4 ms·

Really? All of your personal info? Like what? What info from within my Linux container is being sent to Google?

by staticassertion 8y ago

amelius 8y ago
You'll probably never know exactly. Better be safe than sorry.
- staticassertion 8y ago
  You could say that about Ubuntu or any other operating system. "Better safe than sorry" abused this way will lead to no more computers - not the worst future, but I'd at least be out of a job.
  - benologist 8y ago
    It would be disingenuous to say that about Ubuntu and all other operating systems when Google is the only one willfully and proactively abusing privacy all over the globe and aspiring to go even further to help China crush dissidents.
    - staticassertion 8y ago
      Unless you can point me to instrumentation on ChromeOS that I should be concerned with, I'm going to not assume that "all of my data" is going to Google.
      - benologist 8y ago
        Violating your privacy does not require all of your data. https://www.eff.org/wp/school-issued-devices-and-student-privacy https://www.eff.org/wp/school-issued-devices-and-student-pri...
      - zwaps 8y ago
        Thing is, whether its ChromeOS or Windows, you are not allowed to look at what exactly they are sending or not sending, and you literally sign a contract saying that they can collect whatever they want and use it however they want. Google has a history of downright ignoring your privacy setting for the benefit of getting more data. And they are aggressively trying to associate you with more devices. It's also not even that they want usage data specifically, they are in the business of building data rich personalized profiles of you, for whatever use they decide on later. Whether or not you are concerned is up to you. I don't see any advantage of ChromeOS over Linux that would, for me, be worth the risk.
        staticassertion 8y ago
        > you are not allowed to look at what exactly they are sending or not sending What? I can absolutely look at network traffic on my device. People do this... all the time. There are plenty of reports of Chrome traffic - many of them being people mistakenly believing that Chrome is doing something malicious when it isn't. I don't believe that Google is incentivized to use host-based instrumentation to do their collection. The cost is quite high for them to do that. Much easier for them to rely on Google Analytics, Search, and various other web-based tracking mechanisms.
        mav3rick 8y ago
        Chrome OS is open source. So is the browser on it.
  - amelius 8y ago
    You can definitely use Ubuntu without it having to "phone home". That is probably not the case for Chrome OS. By the way, interesting thing is that for Google employees, it is explicitly forbidden to use software that phones home (read that a while back, can't find the link, sorry).
    - kllrnohj 8y ago
      > You can definitely use Ubuntu without it having to "phone home". How do you know? You're assuming they aren't phoning home, probably because it's open source, but you've probably never verified it. And you're unlikely to be enforcing that or proactively monitoring it. So how do you know an update didn't change the rules? You don't. You just have trust. And you can equally use Chrome OS with the same level of trust that it's not phoning home after you turn off the analytics that tell you they are phoning home. It's not actively malicious spyware. The settings aren't ignored.
      - benologist 8y ago
        Google have actually been fined for circumventing privacy settings more than once. In addition to the civil penalty, the order also requires Google to disable all the tracking cookies it had said it would not place on consumers’ computers. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2012/08/google-will-pay-225-million-settle-ftc-charges-it-misrepresented https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2012/08/googl... https://venturebeat.com/2013/11/18/google-privacy-settlement/ https://venturebeat.com/2013/11/18/google-privacy-settlement...
        kllrnohj 8y ago
        Google made no promises on that setting. Apple offered a setting, failed to implement it properly, and Google got fined for it. That's what happened there. But regardless what clearly did not happen in that case is Google violating one of Google's own settings. Which is what we're talking about here - the settings Chrome offers being violated. There's no evidence of that.
      - 8y ago

Really? All of your personal info? Like what? What info from within my Linux container is being sent to Google?

amelius 8y ago

You'll probably never know exactly. Better be safe than sorry.

staticassertion 8y ago
You could say that about Ubuntu or any other operating system. "Better safe than sorry" abused this way will lead to no more computers - not the worst future, but I'd at least be out of a job.
- benologist 8y ago
  It would be disingenuous to say that about Ubuntu and all other operating systems when Google is the only one willfully and proactively abusing privacy all over the globe and aspiring to go even further to help China crush dissidents.
  - staticassertion 8y ago
    Unless you can point me to instrumentation on ChromeOS that I should be concerned with, I'm going to not assume that "all of my data" is going to Google.
    - benologist 8y ago
      Violating your privacy does not require all of your data. https://www.eff.org/wp/school-issued-devices-and-student-privacy https://www.eff.org/wp/school-issued-devices-and-student-pri...
    - zwaps 8y ago
      Thing is, whether its ChromeOS or Windows, you are not allowed to look at what exactly they are sending or not sending, and you literally sign a contract saying that they can collect whatever they want and use it however they want. Google has a history of downright ignoring your privacy setting for the benefit of getting more data. And they are aggressively trying to associate you with more devices. It's also not even that they want usage data specifically, they are in the business of building data rich personalized profiles of you, for whatever use they decide on later. Whether or not you are concerned is up to you. I don't see any advantage of ChromeOS over Linux that would, for me, be worth the risk.
      - staticassertion 8y ago
        > you are not allowed to look at what exactly they are sending or not sending What? I can absolutely look at network traffic on my device. People do this... all the time. There are plenty of reports of Chrome traffic - many of them being people mistakenly believing that Chrome is doing something malicious when it isn't. I don't believe that Google is incentivized to use host-based instrumentation to do their collection. The cost is quite high for them to do that. Much easier for them to rely on Google Analytics, Search, and various other web-based tracking mechanisms.
      - mav3rick 8y ago
        Chrome OS is open source. So is the browser on it.
- amelius 8y ago
  You can definitely use Ubuntu without it having to "phone home". That is probably not the case for Chrome OS. By the way, interesting thing is that for Google employees, it is explicitly forbidden to use software that phones home (read that a while back, can't find the link, sorry).
  - kllrnohj 8y ago
    > You can definitely use Ubuntu without it having to "phone home". How do you know? You're assuming they aren't phoning home, probably because it's open source, but you've probably never verified it. And you're unlikely to be enforcing that or proactively monitoring it. So how do you know an update didn't change the rules? You don't. You just have trust. And you can equally use Chrome OS with the same level of trust that it's not phoning home after you turn off the analytics that tell you they are phoning home. It's not actively malicious spyware. The settings aren't ignored.
    - benologist 8y ago
      Google have actually been fined for circumventing privacy settings more than once. In addition to the civil penalty, the order also requires Google to disable all the tracking cookies it had said it would not place on consumers’ computers. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2012/08/google-will-pay-225-million-settle-ftc-charges-it-misrepresented https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2012/08/googl... https://venturebeat.com/2013/11/18/google-privacy-settlement/ https://venturebeat.com/2013/11/18/google-privacy-settlement...
      - kllrnohj 8y ago
        Google made no promises on that setting. Apple offered a setting, failed to implement it properly, and Google got fined for it. That's what happened there. But regardless what clearly did not happen in that case is Google violating one of Google's own settings. Which is what we're talking about here - the settings Chrome offers being violated. There's no evidence of that.
    - 8y ago