Extension Details
Developer:
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Rating:
4.4 ★
(1.9K ratings)
Users:
1,000,000
Context-Aware Verdict
This section provides a Claude-based AI analysis that applies additional context to the risk. Results are not guaranteed to be accurate.
MEDIUM
Overall Risk
Trust Factors:
Privacy Badger is developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a highly reputable digital rights organization with a strong track record in privacy advocacy. With over 1 million users and a solid 4.4-star rating from nearly 2,000 reviews, this extension has demonstrated community trust. The EFF's mission aligns perfectly with Privacy Badger's purpose as a tracker-blocking tool, making the developer highly trustworthy for this type of application.
Concerns:
While the security analysis flags multiple high-risk permissions, these are actually necessary for Privacy Badger's core functionality. The privacy permission allows it to modify browser privacy settings to block trackers. The webRequest and webNavigation permissions enable it to intercept and analyze network requests to identify tracking behavior. The broad host permissions and content script injection capabilities are required to block trackers across all websites. However, the extensive list of Google domain content scripts seems unnecessarily granular and could be simplified.
Recommendations:
Given the EFF's stellar reputation and Privacy Badger's legitimate need for these permissions to function as a privacy tool, this extension is relatively safe despite the technical risk flags. Users concerned about the broad permissions could run it in a separate Chrome profile, though this would limit its effectiveness. For most users, the privacy benefits outweigh the technical risks, especially given the trustworthy developer. Regular users of privacy tools should feel comfortable installing this extension.
Findings
This section provides a detailed analysis of the extension's security posture, without broader context. Assumes worst-case impact.
HIGH
Broad Content Script Injection
This extension can inject scripts into any website. This means it could potentially read sensitive data, modify website content, or steal credentials.
HIGH
Broad Host Permissions
This extension has broad host permissions allowing it to access many or all websites. This could potentially be used to steal sensitive data or track browsing activity.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: privacy
This extension has the privacy permission. Can modify privacy settings. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: tabs
This extension has the tabs permission. Can access browser tab information and manipulate tabs. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: webNavigation
This extension has the webNavigation permission. Can track your web navigation. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
HIGH
High-Risk Permission: webRequest
This extension has the webRequest permission. Can intercept and modify web requests. This could potentially be used maliciously to compromise security or privacy.
MEDIUM
Medium-Risk Permission: storage
This extension has the storage permission. Can store data locally.
Security Analysis Details
Required Permissions:
- alarms
- declarativeNetRequest
- privacy
- scripting
- storage
- tabs
- webNavigation
- webRequest
Host Permissions:
- <all_urls>
Embedded URLs (880 total):
| https://privacybadger.org/ | http://www.gnu.org/licenses/ | |
| https://privacybadger.org/#What-is-a-third-party-tracker | https://www.eff.org/badger-pretraining | |
| https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/software/major-browsers-to-prevent-disabling-of-click-tracking-privacy-risk/ | https://www.google.com/chrome/privacy/archive/20220623/#pre-rendering | |
