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One nasty change was that clearing all cookies no longer cleared Google cookies with these changes. That is a big, privacy-impacting change.

by dannyw 8y ago

judge2020 8y ago
I think that change was merited because of the "signed into chrome vs google" issue they were trying to solve. Say I clear my cookies on a signed-in, syncing account. With G Cookies also deleted, I may wonder "Why is my picture in the top right but no Google services are using it??". To us, it's clear that chrome sign-in is different from google sign-in, but to others, it may not be.
- eudora 8y ago
  Hang on. The logical thing to do, if your real aim is to have browser sign in state reflect cookie state, is to sign out the browser when someone clears their cookies. That would make total sense to users. I think this is clear evidence that Google made this change to keep more users signed into Google so they can collect more of your data without telling you.
  - hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
    The article says that is exactly what they are going to do now: when you clear all cookies, you will be signed out.
    - colordrops 8y ago
      What they are going to do. As currently released, it is a real issue, not some misunderstanding.
      - rhizome 8y ago
        Several people who make a lot of money figured it was a good idea.
    - eudora 8y ago
      Yeah we were talking about the pre-oh-shit-backtrack changes
  - Bekwnn 8y ago
    "Performing this action will log you out of chrome. (You may sign in again immediately afterwards.)" Problem solved?
    - vincentmarle 8y ago
      It’s a dangerous precedent to begin with, I remember platform abuse was a serious concern when Google first launched Chrome. Over the years they’ve built up enormous trust by keeping Chrome (mostly) conflict-free. The moment Chrome really turns into “Google Browser” it will no longer be the default choice (although I suspect we may already be too late to undo this).
  - bun_at_work 8y ago
    What data is it that Google collects without telling the user? Granted, they don't issue some pop-up notification or e-mail for every piece of data they collect, as the collect it, but every user has full access to all of the data points Google collects. They are highly transparent about the data they collect and even give users the option to delete that data from Google's records. I could be mistaken, however, so I'm curious - what data does Google collect without telling the user, at least by making that data collection transparent?
- sizzle 8y ago
  "To us, it's clear that chrome sign-in is different from google sign-in, but to others, it may not be" I highly doubt the common person knows what a cookie is, let alone how to clear them. A simple solution would be to add an extra step when clearing cookies that asks if you would like to stay signed into your Google session and clear or keep those cookies based on your selection.
  - pythonaut_16 8y ago
    The extent the common person (might) know about cookies is that sometimes it's helpful to clear them to speed up your computer and/or as part of other magical rituals.
- grey-area 8y ago
  So instead of putting in bizarre kludges in various parts of the UI fix the underlying issue - browser login should not be a prominent feature (it should be called sync bookmarks/history in settings somewhere), google logins should not be displayed in browser chrome and google websites should not get special treatment (either in cookies or login status). That’s why people are complaining - they see that google clearly wants to privilege their own sites and logins in chrome and push the users to always be signed in with google across any site. Great for google, bad for user privacy and the open web.
  - theprotocol 8y ago
    > they see that google clearly wants to privilege their own sites What happened to their very vocal concern over net neutrality from last year?
- feanaro 8y ago
  > To us, it's clear that chrome sign-in is different from google sign-in, but to others, it may not be. But the fact that they are different things is precisely the reason why they should remain separate, not conflated into one soggy, confusing mess.

One nasty change was that clearing all cookies no longer cleared Google cookies with these changes. That is a big, privacy-impacting change.

by dannyw 8y ago

One nasty change was that clearing all cookies no longer cleared Google cookies with these changes. That is a big, privacy-impacting change.

judge2020 8y ago

I think that change was merited because of the "signed into chrome vs google" issue they were trying to solve. Say I clear my cookies on a signed-in, syncing account. With G Cookies also deleted, I may wonder "Why is my picture in the top right but no Google services are using it??". To us, it's clear that chrome sign-in is different from google sign-in, but to others, it may not be.

eudora 8y ago
Hang on. The logical thing to do, if your real aim is to have browser sign in state reflect cookie state, is to sign out the browser when someone clears their cookies. That would make total sense to users. I think this is clear evidence that Google made this change to keep more users signed into Google so they can collect more of your data without telling you.
- hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
  The article says that is exactly what they are going to do now: when you clear all cookies, you will be signed out.
  - colordrops 8y ago
    What they are going to do. As currently released, it is a real issue, not some misunderstanding.
    - rhizome 8y ago
      Several people who make a lot of money figured it was a good idea.
  - eudora 8y ago
    Yeah we were talking about the pre-oh-shit-backtrack changes
- Bekwnn 8y ago
  "Performing this action will log you out of chrome. (You may sign in again immediately afterwards.)" Problem solved?
  - vincentmarle 8y ago
    It’s a dangerous precedent to begin with, I remember platform abuse was a serious concern when Google first launched Chrome. Over the years they’ve built up enormous trust by keeping Chrome (mostly) conflict-free. The moment Chrome really turns into “Google Browser” it will no longer be the default choice (although I suspect we may already be too late to undo this).
- bun_at_work 8y ago
  What data is it that Google collects without telling the user? Granted, they don't issue some pop-up notification or e-mail for every piece of data they collect, as the collect it, but every user has full access to all of the data points Google collects. They are highly transparent about the data they collect and even give users the option to delete that data from Google's records. I could be mistaken, however, so I'm curious - what data does Google collect without telling the user, at least by making that data collection transparent?
sizzle 8y ago
"To us, it's clear that chrome sign-in is different from google sign-in, but to others, it may not be" I highly doubt the common person knows what a cookie is, let alone how to clear them. A simple solution would be to add an extra step when clearing cookies that asks if you would like to stay signed into your Google session and clear or keep those cookies based on your selection.
- pythonaut_16 8y ago
  The extent the common person (might) know about cookies is that sometimes it's helpful to clear them to speed up your computer and/or as part of other magical rituals.
grey-area 8y ago
So instead of putting in bizarre kludges in various parts of the UI fix the underlying issue - browser login should not be a prominent feature (it should be called sync bookmarks/history in settings somewhere), google logins should not be displayed in browser chrome and google websites should not get special treatment (either in cookies or login status). That’s why people are complaining - they see that google clearly wants to privilege their own sites and logins in chrome and push the users to always be signed in with google across any site. Great for google, bad for user privacy and the open web.
- theprotocol 8y ago
  > they see that google clearly wants to privilege their own sites What happened to their very vocal concern over net neutrality from last year?
feanaro 8y ago
> To us, it's clear that chrome sign-in is different from google sign-in, but to others, it may not be. But the fact that they are different things is precisely the reason why they should remain separate, not conflated into one soggy, confusing mess.