3 ms·

WOT Firefox Addon selling user data

28 points by cheiVia0 10y ago

ikeboy 10y ago
I assume the chrome extension is as well. Uninstalled.
kbenson 10y ago
I use the quality of writing as a side channel to help me assess how valid a story is. Having to use google translate negates that possibility for me, as it obscures this information. Since I know nothing about the site, can someone vouch for the quality of the site, reporting, and evidence, and possibly provide a summary (or point towards one)?
- allendoerfer 10y ago
  Think German BBC.
  - kbenson 10y ago
    Thank you. I have the gist of what's being said from Google translate, but do you know if they perhaps have an English translation they supply that I'm missing (I understand it's unlikely)? Whatever specific details might be conveyed by the language seem to be obscured by bad translation software. Edit: Found http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/01/browsing-history-sold/ http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/01/browsing-history-sold/, so nevermind (unless you think that's not an accurate portrayal of the German article).
    - allendoerfer 10y ago
      NDR is a part of ARD responsible for northern Germany. I think it is unlikely, that they have an English version. Deutsche Welle (international) [0] and Arte (French-German) [1] are their only foreign language services that come to mind. [0] https://www.dw.com https://www.dw.com [1] https://www.arte.tv https://www.arte.tv
      - kbenson 10y ago
        Thanks. I figured it was unlikely, but this seems interesting enough that it was worth asking. I did find what appears to be a fair summary in English though (added above).
- mwww 10y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norddeutscher_Rundfunk https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norddeutscher_Rundfunk
- ikeboy 10y ago
  That's not what side channel means. The word you're looking for is heuristic.
  - kbenson 10y ago
    You're right that I didn't mean to use side channel, but I didn't mean heuristic. I meant it more as an additional channel of information, like tone with regard to speech.
- cheiVia0 10y ago
  There are details in the Debian bug report: https://bugs.debian.org/842939 https://bugs.debian.org/842939
kobayashi 10y ago
Uninstalled from Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Sick to my stomach. Now I have to let my contact network know, as I've endorsed WOT to many of them.
myf01d 10y ago
Wew, is WOT still alive?
cghendrix 10y ago
In a similar vein, I had a negative experience with a chrome add-on regarding injected ads. One day out of nowhere I started seeing obvious non Google ads in my Google searches. Took me forever to realize some QR generator I downloaded years ago was injected them after the page load. Tried looking up the add-on within the chrome marketplace and the plugin was no longer listed. Turns out the developers executed a common path of creating a legit plugin then after a large userbase has been established, push an update containing ad injecting code and de-list themselves from the marketplace. Very shady.
kbenson 10y ago
For those interested, this[1] appears to be info regarding this article, but in English. 1: http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/01/browsing-history-sold/ http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/01/browsing-history-sold/
cheiVia0 10y ago
More details in the Debian bug report: https://bugs.debian.org/842939 https://bugs.debian.org/842939

28 points by cheiVia0 10y ago

I assume the chrome extension is as well. Uninstalled.

I use the quality of writing as a side channel to help me assess how valid a story is. Having to use google translate negates that possibility for me, as it obscures this information. Since I know nothing about the site, can someone vouch for the quality of the site, reporting, and evidence, and possibly provide a summary (or point towards one)?

allendoerfer 10y ago
Think German BBC.
- kbenson 10y ago
  Thank you. I have the gist of what's being said from Google translate, but do you know if they perhaps have an English translation they supply that I'm missing (I understand it's unlikely)? Whatever specific details might be conveyed by the language seem to be obscured by bad translation software. Edit: Found http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/01/browsing-history-sold/ http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/01/browsing-history-sold/, so nevermind (unless you think that's not an accurate portrayal of the German article).
  - allendoerfer 10y ago
    NDR is a part of ARD responsible for northern Germany. I think it is unlikely, that they have an English version. Deutsche Welle (international) [0] and Arte (French-German) [1] are their only foreign language services that come to mind. [0] https://www.dw.com https://www.dw.com [1] https://www.arte.tv https://www.arte.tv
    - kbenson 10y ago
      Thanks. I figured it was unlikely, but this seems interesting enough that it was worth asking. I did find what appears to be a fair summary in English though (added above).
mwww 10y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norddeutscher_Rundfunk https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norddeutscher_Rundfunk
ikeboy 10y ago
That's not what side channel means. The word you're looking for is heuristic.
- kbenson 10y ago
  You're right that I didn't mean to use side channel, but I didn't mean heuristic. I meant it more as an additional channel of information, like tone with regard to speech.
cheiVia0 10y ago
There are details in the Debian bug report: https://bugs.debian.org/842939 https://bugs.debian.org/842939

kobayashi 10y ago

Uninstalled from Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. Sick to my stomach. Now I have to let my contact network know, as I've endorsed WOT to many of them.

myf01d 10y ago

Wew, is WOT still alive?

cghendrix 10y ago

In a similar vein, I had a negative experience with a chrome add-on regarding injected ads. One day out of nowhere I started seeing obvious non Google ads in my Google searches. Took me forever to realize some QR generator I downloaded years ago was injected them after the page load. Tried looking up the add-on within the chrome marketplace and the plugin was no longer listed. Turns out the developers executed a common path of creating a legit plugin then after a large userbase has been established, push an update containing ad injecting code and de-list themselves from the marketplace. Very shady.

kbenson 10y ago

For those interested, this[1] appears to be info regarding this article, but in English. 1: http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/01/browsing-history-sold/ http://www.ghacks.net/2016/11/01/browsing-history-sold/

cheiVia0 10y ago

More details in the Debian bug report: https://bugs.debian.org/842939 https://bugs.debian.org/842939