Google enables advertisers a look into your browsing history…
It’s disgusting. Users browser history is private, just like their search history. Fuck Google.
Exactly. If Google wants to collect user data and use it for their products, they should be paying users. You can’t build and sell cars without paying for the nuts and bolts, yet Google has been taking their materials for free.
Not for free, for a browser. This doesn’t make it any less evil.
That’s not the deal though. It’s not an exchange of data for the use of the product, like you would exchange money for a product or service. The product is offered free of charge, and alongside that they collect whatever they can get away with. There’s no consideration, there’s no proportionality, it doesn’t meet the basic tenets of contract law.
Data companies thrive in this hazy grey zone where regulations haven’t been made. However, when you compare what they do to anything else, it’s clearly unreasonable. If I invite you into my home, that doesn’t mean I give you permission to take the strawberries from my garden. If you invite me into your home, that doesn’t mean you get permission to go through my wallet and take photos of everything inside.
It’s getting worse, look at Microsoft now. You pay them for the software and they still take your data.
Data needs to be regulated, such that users are fairly compensated and more properly in control of it. Either that, or it must be completely open - Google can collect the data, but their raw database must be freely available to everyone. Lobbying has proven effective for Google et al, however there is some small hope because law makers themselves are also the victims - everyone is. They just need to realise the true value of what’s being taken from them.
No disagreement here. It’s just unfortunate that the users happily agree to everything you’ve pointed out. Because their browser is apparently just so nice, and a typical user has no ability to recognize value in their data so it feels free to them.
It’s opt-in and they’re very clear about that.
For now
No… Even if that was true, what you’re saying is “you’re right, but you might not be in a month, sooo Google bad”.
It won’t be opt-out because first of all, that’s against the law. And second you’re literally opting in by accepting their terms…
I’m glad you live in the EU because it’s opt-out for everyone else.
I’m assuming the same happens with google (search engine) as well (?)
It’s crazy to think that this level of intrusion is considered fair game. The way these behaviors are normalized is completely dystopian.
Why not just use Firefox (while you still can …)
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Can’t donate to them considering how much money is wasted on their shit ceo.
Even then, I’m sure there’s a litany of other things that they think they need but they don’t. I notice the bigger corporations become, the more justified they feel in wasting resources.
I’ll ready raw html before I use Chrome.
You’ll read html sure, but will you read CSS? shudders
I’m training to mentally compile javascript now. Kinda stumped on how to access backend data stores though.
Gotta have that V8 JS Engine in your head
In Chrome, start at the three dots in the upper-right corner and go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Ad privacy. (Or just type chrome://settings/adPrivacy into your address field.) The ad privacy page lets you turn off Chrome’s targeted ads.
As per The Verge
Well that’s what to expect from a web browser created by an advertising company.
This was overwhelming rejected by everyone, including Microsoft, Mozilla, Safari, and others. It’s universally disliked, and Google knows this, but they intentionally know they’re abusing their monopoly to push anti-consumer bullshit.
It sure would be nice if the US still pretended to care about consumers and breaking up monopolies.
The solution to breaking up monopolies is nationalization.
All of a sudden, we’re paying less money and have way more rights. It’s why the USPS can’t open your mail without probably cause but fedex and ups can.
Rich people and their dick-suckers will be upset. But who cares about them anyways?
I was born way after that may have ever happened, so sounds more like a fairy tale to me
“don’t be evil” days have been over since forever ago.
Any organization that feels the need to outright claim without being asked that they’re not evil are 100% projecting and are evil.
Even worse, the act of removing that from their motto.
“Fuck it everyone already knows we’re evil no point in pretending now.” – Google, probably
Firefox
Interesting tidbit: I’ve been watching “the big bang theory” a lot these past few weeks on my own hosted jellyfin install.
I don’t use google search anywhere, I don’t type tbbt anywhere. Yet, on my Android phone I have this obligatory Google news thing when I swipe left (HATE that) and all of the sudden that thing got chock full of chatgpt written TBBT articles… I don’t really go there (usually end up there by accident swiping left once too many) and I don’t read those articles but it really obviously switched to TBBT articles when I switched to watching TBBT.
This really kinda freaks me out and makes me wonder WTF more google is monitoring. I use a Google Chromecast, I guess google monitors that?
Play Services track you.
i suggest block play services in your main profile and let it be enabled for some apps in your work profile. via shelter app.
Or disable/remove them. Don’t even need root for that. There’s always microg if an app really needs them.
thats an awesome idea! much thanks for the info!
personal insight preinstall (for ppl reading this):
- it is always better to use fdroid apps whenever possible.
i had tried mcroG once upon a time(many years ago). it didnt work for me.
possible reasons:- project may have been less mature than it is today.
- other. (see below)
installation:
https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/wiki/Installation “Install GmsCore.apk” , “Install GsfProxy.apk”
“Please review the Prerequisites and Helpful Information before starting installation.”https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/wiki/Prerequisites
“Your System needs to support signature spoofing, see Signature Spoofing” , “[You need a ROM that supports signature spoofing.]”conclusion:
-need to follow the specific installation instructions.- according to the docs… u need a custom rom(distro ie lineageOS on a supported device.)
https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/
Use GrapheneOS without Play Spyware services.
Can I still install all software? I need my banks software, for example. If I can’t install that’s then my phone is useless
Unlike other ROMs like CalyxOS, GrapheneOS ships the actual Google Play services and Google Services Framework, but they’re sandboxed so they can’t spy on you. Whether your banking app works, depends on the SafetyNet requirement it has. If it requires full integrity, it unfortunately won’t work on any system that is not whitelisted by Google. If basic SafetyNet integrity is enough for the app, it will work on GrapheneOS. You can google (or duckduckgo) your banks name and “GrapheneOS”, and you may find posts by other people who tried it out.
Edit regarding software in general: When you install Sandboxed Play Services, you also get the Play Store which you can use to install apps. You can also use the Aurora Store, an anonymous front-end for the Play Store. There is also F-Droid, which offers FOSS alternatives to most applications.
Edit 2: I found this post over on PrivSec which has a list of apps and details on whether they work
How would I go about transferring my stored passwords from Chrome to Firefox?
When you first install Firefox, it offers it during the initial setup
And yet Firefox marketshare will keep dwindling. Drives me mad!
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Sure, you’re forced to decline manually on every single browser you sign into, and the setting doesn’t sync across browsers so you’re inclined to just hit ok to the pop-up by the 4th or 5th time you see it. I finally moved to Firefox recently and I have zero regrets, it’s faster with a nicer UI.
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Got this today, I have to use chrome for a couple things every month, and they conveniently turned on all their tracking and ads and bullshit. Had to turn all that crap off again. Not that they’d glean any useful information from my paltry chrome usage, but it still pisses me off.
Try Ungoogled Chromium!
Better yet, firefox
Even better, LibreWolf
