"Web of Trust" Add-on (WOT)—Why You Should Remove It?

The "Web of Trust" add-on has been removed from the leading web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. And we’ll soon tell you why you should remove it too, but for now your first step should be installing a robust protection app, like MacKeeper’s Antivirus. It will identify malicious files and help you prevent them from invading your device.

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"Web of Trust" Add-on (WOT)—Why You Should Remove It?
Written by   Olga Sushko
Updated: December 16, 2025

In this article you will find the following:

Add-ons became an essential part of our daily Internet usage. We trust them, but seems that too much. As the case with “Web of Trust” shows, you should think twice before entrusting your personal details to companies.


The WOT Privacy Policy says that the user’s IP, geolocation, device type, operating system, browser, date and time, Web addresses, and overall browser usage are non-identifiable. But at the same time, the German TV channel NDR found that “Web of Trust” easy connects anonymized data with user accounts that include the account name, mailing address, illnesses, sexual preference, drug consumption, confidential company information, and browser surfing activity including all sites visited. That’s actually a huge number of collected data that may be a big issue, especially when it comes to over 140 million web surfers.


In its turn, the “Web of Trust” service posted an official response to NDR on its official website:

The WOT team reaction to the German TV channel NDR.

*MacKeeper strongly recommends not installing the “Web of Trust” extension to protect your private information from leakage to third parties. The “Web of Trust” add-on is still available in Safari extensions. Besides, WOT also has a mobile app, which is also vulnerable to this data collection.

A note from our experts:

 

WOT might collect personal information. The best decision to protect your Mac from different malware is to utilize a reliable antivirus solution. MacKeeper’s Antivirus provides real-time protection for your Apple device.

 

Here’s how to use MacKeeper’s Antivirus:

  1. Download MacKeeper on your Mac and install it.
  2. Select Antivirus from the security Section.
  3. Click the Start Scan button.
  4. Move to quarantine detected threats.
If your Mac is vulnerable, run MacKeeper, select Antivirus from the left-hand menu, and click Start Scan.
Step 1. MacKeeper > Antivirus > Start Scan
Remove any detected threats from the list. Use on-screen guidelins to move items to quarantine.
Step 2. Move to quarantine detected threats

How to remove WOT add-on from Safari:

  1. Go to Preferences > Extensions.
  2. Choose WOT from the list on the right side of the window > Press Uninstall > Confirm.
To remove WOT from Safari, go to Preferences and select Extensions. Scroll down to WOT and click Uninstall, followed by Confirm.

How to remove WOT add-on from Chrome:

  1. Go to Chrome Preferences > Extensions.
  2. Choose WOT from the list > Click on the Trash icon > Confirm.
To remove WOT from Chrome, go to Preferences and select Extensions. Select WOT from the list and click on the Trash icon, followed by Confirm.

How to remove WOT add-on from Firefox:

  1. Click on the sandwich menu in the top right corner > Add-ons.
  2. Choose WOT from the list  > Click Remove.
To remove WOT add-on from Firefox, go to the top right corner and click Add-ons. Choose WOT and click Remove.
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Tags: browser, safari, chrome

Written By

Olga Sushko

Olga is a privacy advocate and cybersecurity enthusiast.

Olga is a privacy advocate and cybersecurity enthusiast.

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