
1) Type File Explorer and select the File Explorer app in the search field in the taskbar.
2) To view the first set of logs, click on the address bar and enter %PROGRAMDATA%\Ghostery Midnight\Logs
3) You should see the following logs available:
4) To find the next set of logs, click on the address bar again and enter %APPDATA%\Ghostery Midnight\Logs
5) For Midnight version 1.1.0 and earlier, these log files are named with the format ‘/XXX-XX-XX.ui.error.log’ with XXX-XX-XX being the date the log was stored. For Midnight version 1.1.1 and later, all logs are stored in one file with the name ui.error.log.
The following provides guidance on where you can locate Ghostery Midnight’s log files on MacOSX OS. Note: Log files are stored in two separate directories.
1) Enter the finder menu and navigate to Go and select Go to Folder....
2) To view the first set of logs, type the directory address /Library/Application Support/Ghostery Midnight/Logs
3) You should see the log file with the name ‘Ghostery Midnight Proxy.log’.
4) To find the next log, repeat step 1 but this time type the directory address ~/Library/Application Support/Ghostery Midnight/Logs
5) For Midnight version 1.1.0 and earlier, these log files are named with the format ‘/XXX-XX-XX.ui.error.log’ with XXX-XX-XX being the date the log was stored. For Midnight version 1.1.1 and later, all logs are stored in one file with the name ui.error.log.
In effort to prevent clutter, Ghostery Midnight only displays applications that are making network requests to the internet. If you are looking for a certain app that is missing from the list, then it’s likely the app has not made any requests since Ghostery Midnight was opened. Though it is possible the app was designed not to make any requests, there are a few things that could be happening:
If no apps are appearing at all on the list, try opening your browser and navigate to any website. If still there aren’t any apps displayed, please contact support through the Ghostery Midnight’s help menu.
Currently we only support English, though we will be adding additional languages in the near future!
The Ghostery Start Tab offers many features that require you to accept permissions within your browser.
The quick search feature provides you with results from our private search and a combination of your history and bookmarks, which accounts for many of the permissions listed. However, Ghostery does not store or change any of your personal data. All changes are made by you and stay local within the browser.
Ghostery Start Tab’s quick floating search bar helps you navigate quickly and easily. After clicking a result in the search bar, your current webpage will be redirected, and it will “Replace the page you see when opening a new tab”. Again, all actions will be done by you. The extension will simply provide a tool to navigate quickly to the requested URL.
A calculator and currency feature are included in the quick search results, where you can copy and paste the results directly. This data is not modified by the extension.
In addition, some location-based search results are provided if you decide to share your location. This feature is opt-in and you will always be asked if you want to share your location for nearby results or not. The setting for location sharing can be changed at any time.
Wherever you are going on the internet, Ghostery protects your privacy. Our rigorous tracker blocklist, Enhanced Anti-Tracking and Ad-Blocking technology prevents your personal information from being tracked by or transferred to third parties when you visit a website. The statistics you see in Ghostery Start Tab show you how these privacy features have impacted your browsing experience. These include the total number over time of trackers you’ve encountered, trackers you’ve blocked, data points anonymized, and ads blocked.
The numbers in this section show how many trackers in total you’ve encountered by browsing the web, and how many of those Ghostery has blocked. The latter number will change based on your own Ghostery blocking settings, which you can modify any time within the extension.
This number shows how many private data points Ghostery has removed with Enhanced Anti-Trackingin order to protect your personal data from being transmitted to third parties.
Developed by our parent company Cliqz, our Enhanced Anti-Tracking feature is a heuristic approach to real-time, algorithmic tracking protection. Like Ghostery’s main blocking mechanism, it monitors all third-party requests. However, instead of simply blocking those requests, it analyzes them for personally identifiable information and then strips out that information before the request is sent. Enhanced Anti-Tracking supplements Ghostery’s block-list approach by catching anything that might have been missed. Therefore, even if trackers are allowed to execute, you can feel safe knowing that all personal information has been anonymized in the request.
This method has the advantage over pure cookie blocking of reducing site breakage and working independently of the tracking method used. It also protects from fingerprinting and new tracking methods.
You can learn more about how it works in this article from Cliqz.
This number shows how many ads Ghostery has blocked with our built-in Enhanced Ad Blocker. This feature enables faster-loading websites without ads and clutter, and complements Ghostery tracker blocking and anti-tracking. It also protects against stealthy cryptocurrency mining by preventing websites from secretly hijacking your computer’s resources.
You can hide all privacy statistics from your Ghostery Tab view. Simple open a Ghostery Tab, go into Settings (gear icon on the top-right) and toggling off Privacy Stats. You can turn them back on at any time.
