Mozilla has started enabling encrypted DNS over HTTPS (DoH) with the latest version of Firefox for users in the US. The company is expected to enable DoH by default to other regions in the future.
“Today, Firefox began the rollout of encrypted DNS over HTTPS (DoH) by default for US-based users. The rollout will continue over the next few weeks to confirm no major issues are discovered as this new protocol is enabled for Firefox’s US-based users.”, wrote Mozilla in an announcement.
If you’ve no idea what DoH is, it is Cloudflare’s encrypted DNS service that lets you take control over your privacy. Cloudflare’s DNS neither logs your network activity nor sells it to third parties. You may learn more about DoH in Firefox’s explainer post.
If you’re a Firefox user outside the US, you may enable DoH manually from Settings -> General -> Network Settings. In Network Settings, check the “Enable DNS over HTTPS” checkbox. The default DoH provider of Firefox is Cloudflare and hence, you need not perform any modifications there. However, you could opt for NextDNS in case you face network speed fluctuations with Cloudflare DNS.
In case you’re using a Chromium-based browser, you could enable DoH by enabling the “Secure DNS lookups” flag from Chrome flags. To ensure that the DoH is functioning as intended, visit this page and check if “Using DNS over HTTPS (DoH)” shows “Yes”.
In the blog post, Mozilla mentions that the company is planning to bring more privacy-oriented features throughout the year. By enabling DoH by default, Mozilla has taken a huge leap ahead in terms of protecting the privacy of users and it indeed is a welcome move appreciated by privacy enthusiasts across the globe.
