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Do you believe that this is really an "antivirus"? Is it open source? Please remember the case with Kaspersky software that moved files from NSA contractor's PC

Do you believe that this is really an "antivirus"? Is it open source? Please remember the case with Kaspersky software that moved files from NSA contractor's PC to Russia. Now let's think what is the probability of Chrome moving your files to NSA?

Spivak 9y ago
Here's the thing I don't get. If you're running Chrome you're already trusting them with basically everything -- they could record every page you visit, every key you press, every ad you click on, every process running on your computer, or secretly use your webcam or microphone. If you don't believe their word carries any weight then this scanner is probably the least of your worries. If you believe that Google would ship you malware for nefarious purposes and then sraight-faced lie about it then you probably shouldn't be using Chrome.
- codedokode 9y ago
  I use Chromium, not Chrome, but it doesn't matter. Software vendors should not be allowed to do this. Imagine if you hired an electrician but he would secretly go across your house and searched everything to get rid of bugs (at least that's what he said). Would you like that? If you advertise your app as a browser then it should not secretly scan files.
  - Spivak 9y ago
    > If you advertise your app as a browser then it should not secretly scan files. Not trying to be snarky, why not? It's one of those statements that seemed obvious until I thought about it. Who even gets to decide what features something called 'X' is allowed to have? Sure, I would personally prefer that they didn't but I honestly cant think of a reason they should be forbidden from doing so. "Our users' browsers are horribly infected due to malware/adware that's not being purged. So we're including an AV to combat that" seems like enough of a justification.
    - nugi 9y ago
      Why not? Secretly exfiltrating my data is plenty.

Spivak 9y ago

Here's the thing I don't get. If you're running Chrome you're already trusting them with basically everything -- they could record every page you visit, every key you press, every ad you click on, every process running on your computer, or secretly use your webcam or microphone. If you don't believe their word carries any weight then this scanner is probably the least of your worries. If you believe that Google would ship you malware for nefarious purposes and then sraight-faced lie about it then you probably shouldn't be using Chrome.

codedokode 9y ago
I use Chromium, not Chrome, but it doesn't matter. Software vendors should not be allowed to do this. Imagine if you hired an electrician but he would secretly go across your house and searched everything to get rid of bugs (at least that's what he said). Would you like that? If you advertise your app as a browser then it should not secretly scan files.
- Spivak 9y ago
  > If you advertise your app as a browser then it should not secretly scan files. Not trying to be snarky, why not? It's one of those statements that seemed obvious until I thought about it. Who even gets to decide what features something called 'X' is allowed to have? Sure, I would personally prefer that they didn't but I honestly cant think of a reason they should be forbidden from doing so. "Our users' browsers are horribly infected due to malware/adware that's not being purged. So we're including an AV to combat that" seems like enough of a justification.
  - nugi 9y ago
    Why not? Secretly exfiltrating my data is plenty.