If you would like to disable these statistics altogether, you can choose to turn off each corresponding feature within the extension. First, open the Ghostery extension in the browser bar. To disable Total Trackers blocked, click Pause. To disable Data Points Anonymized, turn off the Enhanced Anti-Tracking feature (click to turn off or on). To disable Ads Blocked, turn off the Enhanced Ad Blocking feature (click to turn off or on).
When a feature is off, it will be grayed out in the extension, and its corresponding statistic will be gray and inactive in Ghostery Tab.
Note that if you turn off a feature, you will no longer be completely protected by Ghostery. We recommend that you leave them on, and hide the statistics from the Ghostery Tab display instead if you do not wish to see them.
Ghostery Start Tab is a new tab page that includes backgrounds, favorites, news and Ghostery’s anonymous quick search feature. It completely replaces the Chrome new tab, meaning you will see it each time you go to open a new tab or click on its icon in the browser bar.
Ghostery Start Tab is NOT included with the Ghostery privacy extension – you must download it separately.
Ghost Search
Our built-in private search engine does not store any personally identifiable information (PII) and works with sophisticated anonymization techniques to ensure users’ search queries remain completely private.
Dynamic result cards are displayed directly in the search drop-down as you type: simply start typing, select a suggested site or press Enter for more results. You can easily view weather forecasts, measurement and currency conversions, or top news related to your query in real time.
If users do not find what they want from our result cards, their query is automatically directed to another search engine. Users can select which search engine they’d like as backup from the settings page. DuckDuckGo is our recommendation and current default.
More space for favorite websites
Ghostery Start Tab increases the number of available tiles for your favorite websites from eight (in the default Chrome new tab) to twelve. Six tiles will automatically display your most visited sites. The remaining six tiles can be filled manually with your favorite websites.
Customizable backgrounds
You can select different backgrounds to give Ghostery Start Tab a fresh look. Simply click the gear icon at the top right of the page to make your selection.
Top News
The Top News feature informs Ghostery Start Tab users about the most important events of the day. All linked articles originate from respected and trustworthy news domains. You can choose between a geographic variety of sources.
Privacy Statistics
The privacy statistics in Ghostery Start Tab show how Ghostery’s privacy features have impacted your browsing experience. On display are: the total number of trackers you’ve encountered, trackers you’ve blocked, data points anonymized, and ads blocked, over time. We’re working on bringing a more detailed version of this feature to the tab and extension, so stay tuned!
You can visit your Ghostery Start Tab settings to turn the statistics display on or off.
Add or remove features
You can choose the features you want to display (background, most visited sites, favorites, Ghost Search, Top News) on your default Ghostery Start Tab page by clicking on the gear icon at the upper right.
Yes, you can customize your background and which features you’d like displayed in your default Ghostery Start Tab. Simply click the gear icon at the top right of the page to make your selection.
Currently, Ghostery Start Tab is only available for download on Chrome. We are in the testing process with Firefox, and plan to offer it on other browsers in the future too.
You can use Ghostery Start Tab on your mobile device! It is built into our mobile browser, Ghostery Privacy Browser for iOS and Android, which you can download respectively on the App Store or Play Store.
Ghostery Start Tab is built into our mobile browser, Ghostery Privacy Browser for iOS and Android, which you can download respectively on the App Store or Play Store.
Currently, Ghostery only supports payments from the following countries:
USA
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
China
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Ukraine
UK
For Plus users that subscribed before the price update, nothing changes other than you get to enjoy more features for no additional cost! All Plus subscribers that signed up at the old rate ($2 USD or equivalent currency value + tax) per month rate will be grandfathered in.
Click HERE to see the list of features available to Plus subscribers at the bottom of our pricing page.
If you signed up for Premium before we adjusted our prices, your next billing invoice will automatically be adjusted to the new rate. You do not need to do anything. For example, if your billing cycle started on June 1st with the $14 rate, your next payment due on July 1st will be updated to the $11.99 (USD or equivalent currency value + tax where applicable) price.
Users with both Plus & Premium subscriptions will enjoy the benefit all Plus & Premium features for just the new price of Premium. Plus and Premium is no longer being charged separately and all Premium users receive access to Plus features in the Ghostery Browser Extension.
See Pricing Page for the full list of features available to each plan. Users with both Plus & Premium active subscriptions will have their next billing cycle on or after June 22nd, 2020 automatically adjusted with the cost of Plus removed. No other further action will be necessary. Enjoy all the same benefits you have today for less!
All promotional codes that were applied before the pricing update to multiple billing cycles and are still valid will continue to be honored. For example, if you redeemed a promotional code for 50% off your first three months on June 1st, your next billing dates on July 1st and August 1st will automatically deduct 50% of the new $11.99* price. This also includes promotional codes deducting fixed amounts.
You password must be between 8 and 50 characters and only contain letters, numbers and/or the following symbols: ! @ # $ % ^ & * = + ( ) < > { } [ \ ] ; : , . / ?