| https://www.google.com/chrome/privacy/archive/20220623/#how-chrome-handles-your-information | https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/07/why-privacy-badger-opts-you-out-googles-privacy-sandbox | |
| https://www.eff.org/badger-evolution | https://privacybadger.org/#I-found-a-bug%21-What-do-I-do-now | |
| https://www.eff.org/ | https://privacybadger.org/#faq | |
| https://supporters.eff.org/donate/support-privacy-badger | https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fprivacybadger.org%2F | |
| https://twitter.com/intent/post?text=I%20just%20installed%20Privacy%20Badger%2C%20a%20browser%20extension%20from%20%40EFF%20that%20automatically%20learns%20to%20block%20hidden%20trackers%20https%3A%2F%2Fprivacybadger.org%2F | https://mastodonshare.com/?text=I%20just%20installed%20Privacy%20Badger%2C%20a%20browser%20extension%20from%20%40eff%40mastodon.social%20that%20automatically%20learns%20to%20block%20hidden%20trackers%20https%3A%2F%2Fprivacybadger.org%2F | |
| https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=I%20just%20installed%20Privacy%20Badger%2C%20a%20browser%20extension%20from%20%40eff.org%20that%20automatically%20learns%20to%20block%20hidden%20trackers%20https%3A%2F%2Fprivacybadger.org%2F | https://www.eff.org/code/privacy/policy | |
| http://www.w3.org/2000/svg | http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink | |
| http://www.inkscape.org/ | http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/ | |
| http://creativecommons.org/ns# | http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns# | |
| http://sodipodi.sourceforge.net/DTD/sodipodi-0.dtd | http://www.inkscape.org/namespaces/inkscape | |
| http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage | https://github.com/EFForg/privacybadger/blob/master/doc/DESIGN-AND-ROADMAP.md#data-structures | |
| https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Link_prefetching_FAQ | https://github.com/parshap/node-sanitize-filename/blob/ef1e8ad58e95eb90f8a01f209edf55cd4176e9c8/index.js | |
| https://privacybadger.org/#How-does-Privacy-Badger-work | https://stackoverflow.com/a/22635728 | |
| https://github.com/EFForg/privacybadger/pull/2245#issuecomment-545545717 | https://support.cloudflare.com/hc/en-us/articles/200170156-Understanding-the-Cloudflare-Cookies | |
| http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php | https://github.com/EFForg/privacybadger/issues/3036#issuecomment-2645926189 | |
| https://github.com/ghostwords/chameleon | https://github.com/EFForg/privacybadger/pull/1522 | |
| https://github.com/EFForg/privacybadger/commit/39d5d0899e22d1c451d429e44553c5f9cad7fc46 | https://privacybadger.org/#How-does-Privacy-Badger-handle-social-media-widgets | |
| https://embed.bsky.app/embed/ | https://bsky.app/profile/ | |
| https://www.tiktok.com/@ | https://twitter.com/ | |
| https://www.threads.net/ | https://www.instagram.com/ | |
| https://twitter.com/x/status/ | https://www.instagram.com/p/ | |
| https://github.com/v8/v8/wiki/Stack-Trace-API | https://github.com/csnover/TraceKit/blob/b76ad786f84ed0c94701c83d8963458a8da54d57/tracekit.js#L641 | |
| https://stackoverflow.com/questions/49092423/how-to-break-on-localstorage-changes | https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1207006#c4 | |
| https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1979084 | https://rumble.com/embedJS/ | |
| https://rumble.com/embed/ | https://www.google.com/recaptcha/ | |
| https://www.recaptcha.net/recaptcha/ | https://www.youtube.com/iframe_api | |
| https://www.youtube.com/player_api | https://www.youtube.com/embed/ | |
| https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/g/chromium-extensions/c/0ei-UCHNm34/m/lDaXwQhzBAAJ | https://issues.chromium.org/issues/40095810 | |
