- A network of 24 media extensions that are installed on 800,000 users and collected viewing data and demographic information on major streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, Apple TV, and others
- 12 separate ad blockers with a combined install base of over 5.5 million users openly selling user data
- Nearly 50 other extensions, with over 100,000 users in aggregate, that collected and resold users’ browsing data
Is it really news that tech and associated companies say the security of their users is important to them while grossly violating that principle.
Nobody should still be using Chrome after they killed proper ad blocking. The browser is a legitimate security threat.
It’s kinda sad, seeing how far it has fallen. Chrome was an absolute beast of a browser back in the Windows 7 days.
when i uninstalled chrome long time ago, i immidiately noticed that my pc performance improved. it slows down your computer even if its not on
I bet it really was on! A lot of Windows programs install companion apps that aren’t highly visible, but run in the background all the time to do things like load up some of the main program’s libraries to make the app seem to start faster when you run it, as well as check for updates on its own, phone home about whatever they want, and watch to make sure it is the default application vs any competing apps on the system with similar functionality, etc.
Note that a lot of that functionality is of little too no benefit to the user, but the app is shamelessly using the user’s stuff without really asking, including sometimes to the point where it makes your computer run worse.
They killed uBlock Origin. Fortunately uBlock Origin Lite has been working with Cromite, but I’m holding onto my Ungoogled Chromium install with full uBlock Origin till my dying breath.
ublock origin lite sadly does only a fraction of what the normal ublock origin does. no javascript blocking, no remote fonts blocking, no large media element blocking, no granular dynamic filtering in that popup panel. i guess it’s still decent to block ads though, but so very crippled compared to the real deal
But why do you love helping Google control web standards, when you could just be using a Mozilla-based browser instead?
Because Mozilla has their heads up their asses and won’t implement tab groups on mobile
Now hold up there, pardner! I didn’t mention that I also use IronFox and LibreWolf/Mullvad! And honestly, Cromite has been crashing on me so much that I’ve switched my primary browser to IronFox.
Could they stop fucking with ironfox though please, for the love of god stop changing the UI on me. I just want a browser that stays the same and works for years, my habits are consistently wrecked with each passing update
👆
I use chromium for some sites since i have written an extension that gives me dark mode for all sites. And firefox demands that all extensions have to be signed.
There are darkmode extensions for firefox. Or do you like to use your own?
Yeah. I try to keep the number of regular extensions low for security and privacy reasons.
You can probably port it to a userscript without much trouble, and then you can use it in every browser using a single extension/addon along with other userscripts (which you can easily read the source code and disable auto updates of). I use Violentmonkey and have written a few scripts. Development and usage is easier than extensions/addons for personal stuff.
Personally I just use Dark Reader though.
I looked at a few (3?) monkey extensions (including violentmokey). I don’t remember the details but I think there were issues with all of them (probably privacy issues).
Dark Reader works great, I’ve used it for years on firefox
i have morons still saying they use chrome because of it’s profiles. you can’t unfix the stupid, there’s too much of it.
But… tons of browsers have that.
I use firefox because of its containers
Nobody should use any browsers other than servo. But it’s not ready yet 🤷♂️
pure chromium with extensions and ungoogled chromium are alright
thought the thumbnail was MF DOOM for a sec
I thought it’s a melange between the puzzle piece autism thing and evil hacker stock photo stereotype
If you’re still using Chrome in 2026, you get what you get.
I’m sure the extensions on other browsers are doing the same thing, to be fair.
The chrome web store is also used across other chromium browsers like Vivaldi, right?
Chromium forks are just as bad. Reap what you sow.
And then there is my company IT department wanting to forcibly uninstall anything that isn’t chrome because “chrome is the only secure option”. They literally made our company tools that are browser based just not work with anything that isn’t chrome to curb people trying to use other browsers. :(
UA spoof
There’s an extension for firefox based browsers that masquerades your browser as chrome.
