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Google will use Chrome browsing data for ad tailoring
- HappyFunGuy 10y agoAm I correct in assuming that chrome is now a keylogger in regards to your url bar, and perhaps clipboard?
- frognition 10y agoIve always assumed that each urn visited in chrome is reported back to google. The data is crazy valuable in a lot of ways.
- HappyFunGuy 10y agoWhat good browser is free of this horror?
- gpm 10y agoFirefox?
- Trundle 10y agoChromium?
- JJJollyjim 10y agoFirefox prompts you before even turning on search prediction, and it asks you about telemetry at first startup.
- reitanqild 10y agoFor people like me Firefox offer the best of both worlds: * No google keylogger in the main url bar (but local autocomplete based on previous history, bookmarks etc) * access to autocomplete in search field next to url bar (I think removing this was one of the simplifications in the original Chrome.) Ctrl-L: go to url bar Ctrl-K: go to search field
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- fermuch 10y agoQutebrowser.
- arm 10y agoqutebrowser¹ is fantastic. I just wish it had more ways to block trackers on webpages (other than just completely disabling JavaScript—even being able to whitelist JavaScript on certain hostnames would be a huge start). ―――――― ¹ — https://qutebrowser.org/ https://qutebrowser.org/
- mccr8 10y agoChrome sends things you type in the URL bar to Google to do prediction: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95656?hl=en https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/95656?hl=en From that page it sounds like it is on by default.
- lagadu 10y agoTechnically anything that displays real-time search suggestions as you type is a keylogger, Firefox's included.
- wfunction 10y agoI can't actually find this screen anywhere.
- ian0 10y agoAn opt-in message is being displayed to some Gmail users. Not sure if this is related, but if you try and open a new google account there is a small section on sharing of information between services, though it doesn't specifically mention chrome.
- koolba 10y agoWhere's the man bites dog?
- yefim 10y agoDoes this apply to Chromium? Because if not, I'm definitely switching.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 10y agoYou can also opt out (or maybe even just not opt in), or don't sign in to Chrome.
- beefsack 10y agoChromium is mostly unencumbered by Google bloatware, honestly it's the version most people should be using.
- zzleeper 10y agoWhat are the practical differences? (Most of my searches come up with 2014ish stuff..)
- awqrre 10y ago"Features that communicate with Google made available through the compilation of code in Chromium are subject to the Google Privacy Policy." from https://www.chromium.org/Home/chromium-privacy https://www.chromium.org/Home/chromium-privacy
- mthoms 10y agoAny idea what specifically they are referring to? There is at least some "communication with Google" that could be considered innocuous. For example - accessing their Safe Browsing API (also used by Safari and Firefox).
- witty_username 10y agoProbably signing in with your Google Account on Chromium.
- adamst85 10y ago
- xbmcuser 10y agoWait they were not doing it already
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- dangrossman 10y agoI saw this screen this week. I recently reinstalled Windows and Chrome, that might have been when. It was asking me to opt in, not opt out, before sharing this data.
- yaur 10y agoOTOH when I got the opt in page I took the opportunity to opt out of everything.
- wangweij 10y agoWhile I am able to switch to another browser (I already did a long time ago), I don't believe I can avoid visiting sites "that show ads from Google". How much can Google collect from those sites?
- JoshTriplett 10y ago> While I am able to switch to another browser (I already did a long time ago), I don't believe I can avoid visiting sites "that show ads from Google". You can block those ads, and the scripts that serve them and collect data.
- SimeVidas 10y agoFirefox has a “tracking protection” setting which blocks these types of third party trackers.
- Sylos 10y agoWhich is default-enabled in Private Browsing, and you can enable it for normal browsing as well by setting "privacy.trackingprotection.enabled" in about:config to true. A GUI-toggle for this should make it into Stable in the next few releases...
- forgotpwtomain 10y agoI highly recommend: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/gorhill/umatrix https://github.com/gorhill/umatrix
- bad_user 10y agoThere's also Privacy Badger by EFF: https://www.eff.org/privacybadger https://www.eff.org/privacybadger
- lensi 10y agoThe simple setting, most seem to be overlooking, is don't allow third party cookies. Voila.
- oolongCat 10y agoWhenever I see these things I wonder, are there any plugins or any automated tools that would help fuzz search results. So for example, send search requests to google randomly for items like "ducks", "fishing ponds", "banana leaves" etc, totally unrelated nonsense that will skew these tracking giants provided enough people install and run these tools.
- Sylos 10y agoI know of http://ruinmysearchhistory.com/ http://ruinmysearchhistory.com/. That however searches more for things like "how to appear funny", "why are my thumbs uneven", "am i lack toast and tolerant" or also "your youre difference".
- mthoms 10y agoFriendly warning to others: Do not blindly click on the link above without first reading what it does. Relevant thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11880008 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11880008 TL;DR It may put some undesirable things in your search history and/or temporarily block you from Google.
