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I keep wondering why people who seemingly care about their privacy continue to use Google products/services, doing all their online activity while logged in to

by _jomo 7y ago

I keep wondering why people who seemingly care about their privacy continue to use Google products/services, doing all their online activity while logged in to their Google account.

zamadatix 7y ago
The opportunity cost of privacy on the web is greater than your average person is willing to pay.
srbby 7y ago
Because Chrome is the fastest browser[] and Google services are usually the best. []Perhaps that will change once they nerf ad blockers.
- seieste 7y ago
  Chrome is the fastest browser for YouTube because Google intentionally made it slow on other browsers. So, sometimes this speed is just the result of monopolistic actions.
  - sys_64738 7y ago
    I think this is the value of others like Vivaldi and Microsoft standardizing on the Chrome web page engine. They will strip away any ad company privacy layers. Only Firefox is truly free at this time and Safari doing whatever they do.
    - izacus 7y ago
      Safari's implementation of AdBlockers is the same as the one that's planned and criticized for Chrome - isn't it a bit wierd to bring it into this debate?
      - sys_64738 7y ago
        I just see Apple has been being naughty with Safari. Slap on the wrists for them.
  - srbby 7y ago
    For me Chrome is the fastest browser all around. It may not be substantially better than Firefox anymore, but it's still the best. The day it stops being the best I will consider shopping for another browser. (I mention Firefox specifically because it's the only browser that uses something other than webkit/blink, now that Edge is out)
    - Filligree 7y ago
      For a desktop with a powerful processor and GPU, the difference goes away entirely if you force-enable webrender. Add tree-style tabs to that, and there's no question of which one is best to me.
sys_64738 7y ago
Younger people growing up are used to living in the shadow of an ad company. Ad company keeps pushing the envelope on privacy but those who most vocalize opposition are getting older. Cycle repeats until ad companies win.
- matz1 7y ago
  Sure, only if ad blocking community stop fighting.
muststopmyths 7y ago
As much as I want to use Firefox more, it doesn't "just work", unlike Chrome. Every other update it destroys my containers and I have to recreate them. Or it will just stop responding to keyboard input after an update. I have to go in and disable all add-ons, restart and enable them. I get it, add-ons are hard. I'm just afraid that if I start syncing my bookmarks etc that I do with Chrome, Firefox will destroy them someday and I'll be left spending half a day recovering. I do want to use it more, but I also need it to just work every time.
- Errsher 7y ago
  Have you ever filed a bug report for the issues you've come across?
- gruez 7y ago
  >Every other update it destroys my containers and I have to recreate them. I've used containers since Firefox 52 and this never happened to me.
caspper69 7y ago
I have actually been running the Edge beta for about a month. It's pretty good. I've noticed that since I no longer use Chrome, a lot of the ad-tracking related items have gotten much more generic over time (such as the news articles on my phone on the chrome homepage). I at least I feel like I'm being tracked a little less by a single entity.

by _jomo 7y ago

I keep wondering why people who seemingly care about their privacy continue to use Google products/services, doing all their online activity while logged in to their Google account.

zamadatix 7y ago

The opportunity cost of privacy on the web is greater than your average person is willing to pay.

srbby 7y ago

Because Chrome is the fastest browser[] and Google services are usually the best. []Perhaps that will change once they nerf ad blockers.

seieste 7y ago
Chrome is the fastest browser for YouTube because Google intentionally made it slow on other browsers. So, sometimes this speed is just the result of monopolistic actions.
- sys_64738 7y ago
  I think this is the value of others like Vivaldi and Microsoft standardizing on the Chrome web page engine. They will strip away any ad company privacy layers. Only Firefox is truly free at this time and Safari doing whatever they do.
  - izacus 7y ago
    Safari's implementation of AdBlockers is the same as the one that's planned and criticized for Chrome - isn't it a bit wierd to bring it into this debate?
    - sys_64738 7y ago
      I just see Apple has been being naughty with Safari. Slap on the wrists for them.
- srbby 7y ago
  For me Chrome is the fastest browser all around. It may not be substantially better than Firefox anymore, but it's still the best. The day it stops being the best I will consider shopping for another browser. (I mention Firefox specifically because it's the only browser that uses something other than webkit/blink, now that Edge is out)
  - Filligree 7y ago
    For a desktop with a powerful processor and GPU, the difference goes away entirely if you force-enable webrender. Add tree-style tabs to that, and there's no question of which one is best to me.

sys_64738 7y ago

Younger people growing up are used to living in the shadow of an ad company. Ad company keeps pushing the envelope on privacy but those who most vocalize opposition are getting older. Cycle repeats until ad companies win.

matz1 7y ago
Sure, only if ad blocking community stop fighting.

muststopmyths 7y ago

As much as I want to use Firefox more, it doesn't "just work", unlike Chrome. Every other update it destroys my containers and I have to recreate them. Or it will just stop responding to keyboard input after an update. I have to go in and disable all add-ons, restart and enable them. I get it, add-ons are hard. I'm just afraid that if I start syncing my bookmarks etc that I do with Chrome, Firefox will destroy them someday and I'll be left spending half a day recovering. I do want to use it more, but I also need it to just work every time.

Errsher 7y ago
Have you ever filed a bug report for the issues you've come across?
gruez 7y ago
>Every other update it destroys my containers and I have to recreate them. I've used containers since Firefox 52 and this never happened to me.

caspper69 7y ago

I have actually been running the Edge beta for about a month. It's pretty good. I've noticed that since I no longer use Chrome, a lot of the ad-tracking related items have gotten much more generic over time (such as the news articles on my phone on the chrome homepage). I at least I feel like I'm being tracked a little less by a single entity.