uMatrix
Are you tired of being bombarded with unwanted ads, tracking cookies, and suspicious scripts every time you browse the internet? Look no further than uMatrix, the powerful Chrome extension that puts you in full control of your online privacy. With an impressive rating of 4.71 out of 5, uMatrix is a must-have tool for advanced users who want to take charge of their web experience.
Comprehensive and Customizable Features
What makes uMatrix stand out from other web scraping tools is its comprehensive and customizable features. It acts as a point-and-click matrix-based firewall, allowing you to decide which websites your browser can connect to, what type of data it can download, and what it can execute. Gone are the days of relying on curated blacklists that may miss crucial entries. With uMatrix, you have complete control over what is allowed and what is blocked.
One of the standout features of uMatrix is its ability to show you all the remote connections made by a web page, whether they were successfully allowed or blocked. This transparency empowers you to make informed decisions about your online privacy. With a single click, you can whitelist or blacklist specific classes of requests based on their destination and data type. Plus, uMatrix's efficient blacklisting ensures that cookies, JavaScript, plugins, and tracking pixels don't compromise your privacy.
Enhanced Privacy and Security
While uMatrix may have a bit of a learning curve at first, its powerful capabilities make it well worth the effort. Users have praised its ability to enhance privacy and security, offering a level of control not found in other extensions. However, some users have found it necessary to disable uMatrix temporarily when accessing certain websites, as it can sometimes block legitimate content. This minor inconvenience aside, uMatrix remains an essential tool for those who value their privacy.
Flexible Filtering and Scoped Rules
The extension's filtering engine uses precedence logic to evaluate which cells are blacklisted or whitelisted, ensuring that you can easily manage the blocking and allowing of web content. Additionally, uMatrix's scoped rules allow you to block specific domains except when visiting certain pages, preventing websites from building profiles of your browsing habits.
Customizable Protection
With over 62,000 distinct hostnames in its 3rd-party hosts files, uMatrix provides a comprehensive set of preset blacklists that offer basic protection against trackers and malware sites. However, you have the flexibility to enable or disable these blacklists as per your preference. Whether you choose to blacklist all by default and whitelist as needed or vice versa, uMatrix empowers you to browse the internet on your terms.
Take Control of Your Online Privacy
In conclusion, uMatrix is a remarkable Chrome extension that gives you ultimate control over your online privacy and security. Its advanced features, coupled with its user-friendly interface, make it an indispensable tool for those who want to take charge of their web experience. While it may require some initial setup and occasional adjustments, the benefits of uMatrix far outweigh any minor inconveniences. Join the thousands of satisfied users and experience the power and freedom that uMatrix offers. Take back control of your online privacy with uMatrix today.
10 Reviews For This Extension
Quite the absolutely best security addon for Chrome, or Edge. Nothing is better. A full in-browser firewall.
Perfect
It's very good but it also creates web problems that block pages. It's not user friendly.
WOW! For years I've had to tolerate all the GARBAGE Fox News loads on its web pages. With this extension, I was able to eliminate all the parts I DON'T want to see. So no more ads. A lot less images. Just the story and the comments. That's it! The extension is a little complex at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's VERY cool. (And like most people, I didn't read the documentation - so if it was "complex", it could be mostly my own fault!) One thing I'd recommend is a "quick start" example. Put up a sample web page and walk users through how to filter out different parts. But bottom line - this does EXACTLY what I was hoping it would do. +++++
Humbly stating I provide super geek services, I red/blue team, audit and certify HIPAA/HITECH, PCI-DSS 3.2, and SOC II type2. I use three tracker/adblockers. Ublock origin, NoScript, and uMatrix. Ublock doesn't provide a clear interface for exactly what blocking is occurring in the background, while it does provide an interface to show you what sites were pinged, I frequently find I am required to disable it, before the functionality of a website works correctly. No Script is much more simple and fluid, I would recommend for the intermediate tech savvy, you can quickly trust a single tab, or you can "temp trust, always trust, or never trust" each website that the current one connects to such as ad servers and content delivery networks. If set the always temp trust the site you go to, and are willing to toggle a few permissions, you can lock in your choices and export/import/sync with browsers. Import and exports are not cross browser compatible, but are if using same framework (Chrome to MSEdge / EpicPrivacy / Adblock / (Opera / OperaGX are CHINESE OWNED) and Firefox to Firefox_Focus / Brave / TOR_Preconfigured / Waterfox). uMatrix has similar export features and is more fine grained and configurable per-site and domain. Offers ability to use the highest rate block list should you choose to, this is for the more technically savvy who seek fine grain control, all things considered, if you are only going to use one, this is the one I take the time to configure the way I like and it always puts the "ad site / bad sites blocked at the bottom. It also has a greater visibility into what is happening and a much greater fine grained control.
Learning curve is a bit steep, but it seems like amazing tool so far.
A great security app, but a real pain at times. Every time I go a site for the first time I have to make sure I turn off either specific elements or uMatrix as a whole if I trust it, then save it. I also find it's a little too "trigger happy" when I click on a link from an email or site I trust. Case in point, if I have a link to a tracking site regarding an order, if I click the link uMatrix will block it. I have to go into my settings, turn off uMatrix, click the link to track my order then turn uMatrix back on again. Perhaps there's something I've missed in the settings, and I understand why it exists in the first place, but it can be frustrating when I know a link/site is safe.
It just worked! Wow. Seriously impressed. These days extensions overpromise and under deliver. this is the opposite.
If you need help.. great little tutorial here https://proprivacy.com/privacy-service/guides/lifehacks-setup-umatrix-beginners
the best security extension just got a few updates. i do hope it can make a permanent comeback though. thankfully it did get a few maintenance patches. lets hope umatrix can see a reason to keep being alive and well...