- SquareWheel 10y agoLordy, thanks for the warning. That's incredibly irresponsible of them.
- jamesvg 10y agohttps://cs.nyu.edu/trackmenot/ https://cs.nyu.edu/trackmenot/
- incrediblygood 10y agoI recommend Opera. Same rendering engine as Chrome, but faster and with built-in ad blocking.
- csjr 10y agoWasn't Opera sold to a unknown company?
- blahi 10y agoOh the company is very known... for its crapware.
- detaro 10y agoAnd is in the process of being sold to a chinese consortium. So probably not a better option for long :/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/1-2bn-opera-takeover-gets-go-ahead-from-shareholders/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/1-2bn-opera-takeover-gets-go-ah...
- sixothree 10y agoSay it ain't so Opera...
- tumurinn 10y agoSo you rather give your data to Chinese gov than to Google
- xkcd-sucks 10y agoThe Chinese gov is far less likely to care about a US citizen than a US company/govenment
- rawfan 10y agoIf you like Opera, go with Vivaldi. ;)
- 10y ago
- metaos 10y agoVivaldi is an excellent replacement
- kwanbis 10y agoVivaldi interface is horrible. At least in linux.
- JohnTHaller 10y agoNot real big on closed source browsers. Firefox would be my suggestion.
- frik 10y agoVivaldi feels like the old Opera 12, so great. But it's partly closed software, especially the nice HTML5 based UI. I am waiting until they release everything under open source license.
- KaneEdger 10y agoI would say they have the right to protect their UI creation. Vivaldi UI was created by Vivaldi guys. Open Source is just an excuse to be able to fork others work and damage the source project with this.
- sesutton 10y agoThe way the screenshot is cropped is misleading. The actual page makes it clear this feature is opt-in. If you're logged into a Google account and haven't already made a choice on the page you can see it at http://www.google.com/settings/ads http://www.google.com/settings/ads.
- bunderbunder 10y agoI'm not convinced it's opt-in. I just visited that page, and everything was switched on. I can't profess to having a perfect memory, but I can say that opting in would have been pretty out of character thing for me to do.
- forgotpwtomain 10y ago> I'm not convinced it's opt-in. I just visited that page, and everything was switched on. I can't profess to having a perfect memory, but I can say that opting in would have been pretty out of character thing for me to do. I in fact explicitly remember clicking no to a prompt similar to this one, so I'm very puzzled how I got auto-opted in anyways..
- Washuu 10y agoI just got this prompt yesterday and explicitly opted out. It has it opted in currently in the Activity Controls of my account. Clearly this opt out screen does not work.
- alainv 10y agoActivity Controls is whether or not Google logs Web/App activity. The Ads opt-out controls interest-based ads as a whole, including from Web & App Activity if enabled.
- taneq 10y ago"Auto-opted in." I can't wait for dodgy software bundlers to start using this doublespeak terminology.
- _stuart 10y agoYou can tell Google not to save your chrome browsing info at myactivity.google.com in the Activity Controls tab.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- jalami 10y agoThere's Chromium Inox[0] which is just a patchset on top of the Chromium build to remove much of the mothership home-calling. Inox seems to be much closer to Chromium than many of the other Chrome-privacy spinoffs. Contrary to popular belief, Chromium still has a lot of Google in it. I always feel like artificially patching a project that doesn't care about your concerns natively to be plugging holes in a sponge boat, but I realize sometimes you need to use that boat because reasons. I installed it from the AUR and it seems to work pretty well for the testing I do in it anyway. I don't daily driver it or Chrome. [0] https://github.com/gcarq/inox-patchset https://github.com/gcarq/inox-patchset
- __b__ 10y ago"a project that doesn't care about your concerns..." Unless the concerns are always "more features"... forever. Any new features will do, so long as the project keeps growing. The more changes and updates the better. I could put Microsoft Windows in this category along with hundreds of other projects. Chrome is deceptive because it has some useful features... but ultimately this browser is the tool of advertisers. Because they are the only hand that feeds the Google. These folks are not aligned with my concerns. They cannot be. It is a conflict if interest. Will Chrome use my DNS server instead of Google's? Why should it? It's not my browser to control. At one point the Googlers put a resolver into Chromium. I think they removed it but just the idea they considered this was enough to scare me away permanently. I enjoyed the spongeboat analogy. One can use a patched alternative. One can write extension after extension to modify default behaviour. At some point it becomes a losing battle and a waste of time. The browser is designed and maintained by an advertising company. Avoiding mothership home-calling is a wonderful way to navigate a world with too many software choices. It makes choosing software much easier. Because not many projects today consider home-calling a legitimate concern. When you do find a project that fits your values, that you know will not change to suit advertisers, it can be a software you can stick with as things and times change. At least this has been my experience.