| https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1787379 | https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues/issues/1992#issuecomment-1058056302 | |
| https://challenges.cloudflare.com | https://cdn.embedly.com | |
| https://github.com/w3c/webextensions/issues/57#issuecomment-914491167 | https://github.com/w3c/webextensions/issues/78#issuecomment-921058071 | |
| https://privacybadger.org/#-I-am-an-online-advertising-tracking-company.--How-do-I-stop-Privacy-Badger-from-blocking-me | https://github.com/KittyGiraudel/focusable-selectors/tree/main | |
| https://github.com/KittyGiraudel/focusable-selectors/blob/main/LICENSE | https://github.com/KittyGiraudel/focusable-selectors/issues/12 | |
| https://privacybadger.org/#Is-Privacy-Badger-breaking-YouTube | https://privacybadger.org/reporting | |
| https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/Understanding/focus-not-obscured-minimum.html | https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/apg/patterns/dialog-modal/ | |
| https://issues.chromium.org/issues/40825583 | https://github.com/w3c/webextensions/issues/763 | |
| https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/10/privacy-badger-learns-block-ever-more-trackers | https://github.com/EFForg/privacybadger/issues/2712 |
Page 1 of 11
Raw Manifest
{ "name": "__MSG_name__", "icons": { "16": "icons/badger-16.png", "32": "icons/badger-32.png", "48": "icons/badger-48.png", "64": "icons/badger-64.png", "128": "icons/badger-128.png" }, "action": { "default_area": "navbar", "default_icon": { "16": "icons/badger-16-disabled.png", "32": "icons/badger-32-disabled.png", "64": "icons/badger-64-disabled.png" }, "default_popup": "skin/popup.html", "default_title": "__MSG_name__" }, "author": { "email": "eff.software.projects@gmail.com" }, "storage": { "managed_schema": "data/schema.json" }, "version": "2025.12.9", "incognito": "spanning", "background": { "type": "module", "scripts": [ "js/background.js" ], "service_worker": "js/background.js" }, "options_ui": { "page": "/skin/options.html", "open_in_tab": true }, "update_url": "https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx", "description": "__MSG_description__", "permissions": [ "alarms", "declarativeNetRequest", "privacy", "scripting", "storage", "tabs", "webNavigation", "webRequest" ], "default_locale": "en_US", "content_scripts": [ { "js": [ "js/firstparties/lib/utils.js", "js/firstparties/facebook.js" ], "run_at": "document_idle", "matches": [ "https://*.facebook.com/*", "http://*.facebook.com/*", "https://*.messenger.com/*", "http://*.messenger.com/*", "*://*.facebookcorewwwi.onion/*" ] }, { "js": [ "js/firstparties/lib/utils.js", "js/firstparties/google.js" ], "run_at": "document_idle", "matches": [ "https://docs.google.com/*", "http://docs.google.com/*", "https://mail.google.com/*", "http://mail.google.com/*", "https://www.google.com/*", "http://www.google.com/*", "https://www.google.ad/*", "http://www.google.ad/*", "https://www.google.ae/*", "http://www.google.ae/*", "https://www.google.com.af/*", "http://www.google.com.af/*", "https://www.google.com.ag/*", "http://www.google.com.ag/*", "https://www.google.com.ai/*", "http://www.google.com.ai/*", "https://www.google.al/*", "http://www.google.al/*", "https://www.google.am/*", "http://www.google.am/*", "https://www.google.co.ao/*", "http://www.google.co.ao/*", "https://www.google.com.ar/*", "http://www.google.com.ar/*", "https://www.google.as/*", "http://www.google.as/*", "https://www.google.at/*", "http://www.google.at/*", "https://www.google.com.au/*", "http://www.google.com.au/*", "https://www.google.az/*", "http://www.google.az/*", "https://www.google.ba/*", "http://www.google.ba/*", "https://www.google.com.bd/*", "http://www.google.com.bd/*", "https