Chrome's new Privacy Sandbox/Tracker released

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I know Chrome tracks interests and web visits but it's not as bad as Edge. Or has it become that way? I was starting to use Chrome and Edge more but I'm back to Firefox on just about every machine and device.

arstechnica.com

Google gets its way, bakes a user-tracking ad platform directly into Chrome

Chrome now directly tracks users, generates a “topic” list it shares with advertisers.
arstechnica.com arstechnica.com

Yes, you can turn it off but besides the increased hassle is it really off?

www.theverge.com

How to disable Chrome’s new targeted ad tracking

Maintain your Chrome privacy by turning off targeted ads.
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com
 
As far as I'm concerned, if you're using any browser produced by Microsoft or Google, you're consenting to be their product.

I stopped using Chrome ages ago. I still use Edge for "stuff where privacy is not a concern" because I need to be familiar with it to an extent I would not be if I didn't use it. Any browser that comes with Windows is one I need to use, even if just for a site or two, to keep familiarity with its quirks.

Beyond that, though, a Chromium-based browser is, for the most part, a Chromium-based browser. Our household has been using either Brave or Vivaldi for ages rather than Chrome or Edge. Neither of those browsers is "perfect," either, but their privacy track record is well-known and light-years ahead of Edge or Chrome.

Firefox, these days, seems to be on a real upswing in terms of getting better and better again.
 
My memory fails me... on the name. But, we have a new product intended for use by marketing departments.

I bring this up, because explaining what we can do with this tool should update everyone with how complete the Internet data mining is at this point...

We can with this tool...

See what specific customers are searching for.
See how many people that customer has searching for these things.
And we get reports on general timelines associated with the searches.

Let that sink in... my marketing department is handing my sales team reports on what a company is looking for BEFORE we even talk to them.

It's already resulted in meetings where the client is a little creeped out because we're basically reading their minds from their perspective.

We're also starting to use this tool to find customers that are shopping our services well in advance of any other detection method we've ever had.

Zero privacy...
Intent analyzed and quantified...

I'm not clear on exactly how and what sources this tool uses to achieve this madness, but the fact that it was achieved is quite telling as to how lost this game is.
 
Sky-Knight said:
I'm not clear on exactly how and what sources this tool uses to achieve this madness, but the fact that it was achieved is quite telling as to how lost this game is.
Click to expand...

I really cannot fathom how anyone, and particularly anyone in IT, has not understood and accepted the concept that "if you do it online, it's public" is true for a very, very long time now. Unless extraordinary measures are taken to ensure privacy, which are never the case with most web activity, it's on public view for those who want to devise the methods to view it.

It's the cyber-extension of public records, which were always public but where privacy was largely maintained because there were no tools other than some human's eyes to review them. Now we have electronic methods to constantly pore over not only real public records, as conventionally construed, but internet activity.

ISPs, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and the list goes on and on have been using electronic surveillance (for their own purposes related to making money) for decades now, and the degree and refinement in that surveillance has been on an exponential curve.

What really creeps me out, though, and I wish I could locate the NPR discussion I originally heard about this during, is that there has existed technology, for years, that can extrapolate what any random "you" are likely do to in any random decision making scenario with stunning accuracy with very few data points obtained entirely legally and from your online activity (mostly). It was really shocking how accurate those predictions could be, about entirely different decisions, based on data points collected that would appear to any rational human being to be entirely disjoint from the thing being predicted.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, has been private in the ways even my parents, let alone my grandparents, understood that word for at least half of my life now (and I'm 61).
 
Opera was fine "way back when" when I used it, but I haven't touched it in some time. I don't know what it may or may not be doing these days to differentiate itself in the marketplace of browsers.

It looks like they've very much been keeping up based on their website. They were acquired by a Chinese consortium in 2016, and I know there are some for whom that's likely a showstopper.
 
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britechguy said:
Opera was fine "way back when" when I used it, but I haven't touched it in some time. I don't know what it may or may not be doing these days to differentiate itself in the marketplace of browsers.
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I'm thinking of trying it but don't know how much better it would be than what I use. I use Chrome with DuckDuckGo and Malwarebytes extension. I've never had any issues with this setup, no popups, no ads, and hardly any cookies, etc.

I use Edge but it's always trying to get me to use some kind of software and popups are annoying. I don't do anything personal on that site, simply because I don't trust Microsoft not to track every little thing I do.

I use Firefox occasionally but I'm not a big fan of it "installing updates" every time I open it.
 
If you use Chrome, no matter with what extensions, you are never going to come close to completely block Google's data mining. I trust Microsoft a lot more than Google, and that's not to say I actually trust Microsoft. Edge with uBlock Origin is a very pleasant browsing experience.

If you want to get away from data mining and tracking to the maximum extent possible then the only choice is third-party browsers.
 
britechguy said:
If you use Chrome, no matter with what extensions, you are never going to come close to completely block Google's data mining. I trust Microsoft a lot more than Google, and that's not to say I actually trust Microsoft. Edge with uBlock Origin is a very pleasant browsing experience.

If you want to get away from data mining and tracking to the maximum extent possible then the only choice is third-party browsers.
Click to expand...
Suggestions for third party browsers?
 
ThatPlace928 said:
I use Firefox occasionally but I'm not a big fan of it "installing updates" every time I open it.
Click to expand...

Then skip Vivaldi, too. While I'm not thrilled by the frequency of updates in either, they apply so quickly that I always apply them at the earliest convenience. If I'm just opening the browser, that is the earliest convenience, as applying them just opens the browser again once they're applied. Takes less than 30 seconds in most cases.
 
I've already mentioned that the third party browsers I'm currently using that have a privacy focus are Firefox, Vivaldi, and Brave. DuckDuckGo has recently released a multi-platform web browser (Windows version here) and given their longstanding reputation in the search engine world I have little doubt their browser is good, too.

Opera looks nice and has definitely integrated privacy protection into itself.
 
britechguy said:
I've already mentioned that the third party browsers I'm currently using that have a privacy focus are Firefox, Vivaldi, and Brave. DuckDuckGo has recently released a multi-platform web browser (Windows version here) and given their longstanding reputation in the search engine world I have little doubt their browser is good, too.

Opera looks nice and has definitely integrated privacy protection into itself.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I think I'll try Opera and see if I like it. If not, I'll check into the DuckDuckGo browser. I appreciate the feedback. :)
 
Tor is the "ultra privacy" browser but, at least to me, is not a practical daily driver.

The tricks it uses to obfuscate who you are and where you are located are extensive and processing intensive, slowing down the browsing experience significantly.

When I last used Tor it was also insanely overaggressive about cookies and even it's most "let me keep my cookies!" option didn't let you keep many.

All of the above may have changed, but I doubt the sluggishness could have just due to what Tor does to achieve its ends.
 
I was a devout Opera user for many, many years; until they were purchased by Chinese interests - hence the Vivaldi spinoff.

I am currently using Librewolf, a privacy focused version of Firefox that comes with uBlock Origin built in.

Brave is also a good choice but fails because of the built in "rewards" program.

privacytests.org lists Librewolf as the "most privacy centric browser"

Mullvad would be my only choice if I weren't using Librewolf.
 
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