Mozilla separates cache from sites from next stable version Firefox

From the next stable version of the browser, Firefox will end cache sharing and separation for sites. Because of this ‘cache partitioning’, the browser must prevent a method of tracking that uses information from the cache.

The feature will arrive in Firefox 85 and release January 26, Mozilla says. Sites can then no longer use the shared http cache, image cache, favicon cache and more, ZDNet writes. Also, sites can no longer use the shared font cache.

The step no longer makes it possible to track Firefox users using the contents of the shared cache, Mozilla argues. Currently, the W3C’s Privacy Community group is also working on a ‘storage partitioning’ standard. Sites may be slower to load because of the step, as resources may take longer to download than to get them from the cache.

Mozilla is not the first to take this step. Google pulled the shared http cache from Chrome back in October. Mozilla separates many more parts of the cache. Other browsers, including those based on Chromium, have not yet announced or implemented this step.