://www.google.be/*", "http://www.google.be/*", "https://www.google.bf/*", "http://www.google.bf/*", "https://www.google.bg/*", "http://www.google.bg/*", "https://www.google.com.bh/*", "http://www.google.com.bh/*", "https://www.google.bi/*", "http://www.google.bi/*", "https://www.google.bj/*", "http://www.google.bj/*", "https://www.google.com.bn/*", "http://www.google.com.bn/*", "https://www.google.com.bo/*", "http://www.google.com.bo/*", "https://www.google.com.br/*", "http://www.google.com.br/*", "https://www.google.bs/*", "http://www.google.bs/*", "https://www.google.bt/*", "http://www.google.bt/*", "https://www.google.co.bw/*", "http://www.google.co.bw/*", "https://www.google.by/*", "http://www.google.by/*", "https://www.google.com.bz/*", "http://www.google.com.bz/*", "https://www.google.ca/*", "http://www.google.ca/*", "https://www.google.cd/*", "http://www.google.cd/*", "https://www.google.cf/*", "http://www.google.cf/*", "https://www.google.cg/*", "http://www.google.cg/*", "https://www.google.ch/*", "http://www.google.ch/*", "https://www.google.ci/*", "http://www.google.ci/*", "https://www.google.co.ck/*", "http://www.google.co.ck/*", "https://www.google.cl/*", "http://www.google.cl/*", "https://www.google.cm/*", "http://www.google.cm/*", "https://www.google.cn/*", "http://www.google.cn/*", "https://www.google.com.co/*", "http://www.google.com.co/*", "https://www.google.co.cr/*", "http://www.google.co.cr/*", "https://www.google.com.cu/*", "http://www.google.com.cu/*", "https://www.google.cv/*", "http://www.google.cv/*", "https://www.google.com.cy/*", "http://www.google.com.cy/*", "https://www.google.cz/*", "http://www.google.cz/*", "https://www.google.de/*", "http://www.google.de/*", "https://www.google.dj/*", "http://www.google.dj/*", "https://www.google.dk/*", "http://www.google.dk/*", "https://www.google.dm/*", "http://www.google.dm/*", "https://www.google.com.do/*", "http://www.google.com.do/*", "https://www.google.dz/*", "http://www.google.dz/*", "https://www.google.com.ec/*", "http://www.google.com.ec/*", "https://www.google.ee/*", "http://www.google.ee/*", "https://www.google.com.eg/*", "http://www.google.com.eg/*", "https://www.google.es/*", "http://www.google.es/*", "https://www.google.com.et/*", "http://www.google.com.et/*", "https://www.google.fi/*", "http://www.google.fi/*", "https://www.google.com.fj/*", "http://www.google.com.fj/*", "https://www.google.fm/*", "http://www.google.fm/*", "https://www.google.fr/*", "http://www.google.fr/*", "https://www.google.ga/*", "http://www.google.ga/*", "https://www.google.ge/*", "http://www.google.ge/*", "https://www.google.gg/*", "http://www.google.gg/*", "https://www.google.com.gh/*", "http://www.google.com.gh/*", "https://www.google.com.gi/*", "http://www.google.com.gi/*", "https://www.google.gl/*", "http://www.google.gl/*", "https://www.google.gm/*", "http://www.google.gm/*", "https://www.google.gr/*", "http://www.google.gr/*", "https://www.google.com.gt/*", "http://www.google.com.gt/*", "https://www.google.gy/*", "http://www.google.gy/*", "https://www.google.com.hk/*", "http://www.google.com.hk/*", "https://www.google.hn/*", "http://www.google.hn/*", "https://www.google.hr/*", "http://www.google.hr/*", "https://www.google.ht/*", "http://www.google.ht/*", "https://www.google.hu/*", "http://www.google.hu/*", "https://www.google.co.id/*", "http://www.google.co.id/*", "https://www.google.ie/*", "http://www.google.ie/*", "https://www.google.co.il/*", "http://www.google.co.il/*", "https://www.google.im/*", "http://www.google.im/*", "https://www.google.co.in/*", "http://www.google.co.in/*", "https://www.google.iq/*", "http://www.google.iq/*", "https://www.google.is/*", "http://www.google.is/*", "https://www.google.it/*", "http://www.google.it/*", "https://www.google.je/*", "http://www.google.je/*", "https://www.google.com.jm/*", "http://www.google.com.jm/*", "https://www.google.jo/*", "http://www.google.jo/*", "https://www.google.co.jp/*", "http://www.google.co.jp/*", "https://www.google.co.ke/*", "http://www.google.co.ke/*", "https://www.google.com.kh/*", "http://www.google.com.kh/*", "https://www.google.ki/*", "http://www.google.ki/*", "https://www.google.kg/*", "http://www.google.kg/*", "https://www.google.co.kr/*", "http://www.google.co.kr/*", "https://www.google.com.kw/*", "http://www.google.com.kw/*", "https://www.google.kz/*", "http://www.google.kz/*", "https://www.google.la/*", "http://www.google.la/*", "https://www.google.com.lb/*", "http://www.google.com.lb/*", "https://www.google.li/*", "http://www.google.li/*", "https://www.google.lk/*", "http://www.google.lk/*", "https://www.google.co.ls/*", "http://www.google.co.ls/*", "https://www.google.lt/*", "http://www.google.lt/*", "https://www.google.lu/*", "http://www.google.lu/*", "https://www.google.lv/*", "http://www.google.lv/*", "https://www.google.com.ly/*", "http://www.google.com.ly/*", "https://www.google.co.ma/*", "http://www.google.co.ma/*", "https://www.google.md/*", "http://www.google.md/*", "https://www.google.me/*", "http://www.google.me/*", "https://www.google.mg/*", "http://www.google.mg/*", "https://www.google.mk/*", "http://www.google.mk/*", "https://www.google.ml/*", "http://www.google.ml/*", "https://www.google.com.mm/*", "http://www.google.com.mm/*", "https://www.google.mn/*", "http://www.google.mn/*", "https://www.google.ms/*", "http://www.google.ms/*", "https://www.google.com.mt/*", "http://www.google.com.mt/*", "https://www.google.mu/*", "http://www.google.mu/*", "https://www.google.mv/*", "http://www.google.mv/*", "https://www.google.mw/*", "http://www.google.mw/*", "https://www.google.com.mx/*", "http://www.google.com.mx/*", "https://www.google.com.my/*", "http://www.google.com.my/*", "https://www.google.co.mz/*", "http://www.google.co.mz/*", "https://www.google.com.na/*", "http://www.google.com.na/*", "https://www.google.com.ng/*", "http://www.google.com.ng/*", "https://www.google.com.ni/*", "http://www.google.com.ni/*", "https://www.google.ne/*", "http://www.google.ne/*", "https://www.google.nl/*", "http://www.google.nl/*", "https://www.google.no/*", "http://www.google.no/*", "https://www.google.com.np/*", "http://www.google.com.np/*", "https://www.google.nr/*", "http://www.google.nr/*", "https://www.google.nu/*", "http://www.google.nu/*", "https://www.google.co.nz/*", "http://www.google.co.nz/*", "https://www.google.com.om/*", "http://www.google.com.om/*", "https://www.google.com.pa/*", "http://www.google.com.pa/*", "https://www.google.com.pe/*", "http://www.google.com.pe/*", "https://www.google.com.pg/*", "http://www.google.com.pg/*", "https://www.google.com.ph/*", "http://www.google.com.ph/*", "https://www.google.com.pk/*", "http://www.google.com.pk/*", "https://www.google.pl/*", "http://www.google.pl/*", "https://www.google.pn/*", "http://www.google.pn/*", "https://www.google.com.pr/*", "http://www.google.com.pr/*", "https://www.google.ps/*", "http://www.google.ps/*", "https://www.google.pt/*", "http://www.google.pt/*", "https://www.google.com.py/*", "http://www.google.com.py/*", "https://www.google.com.qa/*", "http://www.google.com.qa/*", "https://www.google.ro/*", "http://www.google.ro/*", "https://www.google.ru/*", "http://www.google.ru/*", "https://www.google.rw/*", "http://www.google.rw/*", "https://www.google.com.sa/*", "http://www.google.com.sa/*", "https://www.google.com.sb/*", "http://www.google.com.sb/*", "https://www.google.sc/*", "http://www.google.sc/*", "https://www.google.se/*", "http://www.google.se/*", "https://www.google.com.sg/*", "http://www.google.com.sg/*", "https://www.google.sh/*", "