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Privacy Badger

Version 2026.2.20 View in Chrome Web Store

Last scanned: 2 days ago | force re-scan

Extension Details

Developer: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Rating: 4.5 ★ (2K ratings)
Users: 1,000,000

Context-Aware Verdict

LOW
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 1 million users and a 4.5-star rating from 2,000 reviews, it has demonstrated widespread community trust. The EFF's transparent development practices and open-source nature provide additional credibility. The extension's core mission is explicitly privacy protection, making its extensive permissions functionally necessary rather than suspicious.

Concerns:

While the security scanner flags multiple high-risk permissions, these are actually essential for Privacy Badger's legitimate functionality. The privacy permission allows it to modify tracking settings, webRequest/webNavigation permissions enable tracker blocking, and broad host permissions are required to protect users across all websites. The extensive Google domain content scripts are needed to block Google's tracking mechanisms specifically. However, users should be aware that any extension with such broad access could theoretically be compromised or misused.

Recommendations:

This extension represents a rare case where extensive permissions are justified by legitimate privacy protection needs and developer reputation. The EFF's track record makes this a trustworthy choice for privacy-conscious users. However, if you're particularly security-conscious, you could run it in a separate Chrome profile for additional isolation. Regularly check for updates to ensure you have the latest security patches and tracker definitions.

Findings

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.
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