Thanks, David C, for your helpful comments. What ad blocker do you recommend for a Mac? and for an iDevice?
I use the same for both macOS and iOS. Ka-Block! I value its simplicity. Free, no configuration, no fuss, just works. Was actually recommended to me right here on TBT many years ago. Never looked back.
Iām currently running uBlock Origin on Firefox. Unfortunately, it no longer works with Chrome (due to software architectural changes) and never worked on Safari.
On Safari (including the version in my iPhone), Iāve been running AdBlock Plus, but it is very limited compared to its Firefox cousin (which I used for a long time before switching to uBlock).
I havenāt done much research for non-Firefox ad blockers, because thatās what I use for over 99% of my web traffic.
If youāre interested in seeing what people here are doing for privacy and security on their browsers, hereās my approach.
Since memory and storage donāt need to be closely rationed on modern hardware, I use a multi-browser setup. I keep Safari in its stock configuration for exclusive use with regularly visited, trusted websites that handle confidential information (for example, financial services). I use Firefox with a full set of security and privacy extensions for general browsing. I use DuckDuckGo when I look at regularly visited but non-sensitive websites (for example, MacRumors).
I went with Firefox because it is widely used and open source, which means there are lots of eyes watching how it works, and because it is free. I continue using Safari because it is highly integrated with macOS and Apple consistently provides updates for it. I tried DuckDuckGo during its beta testing period and decided to keep itā¦but if I stopped using it, I would just shift most of my browsing to Firefox.
Ad-related Firefox add-ons I use:
Adblock Plus
Disconnect
Ghostery
Google Analytics Opt-out
NoScript
Privacy Badger
āāāāā
And for iOS and iPadOS:
I donāt do anything involving confidential information on my iPhone and iPad. So I use a stripped down version of Firefox, Firefox Focus, and the DuckDuckGo mobile browser.
Actually it did work on Safari up through version 12āit stopped working with v13 and beyond. I used it and liked it enough that I delayed upgrading macOS/Safari so I could continue to use it.
I use uBlock Origin on Orion and Firefox. On Safari I use AdGuard and Ghostery Lite.
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Thanks to you all for your comments and suggestions about ad blockers ā much appreciated!
For credit cards, Iāve added each card to 1Password when I received it (prior to activating it), and I include the company website and the various customer service numbers from the back of the card (there are usually at least two and sometimes three - a toll-free number, a toll-number, and an overseas number if traveling internationally). If I ever were to have someone claiming to be the bank, I would refer to the numbers that I captured at the time the card was delivered, and contact those directly. Whenever I receive a replacement card, I update the card number, expiry date, security code, and check to see if any of the numbers or website addresses have changed.
This way I have a reasonably easy, but also reasonably secure, way to contact any of my financial institutions (Iāve done the same for the bank accounts, with the routing number, account number, customer service numbers, etc.).
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In addition to all the card contact information in 1Password I also add a tag called wallet for each card in my wallet. If my wallet gets lost/stolen I can quickly see which cards I need to cancel.
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Might need to put aside time to actually go on holiday 
On my iPad I do find that Safariās āHide distracting itemsā helps. But it seems to only work when a web page is loaded and not by default.
Incidentally, a version of uBlock Origin (Lite) is once again available for Safari (Macintosh and iOS.)
The Lite version is based on the neutered Manifest v3 Chrome extension, and required some patches that Apple finally delivered in the latest OS point releases.
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I can read all the capsule headlines and view the main pages (e.g. News->UK->Scotland), but when trying to dig deeper for content and read entire articles, the dreaded āSubscribe at this outrageous price for one year (and then weāll double it for the second year)ā Javascript overlay pops out and the article text thatās not covered by that is both frozen and blurred. Admittedly, I donāt live in the UK and so donāt pay any taxes that might support the BBCās news coverage, but itās pretty outrageous gouging for such minimal usage.
I just did a quick check using the iPadOS DuckDuckGo browser on this BBC news story:
The full text is freely accessible to me (Iām in North America). I read a different story on my Mac a couple of days ago. So maybe there is something about your setup or location that causes the paywall to come up.
I regularly look at the BBC site and recently, randomly, I get the subscription popup. No rhyme or reason to it yet.
Dave
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