http://www.google.sh/*", "https://www.google.si/*", "http://www.google.si/*", "https://www.google.sk/*", "http://www.google.sk/*", "https://www.google.com.sl/*", "http://www.google.com.sl/*", "https://www.google.sn/*", "http://www.google.sn/*", "https://www.google.so/*", "http://www.google.so/*", "https://www.google.sm/*", "http://www.google.sm/*", "https://www.google.sr/*", "http://www.google.sr/*", "https://www.google.st/*", "http://www.google.st/*", "https://www.google.com.sv/*", "http://www.google.com.sv/*", "https://www.google.td/*", "http://www.google.td/*", "https://www.google.tg/*", "http://www.google.tg/*", "https://www.google.co.th/*", "http://www.google.co.th/*", "https://www.google.com.tj/*", "http://www.google.com.tj/*", "https://www.google.tl/*", "http://www.google.tl/*", "https://www.google.tm/*", "http://www.google.tm/*", "https://www.google.tn/*", "http://www.google.tn/*", "https://www.google.to/*", "http://www.google.to/*", "https://www.google.com.tr/*", "http://www.google.com.tr/*", "https://www.google.tt/*", "http://www.google.tt/*", "https://www.google.com.tw/*", "http://www.google.com.tw/*", "https://www.google.co.tz/*", "http://www.google.co.tz/*", "https://www.google.com.ua/*", "http://www.google.com.ua/*", "https://www.google.co.ug/*", "http://www.google.co.ug/*", "https://www.google.co.uk/*", "http://www.google.co.uk/*", "https://www.google.com.uy/*", "http://www.google.com.uy/*", "https://www.google.co.uz/*", "http://www.google.co.uz/*", "https://www.google.com.vc/*", "http://www.google.com.vc/*", "https://www.google.co.ve/*", "http://www.google.co.ve/*", "https://www.google.vg/*", "http://www.google.vg/*", "https://www.google.co.vi/*", "http://www.google.co.vi/*", "https://www.google.com.vn/*", "http://www.google.com.vn/*", "https://www.google.vu/*", "http://www.google.vu/*", "https://www.google.ws/*", "http://www.google.ws/*", "https://www.google.rs/*", "http://www.google.rs/*", "https://www.google.co.za/*", "http://www.google.co.za/*", "https://www.google.co.zm/*", "http://www.google.co.zm/*", "https://www.google.co.zw/*", "http://www.google.co.zw/*", "https://www.google.cat/*", "http://www.google.cat/*" ] }, { "js": [ "js/contentscripts/utils.js", "js/contentscripts/clobberstorage.js", "js/contentscripts/fingerprinting.js" ], "run_at": "document_start", "matches": [ "<all_urls>" ], "all_frames": true, "match_about_blank": true }, { "js": [ "js/contentscripts/socialwidgets.js", "js/contentscripts/supercookie.js" ], "run_at": "document_idle", "matches": [ "<all_urls>" ], "all_frames": true, "match_about_blank": true } ], "host_permissions": [ "<all_urls>" ], "manifest_version": 3, "minimum_chrome_version": "121.0", "declarative_net_request": { "rule_resources": [ { "id": "dnt_policy_ruleset", "path": "data/dnr/dnt_policy.json", "enabled": true }, { "id": "google_gen204_ruleset", "path": "data/dnr/gen204.json", "enabled": true }, { "id": "google_redirect_ruleset", "path": "data/dnr/bypass_redirects.json", "enabled": true } ] }, "web_accessible_resources": [ { "matches": [ "<all_urls>" ], "resources": [ "data/web_accessible_resources/*" ], "use_dynamic_url": true } ], "browser_specific_settings": { "gecko": { "id": "jid1-MnnxcxisBPnSXQ@jetpack", "strict_min_version": "128.0" }, "gecko_android": { "strict_min_version": "128.0" } } }
ⓘ CRXaminer has partnered with our friends at Secure Annex to provide additional findings unique to their platform.
Secure Annex also analyzes extensions from other browsers, IDEs, and can continuously monitor.
Loading Secure Annex data...
Unable to load Secure Annex data.
This extension may not yet be analyzed by Secure Annex.
Detections
0Critical
0
High
0
Medium
0
Low
0
Has Verdicts
Yes
Manifest Findings
0Critical
0
High
0
Medium
0
Low
0
Secure Annex analyzed version: -