--- title: "Tools & Sites" description: "What actually reduces your exposure. Ad blockers, privacy tools, the Bad News game, and more." url: https://attentionmachine.org/en/educate/tools/ lang: en updated: 2026-10-25 license: "CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)" --- # Tools & Sites What actually helps. Partial defences against a system built with far more resources than any individual can counter — plus tools for understanding the mechanism. ## Understand **Bad News game** — [getbadnews.com](https://getbadnews.com)\ A browser game of about 15 minutes where you play the role of a fake news creator, learning six documented manipulation techniques[^src-roozenbeek-2019] from the inside. Developed by DROG and Cambridge University researchers. The inoculation effect is real: research shows playing it builds resistance to the techniques it teaches that lasts for months when refreshed[^src-maertens-2021]. Start here. > **Inoculation (prebunking)** > > Building resistance to manipulation by exposing you to a weakened dose of the technique before you meet it for real — a psychological vaccine. Research led by Cambridge's Sander van der Linden shows that learning to spot the _tactics_ (manufactured outrage, false dilemmas, scapegoating) transfers across topics, where debunking individual false claims afterwards often does not. > > **Sources** > > - [Bad News](https://getbadnews.com) — inoculation game, Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab / DROG. > - Roozenbeek, J. & van der Linden, S. (2019), [_Fake news game confers psychological resistance against online misinformation_](https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0279-9), Palgrave Communications 5(65) — the Bad News evaluation, 15,000 players; about 15 minutes of play; the six techniques the game teaches; developed with DROG. > - Roozenbeek, J., van der Linden, S. et al. (2022), [_Psychological inoculation improves resilience against misinformation on social media_](https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abo6254), Science Advances 8(34). **EFF Cover Your Tracks** — [coveryourtracks.eff.org](https://coveryourtracks.eff.org)\ Shows you exactly what your browser reveals to trackers — how unique your browser fingerprint is, and how well your blockers actually work[^src-electronic-frontier]. Not an action tool but a demonstration tool: understanding what is visible is the first step. ## Reduce tracking **uBlock Origin**\ The ad and tracker blocker this site recommends first. A browser extension — free, open-source, maintained by volunteers. The full extension now runs only in Firefox (and in Brave, which hosts it itself)[^src-ublock-origin-b]. Chrome, and Chromium browsers such as Edge, allow only uBlock Origin Lite[^src-ublock-origin-c]: the full version is built on the older extension standard Google retired[^src-google], and its developer says[^src-ublock-origin] there is no version of it for the new one. Safari has not carried the full extension for years and also offers only Lite. **Firefox with Enhanced Tracking Protection**\ Mozilla's browser, with tracking protection on by default[^src-mozilla] — known social-media trackers, cross-site tracking cookies and cryptominers are blocked in the standard setting. Not as comprehensive as uBlock Origin alone, but a reasonable default for users who want less configuration. Firefox is made by the Mozilla Corporation, a taxable company wholly owned by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation[^src-mozilla-b]. Specific settings and tools change faster than this page does. For current, device-level advice — phone privacy settings, VPNs, messaging, account security — use the guides that non-commercial institutions maintain as their job: **Surveillance Self-Defense** — [ssd.eff.org](https://ssd.eff.org)\ The Electronic Frontier Foundation's step-by-step guides, organised by tool and by situation, continuously revised by a dedicated team. The reference standard for protecting yourself against both corporate and government surveillance. **Security Planner** — [securityplanner.consumerreports.org](https://securityplanner.consumerreports.org)\ Consumer Reports' free planner: answer a few questions about your devices and concerns, get a personalised, checkable action plan. No account needed. From the long-established non-profit consumer-testing organisation. **Data Detox Kit** — [datadetoxkit.org](https://datadetoxkit.org)\ Tactical Tech's accessible guides to privacy, digital wellbeing, and misinformation — short, friendly, and available in more than 40 languages[^src-tactical-tech]. ## Alternative search **DuckDuckGo** — [duckduckgo.com](https://duckduckgo.com)\ No behavioural tracking, and ads chosen by the search page rather than by you[^src-duckduckgo]. Results are not identical to Google's but are adequate for most searches. Free. **Ecosia** — [ecosia.org](https://www.ecosia.org)\ Berlin-based and steward-owned[^src-ecosia-2018]: it cannot be sold, no one may take profits out of it, and the surplus goes to tree planting. Privacy is decent but not the point — Ecosia says it builds no personal profile and anonymises your IP address within seven days[^src-ecosia], but your IP address and your query go to its search partner — Google by default for eligible users, or Microsoft Bing if you choose it — and their ads fund it. Choose it for the incentive structure; choose the others here if privacy is your priority. Free. **Kagi** — [kagi.com](https://kagi.com)\ User-supported, no advertising model. The incentive structure differs: Kagi profits when users find it useful, not when they click ads. Paid subscription (from $5/month)[^src-kagi]. ## Reviewed news **Reuters**, **BBC News**, **AP**\ Wire services and public broadcasters whose incentive structure differs from algorithmically-curated feeds. Not perfect — ownership and institutional pressures apply to all — but the correction mechanisms are more visible. Go to source directly rather than through search or social media. **Cochrane Reviews** — [cochrane.org](https://cochrane.org)\ For health information specifically: Cochrane produces systematic reviews of medical evidence, combining the studies on a question rather than reporting one of them. Rigorous, peer-reviewed, regularly updated, and independent of commercial funding by its own