Privacy Badger
Hacker ApprovedRanked 16 of 70 browser extensions by recommenders
Blocks trackers automatically and is often paired with uBlock Origin for ads; one commenter notes it does not necessarily block ads on its own.
Blocks trackers automatically and is often paired with uBlock Origin for ads; one commenter notes it does not necessarily block ads on its own.
27 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 26
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 96%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 26 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 26 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works well alongside uBlock Origin
“There are significant benefits to adding PB or uBO to a browser that doesn't already ship with a real built-in ad blocker.”
Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Would you trust a new browser security extension in 2025?” “beefy adblocking and tracking-avoidance - uBlock Origin [1] and EFF Privacy Badger for example”
Comment from 24 Apr 2026 in “Using the internet like it's 1999” “uBlock Origin and EFF's Privacy Badger are the only extensions I trust enough to install.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “8M users' AI conversations sold for profit by "privacy" extensions” - Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “Malware uses LLMs to rank victims by how much they're worth”
- Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Firefox Getting New Controls to Turn Off AI Features”
- Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “ChatGPT now knows what you do on other websites via ad collector”
- Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “In less than a year, Google made scraping 10× harder”
- Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Firefox Getting New Controls to Turn Off AI Features”
- Comment from 17 Jan 2026 in “Canada slashes 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs to 6%”
- Comment from 3 Mar 2026 in “I'm reluctant to verify my identity or age for any online services”
Blocks tracking and fingerprinting
“If you install something like Privacy Badger it will block all tracking, but not necessarily ads.”
Comment from 19 Jun 2026 in “I told them forced consent was unlawful. 5 years later it cost Elkjop €1.8M” “Together with Privacy Badger, Meta has no clue what you're doing on the rest of the web.”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Firefox Getting New Controls to Turn Off AI Features” “blocked 75 trackers on their site”
Comment from 19 Jan 2026 in “Cows Can Use Sophisticated Tools” - Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer”
Open source and trusted
“uBlock Origin and EFF's Privacy Badger are the only extensions I trust enough to install.”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “8M users' AI conversations sold for profit by "privacy" extensions” “I can't resist privacy badger and Ublock Origin since they are open source”
Comment from 16 Dec 2025 in “8M users' AI conversations sold for profit by "privacy" extensions” Long-running, low-maintenance staple
“Looking at my own installed extensions, I have a password manager, Privacy Badger and Firefox Multi-Account Containers, which I suppose is the three I really need.”
Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Chrome extensions spying on 37M users' browsing data” “that seems to work, very nice, that's one less extension”
Comment from 11 Feb 2026 in “Chrome extensions spying on 37M users' browsing data” “it's been a staple in my browser for years”
Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “Ask HN: Would you trust a new browser security extension in 2025?”
Other browser extensions people recommend
The four most recommended other browser extensions, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SponsorBlock | 137 | 4 | 97% | 13 | — | Approved |
| Firefox Multi-Account Containers | 76 | 13 | 85% | 10 | 7.5 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| NoScript | 61 | 11 | 85% | 12 | 10 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| Claude in Chrome | 53 | 42 | 56% | 9 | — | — |
| Privacy BadgerThis page | 26 | 1 | 96% | 11 | — | Approved |
What people said
27 of the 32 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it's secure enough to use Firefox with ublock + privacy badger and enforcing SELinux”
“Strongly block ads, e.g. using uBlock Origin + EFF Privacy Badger.”
“Tell people to use firefox with ublock origin and privacy badger.”
“If you install something like Privacy Badger it will block all tracking, but not necessarily ads.”
“With it on I didn't see anything :)”
“beefy adblocking and tracking-avoidance - uBlock Origin [1] and EFF Privacy Badger for example”
“try to block fingerprinting”
“add privacy badger and ublock origin”
“NoScript (And/Or Privacy Badger)”
“that seems to work, very nice, that's one less extension”
“it is a good domain to fully block as long as you're comfortable using the”
“Looking at my own installed extensions, I have a password manager, Privacy Badger and Firefox Multi-Account Containers, which I suppose is the three I really need.”
“Together with Privacy Badger, Meta has no clue what you're doing on the rest of the web.”
“PB works well in combination with ad blockers.”
“no need to use Privacy Badger if you're already using uBlock Origin and Firefox Total Cookie Protection”
“install uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger and it works quite nicely”
“Privacy Badger are great at adblocking and annoyances filtering”
“it's been a staple in my browser for years”
“There are significant benefits to adding PB or uBO to a browser that doesn't already ship with a real built-in ad blocker.”
“blocked 75 trackers on their site”
“Running FF w/ UblockO and Privacy Badger.”
“decent enough for most people and uses”
“I can't resist privacy badger and Ublock Origin since they are open source”
“uBlock Origin and EFF's Privacy Badger are the only extensions I trust enough to install.”
“or Privacy Badger if you'd like to be less 'heavy handed'”
“If you install a ton of privacy extensions like Privacy Badger, uBlock”
“Install it + badger + adnauseum. Done.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.