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"Still, I was astonished to discover that Amazon built the perfect machinery to let them track any Amazon Assistant user or all of them: what they view and for

"Still, I was astonished to discover that Amazon built the perfect machinery to let them track any Amazon Assistant user or all of them: what they view and for how long, what they search on the web, what accounts they are logged into and more. Amazon could also mess with the web experience at will and for example hijack competitors’ web shops. Amazon Assistant log with a borg eye Image credits: Amazon, nicubunu, OpenClipart Mind you, I’m not saying that Amazon is currently doing any of this." This goes for any browser extension you install if you don't limit which websites it's allowed to read data from. In both the title and beginning paragraph, the author essentially describes the privacy risks that would apply to any browser extension, but words it in a way that implies Amazon is actively abusing those privacy holes, before finding any evidence for it. I really wish people would stop giving views to blatantly manipulative and slimy clickbait like this.

palant 6y ago
You could also read the article before commenting. It’s one thing when an extension could do something but its code can be inspected to verify that it doesn’t. It’s an entirely different thing if it delegates its privileges to a web service that could do anything and that nobody can inspect. Note: I’m the author of this article.
- KoftaBob 6y ago
  I stand corrected, I must not have read the article carefully enough my apologies!
- bagacrap 6y ago
  This distinction seems somewhat meaningless in practice. Are you going to audit every line of every extension you install, assuming it's all local code? And are you going to do this again every time it's (automatically) updated?
  - alisonkisk 6y ago
    Yes. This is exactly what happened with Great Suspender, which led to Google being succesfully pressured to ban it.
tantalor 6y ago
> before finding any evidence for it Did you see the screenshot with the Amazon ad popup obscuring Google ads?
- palant 6y ago
  That’s actually legitimate functionality of this extension. :-) Note: I am the author of this article.
  - tantalor 6y ago
    Covering up your competitors ads with your own sounds a lot like "mess with the web experience at will and for example hijack competitors’ web shops". Disclaimer: I work for Google Shopping, but not the ads part :)
    - palant 6y ago
      The whole extension is all about “let’s see when customers go to competition and try to bring them back.” That’s rather shady but it’s exactly the advertised functionality. And I’ve already got the first comment on the blog essentially saying “I don’t care what else they do, this extension gives great suggestions and I love that.” :-)
    - alisonkisk 6y ago
      Yes, but that part is with user consent, so it's an attack on Google and their partners, not an attack on the user.
- mritun 6y ago
  You mean the screenshot that shows a browser window just about 400px wide in which page content is forced behind the notification window? Yeah. I saw that too. Disclosure: I work for Amazon but not anywhere close to the browser plugin team(s).
scubazealous 6y ago
This is a greater issue with the extension/app ecosystem. This morning I wanted to find a android app which would help me time exercises, specifically planking. It should be simple, set up countdown times for front and each side with 5 second breaks in between, playing a tone to let me know when I can move on or I am done with the exercise. I looked through at least the top 20 apps on the play store and all of them require at least full network access and to run at startup. Many were so invasive as to request location and to be able to record audio and take pictures. Being able to monetize these apps is an important thing for developers but it is becoming a real problem I do not see getting any better soon.
- bobthepanda 6y ago
  Stronglifts has a nice app that I don’t remember being overly intrusive. I just wish it were easier to use for other lifting programs.

palant 6y ago

You could also read the article before commenting. It’s one thing when an extension could do something but its code can be inspected to verify that it doesn’t. It’s an entirely different thing if it delegates its privileges to a web service that could do anything and that nobody can inspect. Note: I’m the author of this article.

KoftaBob 6y ago
I stand corrected, I must not have read the article carefully enough my apologies!
bagacrap 6y ago
This distinction seems somewhat meaningless in practice. Are you going to audit every line of every extension you install, assuming it's all local code? And are you going to do this again every time it's (automatically) updated?
- alisonkisk 6y ago
  Yes. This is exactly what happened with Great Suspender, which led to Google being succesfully pressured to ban it.

tantalor 6y ago

> before finding any evidence for it Did you see the screenshot with the Amazon ad popup obscuring Google ads?

palant 6y ago
That’s actually legitimate functionality of this extension. :-) Note: I am the author of this article.
- tantalor 6y ago
  Covering up your competitors ads with your own sounds a lot like "mess with the web experience at will and for example hijack competitors’ web shops". Disclaimer: I work for Google Shopping, but not the ads part :)
  - palant 6y ago
    The whole extension is all about “let’s see when customers go to competition and try to bring them back.” That’s rather shady but it’s exactly the advertised functionality. And I’ve already got the first comment on the blog essentially saying “I don’t care what else they do, this extension gives great suggestions and I love that.” :-)
  - alisonkisk 6y ago
    Yes, but that part is with user consent, so it's an attack on Google and their partners, not an attack on the user.
mritun 6y ago
You mean the screenshot that shows a browser window just about 400px wide in which page content is forced behind the notification window? Yeah. I saw that too. Disclosure: I work for Amazon but not anywhere close to the browser plugin team(s).

scubazealous 6y ago

This is a greater issue with the extension/app ecosystem. This morning I wanted to find a android app which would help me time exercises, specifically planking. It should be simple, set up countdown times for front and each side with 5 second breaks in between, playing a tone to let me know when I can move on or I am done with the exercise. I looked through at least the top 20 apps on the play store and all of them require at least full network access and to run at startup. Many were so invasive as to request location and to be able to record audio and take pictures. Being able to monetize these apps is an important thing for developers but it is becoming a real problem I do not see getting any better soon.

bobthepanda 6y ago
Stronglifts has a nice app that I don’t remember being overly intrusive. I just wish it were easier to use for other lifting programs.