5 ms·

Understood, though just to be clear, email field identification happens client side, so we don't get your browsing history. More fundamentally though, we make a

by yegg 4y ago

Understood, though just to be clear, email field identification happens client side, so we don't get your browsing history. More fundamentally though, we make a browser, and our privacy policy is to never create search or browsing histories.

sha-3 4y ago
Could you, if it's possible, at least remove the full browsing data permission on the extension?
- yegg 4y ago
  That is required to provide all our various web tracking protections: https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/privacy/web-tracking-protections/ https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/privacy/we...
  - 3np 4y ago
    Right. The idea would be that users might not want that subset of functionality at all. In those cases, why not degrade gracefully? "Why do you need my house keys to deliver mail?" "So we can put packages inside the house in case it's raining hard and you are not at home." "That's OK, I have a good porch and would rather you put everything not fitting in the mailbox there" "Studies show that users prefer dry packages and may be concerned with theft. We need this in order to provide secure delivery in all conditions, take it or leave it"
    - zyx321 4y ago
      Wouldn't that require making and maintaining separate versions of the app for every possible subset of permissions? That sounds like a nightmare not just for DDG but also for new users that have to figure out which version they need to install.
      - throwamon 4y ago
        > Wouldn't that require making and maintaining separate versions of the app for every possible subset of permissions? No: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/manifest.json/optional_permissions https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/Web... > Use the `optional_permissions` key to list permissions that you want to ask for at runtime, after your extension has been installed.
TekMol 4y ago
I said you get access to peoples browsing data. Your extension can access everything on every page people visit. And can send that data eveywhere. That you promise to behave well does not change that. It is the "Trust us" argument again. If we could trust companies, we could give them our real emails.
- pwinnski 4y ago
  > If we could trust companies, we could give them our real emails. I'm assuming you realize that there is more than one company, and that one can trust different companies to different extents. I trust DDG more than I trust most other companies. I trust DDG more than I trust Amazon, and I've given Amazon my email--a decision I sometimes regret!
  - 0xChain 4y ago
  - TekMol 4y ago
    If the approach DDG proposes would be to "Trust us with your email rather than company B", that would be a fair argument. But DDG proposes "Trust us with all your browsing data, including your private emails, your bank statements, all your passwords, everything you read and write rather than manually type the temp email". To me that seems pretty extreme.
    - pwinnski 4y ago
      That is not exactly what they propose. That is, however, the proposition, because of the way browser makers bundle permissions. I suggest that DDG proposes, "Trust us with access to many things, most of which we promise we won't even look at, none of which we will ever keep." Given that the extremeness is the result of browser makers, I think DDG has earned my trust. Your mileage may vary.

by yegg 4y ago

sha-3 4y ago

Could you, if it's possible, at least remove the full browsing data permission on the extension?

yegg 4y ago
That is required to provide all our various web tracking protections: https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/privacy/web-tracking-protections/ https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/privacy/we...
- 3np 4y ago
  Right. The idea would be that users might not want that subset of functionality at all. In those cases, why not degrade gracefully? "Why do you need my house keys to deliver mail?" "So we can put packages inside the house in case it's raining hard and you are not at home." "That's OK, I have a good porch and would rather you put everything not fitting in the mailbox there" "Studies show that users prefer dry packages and may be concerned with theft. We need this in order to provide secure delivery in all conditions, take it or leave it"
  - zyx321 4y ago
    Wouldn't that require making and maintaining separate versions of the app for every possible subset of permissions? That sounds like a nightmare not just for DDG but also for new users that have to figure out which version they need to install.
    - throwamon 4y ago
      > Wouldn't that require making and maintaining separate versions of the app for every possible subset of permissions? No: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtensions/manifest.json/optional_permissions https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/Web... > Use the `optional_permissions` key to list permissions that you want to ask for at runtime, after your extension has been installed.

TekMol 4y ago

I said you get access to peoples browsing data. Your extension can access everything on every page people visit. And can send that data eveywhere. That you promise to behave well does not change that. It is the "Trust us" argument again. If we could trust companies, we could give them our real emails.

pwinnski 4y ago
> If we could trust companies, we could give them our real emails. I'm assuming you realize that there is more than one company, and that one can trust different companies to different extents. I trust DDG more than I trust most other companies. I trust DDG more than I trust Amazon, and I've given Amazon my email--a decision I sometimes regret!
- 0xChain 4y ago
- TekMol 4y ago
  If the approach DDG proposes would be to "Trust us with your email rather than company B", that would be a fair argument. But DDG proposes "Trust us with all your browsing data, including your private emails, your bank statements, all your passwords, everything you read and write rather than manually type the temp email". To me that seems pretty extreme.
  - pwinnski 4y ago
    That is not exactly what they propose. That is, however, the proposition, because of the way browser makers bundle permissions. I suggest that DDG proposes, "Trust us with access to many things, most of which we promise we won't even look at, none of which we will ever keep." Given that the extremeness is the result of browser makers, I think DDG has earned my trust. Your mileage may vary.