Privacy boost — give users real control, not checkbox illusions

Chi-oma

Chi-oma

Opera has flirted with privacy, but now, it's time for commitment.

There should be no more half-measures, and no more vague tracker blockers that do who-knows-what behind the scenes. We need raw, actionable privacy controls—visible, direct, and unambiguous ones exactly.

Here’s how Opera can actually earn the trust of privacy-conscious users:

Give we (the users) a toggle to block scripts: Some websites abuse JavaScript. Opera should let the users to turn scripts on and off with a switch. Opera should also allow users to exclude some sites from the blocking of scripts. Advanced users need this control. It's not optional anymore.

Opera should show privacy insights per site: Opera should not just block silently, but rather, it should show what’s happening, who's trying to fingerprint or track? Let us see the attempts, not just rely on silent mitigation. Transparency is power.

Opera should block fingerprinting: Browser fingerprinting is invisible, sneaky, and getting more advanced. Users need a blunt-force option to block it entirely. We (the users) do not need a maybe or partial, but rather, we need a real kill switch to browser fingerprinting.

Opera should include an Upgrade connections to HTTPS section and offer HTTPS upgrades with three modes:

Strict mode: This mode will refuse HTTP entirely and it might break things if necessary.

Default: This mode will upgrade the site to HTTPS when HTTPS is available for that site. This mode will fall back to HTTP only when forced (when HTTPS is not available for that site).

Off: This will turn off HTTPS upgrades.

Custom tracker blocking with clear levels: Tracker blocking should be more customizable, just like Opera's new ad blocker and should have three modes:

Strict: This mode will block everything, including first-party analytics if needed. Some sites might not work properly in this mode.

Default: This mode will block known trackers. Tracker blocking normally does this now, but actually disclose what’s being blocked.

Off: This will turn off tracker blocking.

This will let the us (the users) see and choose what is going on with our browsing experience.

I think it's enough with small privacy systems. Opera can lead—if it builds real privacy infrastructure instead of checkbox features designed for marketing pages

leocg

leocg Moderator Volunteer @Chi-oma

@Chi-oma One suggestion per topic please