Opera 64 desktop browser launches with inbuilt tracking protection using the EasyPrivacy Tracking Protection List, a powerful screenshot tool, and more
Opera doesn't want to miss the browser privacy bandwagon, and it's taking an unusual angle to sell it: it's promising a speed boost.
Context & Ripple Effects
Opera 64 is the latest step in a privacy arc the company has been building since it bought SurfEasy in 2015 to add VPN services to its browser, then folded password sync and VPN integration into the desktop client and later shipped a free unlimited VPN on Android. In 2016 it made the same move with ads, launching a native ad blocker and pitching it on speed rather than privacy.
Opera 64 extends that pattern to trackers, blocking them by default via the EasyPrivacy Tracking Protection List — and, notably, it sells the feature with the same argument it used for ad blocking: that blocking things makes the browser faster. The Opera Touch launch on iPhone already carried built-in ad blocking and cryptojacking protection, so tracking protection completes the default-on privacy stack across its clients.
First-order effects
- Desktop users get tracker blocking on by default with no extension to install, sourced from the EasyPrivacy list, alongside a new screenshot tool in the same release.
- Opera gains a marketing wedge against larger browsers whose tracker blocking depends on user-installed extensions, repeating the speed-first framing of its 2016 ad-blocker launch.
Second-order effects
- The speed-boost pitch pressures rivals to defend why equivalent protection is opt-in or extension-based, making default privacy a comparison point in browser marketing rather than a niche feature.
- Opera's owned privacy stack — SurfEasy VPN, native ad blocking, now tracker blocking — lets it bundle protections competitors must assemble from third parties, sharpening its differentiation as a small player.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, browser competition shifts from rendering benchmarks to whose default privacy stack is deepest, favoring browsers that own their privacy infrastructure outright.
- Blocking-by-default becoming table stakes points toward tracker-blocking lists like EasyPrivacy functioning as shared industry infrastructure rather than enthusiast tooling.
The trend: Browser makers are moving privacy protection from user-installed extensions to shipping defaults, with Opera using speed as the argument to sell the switch.