- cantagi 10y agoinox is good stuff! You need to install plugins from source though.
- Brainix 10y agoDear 2016, You haven't figured it out yet, but we consider advertising unethical. Yours, 2066
- themartorana 10y agoI can't imagine this will be true. What's wrong with advertising? It's how I know about things! The depths to which advertisers go to with tracking feels rather unethical at times, however.
- dingaling 10y ago> What's wrong with advertising? It is psychological warfare, conducted by corporations instead of States. But the objective is the same; trick you into changing your behavior to benefit them.
- abenga 10y agoI don't know ... thinking selfishly, I'm employed and paid by a a corporation that uses advertises to increase revenues from their products/services. As are almost everyone else here. Even the "altruistic" non-profits and whatever are largely funded by the very same corporations. Will there ever be a time when economic activity is largely carried out by people and organizations that do not seek profit? If advertising increases said economic activity, isn't it a good?
- frankquist 10y agoIf corruption increases said economic activity, is it a good? If destruction of the environment increases certain economic activity, is it a good? I'm not saying these things are similar to advertising, but the reasoning is flawed. That in the current setup of our economic system something makes economic sense, does not necessarily make it a good thing.
- frankquist 10y agoI am at a loss for alternatives, but I am skeptical about advertising. Not in a completely general sense, but what bothers me is that much of it is manipulative. It uses images, sounds and movies in certain progressions to influence me, sometimes in a covert or unconscious way. Now, certainly a lot of other communication efforts are aimed at persuasion, but then, you often have to consciously go and find them. It is easier to filter (I can choose not to visit the opinion pages of website or its comments section). Advertising on the other hand crawls into your life from all directions (billboards, video ads that suddenly start playing, popups, street vendors) and is sometimes impossible to avoid. Often it's slick but shallow. It's like, you enjoy eating good food but instead, everywhere you go, you are being force-fed hamburgers. I do not want an information diet that fills up my working memory, costs me energy, manipulates my emotions and yet leaves me unfulfilled.
- andrewvijay 10y agoTime for another opensource browser but this time which does not drink all the ram. Probably with the same dev tools.
- 0xmohit 10y agoWelcome to the world of context-sensitive search. Not that it's new, but it appears that the context has now been expanded to include the entire browsing history, just not the session. [One should really consider using Firefox, and DuckDuckGo for search.]
- pas 10y agoWhy? The benefits could outweigh the cost (of increasing the likelihood of someone subverting Google into a brutally efficient totalitarian surveillance system).
- thenewregiment 10y agoI'll rather trust google than the government.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- dochtman 10y agoMeanwhile, Firefox Sync encrypts your data with a password-derived key so that Mozilla can't even see your browsing history. Consider your choices.
- timothya 10y agoTo be fair, Chrome has exactly that feature to, and let's the user choose what they want.
- Sylos 10y agoIs Chrome's sync not a blob? I tried to find information about it online, but the official documentation [0] is less than helpful to say the least. I'm guessing when they say "stuff", that's a euphemism for blob, but fuck if I know, maybe they are just trying to be hip in their documentation. After all, it's also business time, in case you didn't know. Currently downloading the Chromium source code, to see if that's more helpful, but I kind of doubt it... [0]: https://www.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/sync https://www.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/sync
- timothya 10y agoI think the official documentation is what's found in the help center; this page contains a lot more information about using a custom passphrase for your sync data: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1181035?hl=en https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1181035?hl=en (top result when searching for "chrome sync encrypted").
- lmns 10y agoAt least in the Debian builds of Chromium the sync component is included. So I guess it's open source?
- Sylos 10y agoAlright, status report. The official documentation talks about the folders /chrome/browser/sync/engine, /chrome/browser/sync/syncable and /chrome/browser/sync/protocol. These folders are missing from the source tree, as you can see here: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src.git/+/master/chrome/browser/sync/ https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src.git/+/master/... However, I decided to give the benefit of the doubt and did a few file-searches, in case the files were moved at some point and the documentation was just not updated. And it seems like that's actually the case. The folder /sync contains all three missing folders (engine, syncable, protocol) and more: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src.git/+/master/sync/ https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src.git/+/master/...
- bestnameever 10y agoI don't think this is just Chrome. They will likely also track you through other browsers as long as you are signed into your account. Many sites have your browser reach out to Google through things like adsense advertisements and google-analytics.
- _Understated_ 10y agoI thought Chrome allocated a unique identifier to each browser install anyway meaning that changing this setting still allows them to track you regardless. Edit: Turns out that the Unique Id is an install-only thing and is gone after the first update [1] (look at "Identifiers in Chrome" section) but it appears they can conduct "Field Trials" without your knowledge (certainly appears to be without your knowledge from what I can see) Edit 2: removed pointless text [1] - https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/privacy/ https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/privacy/
- Havoc 10y agoGoogle is straying from its Don't Be Evil path...
- ionised 10y agoThat ship sailed the moment they had to actually state it as a goal.
- zimbatm 10y agoIf you have the time, try Firefox Developer Edition[1]. It's one of the first edition of Firefox to have the per-tab sand-boxing enabled (called Electrolysis). Some plugins can interfere with Electrolysis. To check if it's enabled go to about:support and look at the "Multiprocess Windows" entry, it should be 1/1 or higher. https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/developer/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/developer/
- lagadu 10y agoBe warned, e10s is still very green and it's easy to run into bugs. If all your tabs turn black for no apparent reason disable it.
- theandrewbailey 10y agoe10s rollout will begin with the next release next month. https://asadotzler.com/2016/06/06/firefox-48-beta-release-and-e10s/ https://asadotzler.com/2016/06/06/firefox-48-beta-release-an...
- corecoder 10y agoI don't know, I'm starting to think that all this is either propaganda for ad sellers or a prank Google, Facebook et all are doing to me. Google has my full search history, all my hangout chats, all my e-mails, and yet: * On my Android, it keeps proposing ultra boring "stories to read" about soccer, wannabe celebrities and YouTube videos of stupid teenagers doing stupid things; * With the sole exception of when the sponsored link is exactly the same as the first result, ad words in my search results have never ever been relevant or interesting in any way. Facebook is supposed to know everything I like, yet it only shows me ads about stuff I dislike. The same for Twitter and everything else. They are supposed to know the inside of my heart and mind, but they have, till now, utterly failed to prove it. So, do they know me and just pretend they don't for some strange reason, or do they actually know shit and just pretend they do so that they can sell to advertisers at a higher price?
- jmnicolas 10y agoI have the same experience than you but my conclusion was that their AI was just poor.
- stefanix 10y agoSame. Although Youtube recommendations are very good at times.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- jobigoud 10y agoI wouldn't have said "good". They are very relevant to what you watched recently. But watch one random shit once and your side bar is now defaced with thumbnails you can't throw away. I really wish I could opt out altogether from this one.
- earlz 10y agoYou can! Go to youtube, then History, and there should be an option in there to have it stop tracking your history. I'm sure they still track it, but at least they don't give me recommendations anymore. This was especially annoying for me when I would step outside of my normal youtube zone by clicking on some youtube video from reddit or some such, and for the next week I'd have all sorts of crazy weird and at times NSFW recommendations from it.
- lensi 10y agoWhy is it that most developers use Chrome when we have Firefox? If the devtools are better, use Chrome for that and use Firefox for browsing.
- neotek 10y agoYou can't go to Google and say "I want to buy a dataset (anonymous or otherwise) of males aged between 18 to 34 who likes cars and drink beer". You can go to Google and say "here's an ad I want you to show to a group of people, none of whom will ever be identifiable to me in any way, who are male aged between 18 to 34 who like cars and drink beer." That's what I don't understand about all this outrage - nobody, not Facebook or Google or Amazon or Apple, is selling your personal information to anyone for any reason, all they're doing is providing a platform that lets advertisers specify broad categories of people to show ads to. What's the problem with that? Ads will be slightly more relevant to my interests? So what? To be clear, I completely understand why people don't want Google collecting their data in the first place, and that's a perfectly legitimate concern, I'm saying that once the data is collected, what difference does it make if that data is used to refine which adverts you see?
- PunchTornado 10y agobecause it is very annoying to see everywhere on your computer ads for pillows for a month only because you've searched for pillows on google shopping. and i'm not talking only about browser, but every app that has ads, like skype. I was going crazy. never search on google shopping again on chrome.
- noxToken 10y agoThis isn't meant to be snarky, but what ads do you want to see? If you don't care for ads in the first place, does it even matter what is advertised? NSFW and personal material withstanding of course. Edit: To better explain, I also don't care for ads. Thus, I don't care if all my ads are from products that launched 5 years ago. Or for a new Hotmail account. Or a new PalmPilot. I would eventually notice, but I'd just shrug and continue browsing.
- neotek 10y agoSo don't opt in to targeted ads. Google, Facebook, etc all provide ways for you to opt out completely. Also, from what I can tell, the parent post is about a Google program that's opt-in rather than opt-out so it's not even on by default anyway, I can't see what's so bad about it.
- therealmarv 10y agoI think a Chrome sync passphrase will protect you against that. Because (theoretically and I hope also practically) only you know your passphrase Google will not be able to analyze your history etc.
- dreidohlen 10y agoIncognito mode?
- malmsteen 10y agoAd ? What's that ? Oh that thing before "block". I head about that.. it's a TV stuff no ?
- KaneEdger 10y agoBrave and Vivaldi. They do not get that Google crap :D