I haven’t tried that but don’t think it would work because the system isn’t checking what browser is used and returning an error message, they have literally coded the web tools in such a way that when running in Firefox, it just doesn’t ever respond. If you try doing the same action in Opera, it literally crashes the entire browser. If you try to use Edge, the tab crashes. I’m not convinced they’ve done this on purpose, I think they just cobbled stuff together and only bothered testing on Chrome and called it good when it stopped crashing for them.
Tbf, the problem was extensions here. Which if they have those blocked as well this wouldn’t be a problem.
Lol, they don’t. We have some of the worst IT people… Most of our computers are still on Windows 10 and just haven’t been getting updates because they didn’t setup extended update support properly.
Time to look for a new jerb.
At work, we’re only allowed to install Chrome or Edge. It’s complete bullshit
Sounds like you need some portableapps.com in your life
The largest extensions in the network:
• Custom Profile Picture for Netflix (200K users)
• Hulu Ad Skipper (100K)
• Netflix Picture in Picture (100K)
• Ad Skipper for Prime Video (60K)
• Netflix Extended (60K)
• Stands AdBlocker (3M users) sells browsing data to third parties for “market analytics purposes.”
• Poper Blocker (2M users) discloses selling identifiers, browsing activity, behavioral profiles, and inferred sensitive data – including health conditions, religious beliefs, and sexual orientation, all inferred from the URLs you visit. • All Block, an ad blocker for YouTube (500K users), sells anonymized data “for analytical and commercial purposes.” Published by an entity called Curly Doggo Limited, based in London. • TwiBlocker (80K users) discloses transferring browsing data to third parties who “process or sell it for analytical purposes.” • Urban AdBlocker (10K users) routes browsing data and AI conversations through the BiScience data broker. • Career.io Job Auto Apply (10K users) states in its policy that it may use personal data collected from your resume to sell to third parties, including data brokers, for targeted advertising and profiling. A job application tool that sells your resume. • Dog Cuties (6K users) is a cute dog wallpaper new-tab extension. Confirmed data seller through the Apex Media network. • EmailOnDeck (10K users) is a temporary email service – a tool people use specifically when they don’t want to share their real information. Its policy states it may sell, rent, or share its mailing list. • Survey Junkie discloses selling URLs visited, clickstream data, and “modeled information” about consumer preferences to market research agencies, ad agencies, and data analytics providers.• Dashy New Tab (10K users) has its Chrome Web Store listing marked “does not sell your data.” Its actual privacy policy marks data as “Sold or Shared: Yes.” We believe this is CCPA compliance language for standard analytics, not commercial data sales – which is why we left it out. But the contradiction between the store listing and the privacy policy is real. If a publisher’s own policy says “Sold or Shared: Yes” and the store listing says the opposite, which one should users trust?
I can at least understand the ad skippers. But a custom profile picture having double the users?
Props to the article for listing some of the extensions.
Sure do wish they’d list all that they investigated and publish as a “sells data / doesn’t sell data”
As if chrome users would give a fuck. I mean, they use chrome and probably all else that is google.
loll
In the US maybe, I doubt this is legal in the EU. It is most definitely illegal with sensitive data like health data.
I doubt they care about EU laws.
You’d be surprised. When fines are commonly in the billions, they start to care as a matter of fact. At least proper companies do. Criminals with scam businesses are a different story of course.
Not many proper companies in America, at least none of the large ones
I was not talking about erhical companies just companies that can’t just go bankrupt without a trace. Google and Co do actually care about billions of fines. Why do you think US tech fascists are so hysterical about EU regulations. If they didn’t care they would just ignore them
Then the EU can force Google to remove or disable them for EU users.
In the EU you must give explicit consent.
Just use the eff ones if they’re ever in this position we’re done
It’s the evolution of shareware.
Who even installs these?
People who aren’t experts in privacy and web browsing.
1.6 million people installed this ad blocker that claims to be open-source, but has no published source code.
Is it malware? Probably not.
Is it worth installing? Hell no.
Oh, and it’s a Firefox extension.
There are a LOT of people out there who honestly have no idea that a website is capable of collecting data. Maybe even the majority. The fact these numbers are not higher is due to most people sticking with defaults rather than them making a privacy decision.
Children.
ohhhhh nooooooo this is soooooo horrible /s
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