Currently, you can use Ghostery Plus on Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Edge only.
If you end your Ghostery Plus subscription, you will no longer be charged. You will, however, continue to have access to features until your subscription time runs out (time remaining before you would have been charged again). During this period, you may re-subscribe to resume your subscription and billing as usual.
If you would like to subscribe again after your time runs out, you must buy a new subscription and reenter payment information.
As a Ghostery Plus user, you will gain access to historical tracker insights that reveal blocking trends and help monitor your digital footprint. You also receive exclusive perks such as custom color themes, priority support service, and more features currently in development – stay tuned and subscribed to receive more!
Our basic Ghostery extension is free for all to use! We do not charge for our basic tracker blocking, ad blocking, and anti-tracking features. A Plus subscription is optional, and for those who wish to financially support Ghostery and our mission.
Ghostery Plus is a small step forward in our plan to begin building premium products and services that are unlocked with subscriptions, in addition to our free Ghostery extension. This new model will not only help us keep the lights on, but will allow us to invest in more advanced products and technologies, provide more options for how users integrate privacy into their lives, and empower all to shape the world of privacy by financially supporting services they choose.
This is just the beginning of “cleaner, faster, safer.” Stay tuned for the rest!
Ghostery Plus is a subscription-based service that delivers users extra features and perks for a small monthly payment. With Plus, users can support Ghostery and our mission while gaining access to blocking statistics and tracker insights, priority support service, new aesthetic experiences, and more perks down the road.
Currently, Plus is available on Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Edge browsers only .
Note that our basic Ghostery extension and privacy features are still free for all to use.
The Ghostery Privacy Browser contains an integrated quick search that allows you to go directly to your destination without any detours. In addition, we do not collect any personal data unlike other search engines. Thus, by using Ghostery you are protecting your online privacy.
We also provide you with our anti-tracking technology which helps to keep your data safe. This technology avoids your data being tracked by third party trackers. This is done by altering strings which are unique to your browser. It protects you from usual tracking methods like canvas fingerprinting.
Developed by our parent company Cliqz, our Enhanced Anti-Tracking feature is a heuristic approach to real-time, algorithmic tracking protection. Like Ghostery’s main blocking mechanism, it monitors all third-party requests. However, instead of simply blocking those requests, it analyzes them for personally identifiable information and then strips out that information before the request is sent. Enhanced Anti-Tracking supplements Ghostery’s block-list approach by catching anything that might have been missed. Therefore, even if trackers are allowed to execute, you can feel safe knowing that all personal information has been anonymized in the request.
You can learn more about how it works in this article from Cliqz. Under the section header “Building the Global Safe Set”, we discuss what data is collected via anti-tracking. In order for this system to work, we must analyze the tracker requests for patterns to determine what should be deemed unsafe. However, this is done anonymously and without compromising user privacy.
The Ghostery Tracker library consists of over 2200 trackers and 4500 scripts; however, new advertising and marketing technologies are being created all the time. To keep our users as protected as possible, as our users encounter new trackers, we’re adding them to our list. But it is possible to encounter a new tracker that Ghostery is not blocking.
Instructions:
To delete your browsing history, follow these steps:
For Android:
For iOS:
If your Ghosty is wearing a mask, it means that you are in a Ghost Tab. This means that there will be no cookies or browser history saved after you close the session.
The Ghostery Privacy Browser allows you to select from several different complementary search engines that provide additional search results beyond Ghost Search. DuckDuckGo is automatically set as your search engine unless changed.
To change your default option:
We try to anticipate your search to give you suitable results as quickly as possible. We developed our own quick search mechanism to show you the most relevant results as fast as possible.
The Ghostery Privacy Browser for Android is compatible for Android Version 4.1 and later.
The Ghostery Privacy Browser for iOS is compatible for iOS Version 9.0 and later.
We developed our automatic Smart Blocking feature to make it easier for users to optimize their browsing experience and blocking choices. It automatically blocks slow or non-secure trackers, for example, and allows certain trackers that we know may cause breakage on popular websites when blocked. This function is run locally and does not use any personal data.
We do offer more than one result. To locate the other results, swipe right to left. If you press ‘enter,’ you will be taken to the results list from the complementary search engine. Our default search engine is DuckDuckGo, but you can change this in the settings.
To manage trackers, tap on Ghosty in the toolbar. You will see two lists – one showing all trackers on your current site and one showing all trackers in general (global).
To restrict or allow a tracker on your current site only, choose the appropriate tab, find the tracker and choose “restrict” or “allow.” Note that choosing “block” will block the tracker across all sites, and choosing “Unblock” will allow it across all sites. You may also bulk block or unblock all trackers, or by tracker category.
While browsing in Ghost Tab, Ghostery does not store the following data on your device: