K-Meleon offers many privacy benefits. It comes with a built-in adblocker and Privacy Bar, and it offers more control than common browsers. K-Meleon also uses more private default settings. It does not expose data on the Windows lock screen. It is a telemetry-free web browser. (Common web browsers use telemetry to send personal data back to Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Samsung.) K-Meleon also defaults to the privacy-focused Duck Duck Go search engine.

Block Javascript, Java, popups, and more

K-Meleon's built-in Privacy Bar can block Java, Javascript, popups, cookies, and images with a single click. To enable it, go to View > Toolbars > Privacy Bar and click to activate. A green checkmark means that an item is allowed. A red line indicates that an item is blocked. The status indicators can change even if you toggle blocking in other ways:

You can also block elements of web pages by going to Tools > Privacy > and clicking on an element to toggle blocking. You can toggle commonly blocked elements from the keyboard:

• F7: Javascript
• F8: Popups
• F9: Images

Manage cookies

Cookies allow websites to store information on your computer. Cookies have many legitimate uses but can also track your browsing history. Tracking cookies store your location, IP address, sites that you've visited, links that you've clicked, and sometimes purchase history. Advertisers use tracking cookies to serve targeted ads based on your online activities.

You can block all cookies but this will cause some websites to stop functioning.

To reduce tracking cookies, you can use K-Meleon's cookie management. To manage them go to Edit > Preferences (F2) >> Privacy & Security where you will see options for blocking and clearing. Many cookies will have reasonable expiration dates. Upon their expiration, the browser will clear the old cookies. Tracking cookies linger as long as possible, but you can set cookies to expire either at the end of session or after a certain number of days.

You can also allow cookies from the originating website only because nearly all tracking cookies are third-party cookies. This will block most tracking cookies. Unfortunately, it will also block some legitimate cookies for embedded content.

Disable stored Passwords

K-Meleon can remember passwords for you. This can be convenient if you have many obscure passwords. However, if you allow a browser to remember passwords to important sites like banks, government programs, or insurance companies, then anyone with access to your computer can also access your personal information.

You can disable stored passwords by going to Edit > Preferences > General and unchecking Remember passwords.

You can also clear your stored passwords by going to Tools > Privacy > Clear Passwords at any time.

Disable legacy plugins

K-Meleon supports several types of legacy content through third-party plugins that other browsers have abandoned. They are convenient for accessing older webpages but come with security risks. Flash, Java, and Quicktime are no longer receiving security updates. Third-party plugins for legacy content can be disabled by typing about:addons into the URL bar, navigating to Plugins, and choosing Never Activate next to a plugin.

You can temporarily block Java with the Privacy Bar. You can also temporarily block both Flash and Java by going to Tools > Privacy > and clicking on them.

Finally, FlashBlock offers a way to run Flash on trusted sites. To enable FlashBlock, go to Edit > Preferences (F2) >> Page Display > Content Filters and check Enable Flashblock. You can then allow Flash on a trusted site, by going to Tools > Privacy > Flashblock > and choosing enable.

Clear browsing data

K-Meleon can clear the Cookies, Disk Cache, History, Address Bar History, and Saved Passwords. Go to Tools > Privacy > Clear Data and select which type of data you'd like to clear or Clear All to clear everything. Data can also be automatically cleared (similar to "private browsing" on other browsers). Navigate to Tools > Privacy > Clear Data > Clear Automatically and check data types to be cleared.

Set up a proxy or VPN

An anonymous proxy or a VPN can increase your anonymity online. Both route your online activities through a server to hide your IP address and location. Only use a trusted proxy or VPN service. Because they route your data through an external server, both are vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. You can set up a proxy in the preferences at Preferences (F2) >> Network > Proxy.

A VPN is the more secure option because it can encrypt all data between your device and the VPN server. If you set up a VPN on your computer, K-Meleon will automatically use it.

A proxy can hide your IP address and location from websites. They are less secure but have several advantages. Proxies can be run on any computer with a portable installation and are usually less expensive than a VPN.

You can use a proxy and a VPN together. If you use both, K-Meleon will have a separate IP address from other software on your computer. This can reduce finger-printing when using multiple web browsers.

Finally, you can use a self-hosted VPN or proxy like Privoxy. These will use your actual IP address, but offer other benefits. A self-hosted proxy can block ads and trackers at the proxy level rather than the browser level.