rule[^src-cochrane]. Significantly more reliable than general search for medical questions. ## Collaborative content **Wikipedia** — [wikipedia.org](https://wikipedia.org)\ Not a primary source. Subject to errors and manipulation. Better than almost any advertising-funded alternative because its failure modes are visible and documented. The correction mechanism works publicly — every edit is recorded in a page history[^src-wikipedia], [disputes are argued on the Talk page, and contested claims can be flagged](https://attentionmachine.org/en/truth/science/). Use Wikipedia's reference lists: the citations at the bottom of well-maintained articles represent years of editorial work identifying primary sources. Start there, not with the article text. Free, non-commercial, non-profit. **Deeper — why every tool here is a partial defence, not a fix** Notice what these tools can and cannot do. Browser tools (uBlock Origin, Firefox protection) cut _browser-side_ tracking — cookies, scripts, fingerprinting attempts in the page. [They do not stop real-time bidding](https://attentionmachine.org/en/attention-machine/advertising/), because the auction that broadcasts a profile to bidders happens server-side, between companies, regardless of what your browser blocks. Privacy search engines stop one company building a profile from your queries; they don't change the wider ad market. The inoculation tools change _you_ — your resistance to manipulation — not the system. This is deliberate framing, not defeatism. Individual tools meaningfully reduce your exposure and are worth using. But the design of the system means no combination of personal settings defeats it; that is precisely why the site treats structural change, not individual configuration, as the part of the answer that reaches the system. Use the tools, and support the structural work. ## Sources [^src-roozenbeek-2019]: Roozenbeek, J. & van der Linden, S. (2019), [_Fake news game confers psychological resistance against online misinformation_](https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0279-9), Palgrave Communications 5(65) — the Bad News evaluation, 15,000 players; about 15 minutes of play; the six techniques the game teaches; developed with DROG. [^src-maertens-2021]: Maertens, R., Roozenbeek, J., Basol, M. & van der Linden, S. (2021), [_Long-term effectiveness of inoculation against misinformation: Three longitudinal experiments_](https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000315), Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 27(1) — how long the effect holds: stable for at least three months with regular testing; faded within two months without. [^src-electronic-frontier]: Electronic Frontier Foundation, [_Cover Your Tracks — about_](https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/about) — the tool tests how unique a browser is and how effective its tracker blockers are. [^src-ublock-origin]: uBlock Origin wiki, [_About Google Chrome's "This extension may soon no longer be supported"_](https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/About-Google-Chrome's-%22This-extension-may-soon-no-longer-be-supported%22) — the developer's own note: "There is no Manifest v3 version of uBO"; uBlock Origin Lite is the Manifest v3 extension, with features sacrificed. Vendor documentation. [^src-ublock-origin-b]: uBlock Origin wiki, [_About Safari and Canary support_](https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/About-Safari-and-Canary-support) — "There was support for Safari in the past, several years ago, but not anymore"; since the Manifest v2 deprecation, Brave hosts uBO itself. Vendor documentation. [^src-ublock-origin-c]: [uBlock Origin Lite (uBOL)](https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBOL-home) — the install pages the project lists: Chromium, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Safari. Vendor documentation. [^src-google]: Google, [_Manifest V2 support timeline_](https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate/mv2-deprecation-timeline) — Chrome's own schedule for turning off the extension standard uBlock Origin is built on. Vendor documentation. [^src-mozilla]: Mozilla, [_Enhanced Tracking Protection in Firefox for desktop_](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enhanced-tracking-protection-firefox-desktop) — on by default; what the standard setting blocks. Vendor documentation. [^src-mozilla-b]: Mozilla, [_Organizations_](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/governance/organizations/) — "the wholly owned taxable subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation", under the non-profit Mozilla Foundation. Vendor page. [^src-tactical-tech]: Tactical Tech, [_Data Detox Kit — languages_](https://datadetoxkit.org/en/languages/) — more than 40 languages. [^src-duckduckgo]: DuckDuckGo, [_Privacy Policy_](https://duckduckgo.com/privacy) — no search history that can be tied to a person; search ads are based on the results page, "not based on you as a person". Vendor page. [^src-ecosia-2018]: Ecosia (25 October 2018), [_Trees not profits: we're giving up our right to ever sell Ecosia_](https://blog.ecosia.org/trees-not-profits/) — the steward-ownership arrangement, announced by the company. Vendor page. [^src-ecosia]: Ecosia, [_Privacy Policy_](https://www.ecosia.org/privacy) (last modified 21 May 2026) — "we anonymize your IP address after a maximum of 7 days"; "We don't compile your data in order to create a personal profile"; the IP address and search terms go to the search partner, Google by default for eligible users or Microsoft Bing. Vendor page. [^src-kagi]: Kagi, [_Pricing_](https://kagi.com/pricing) — Starter from $5 a month; "no ads, no tracking… fully funded by its users". Vendor page. [^src-cochrane]: Cochrane, [_About us_](https://www.cochrane.org/about-us) — "independent of commercial interests and does not accept funding that could influence our reviews". [^src-wikipedia]: Wikipedia, [_Help: Page history_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Page_history) — every edit to every page is recorded and public. [What to Do →](https://attentionmachine.org/en/educate/what-to-do/) --- Some content on this site was created with the assistance of AI tools and may contain errors. [How we use AI →](https://attentionmachine.org/en/about/how-we-use-ai/)