Chromium browsers have been quietly sending user information to Google
Chromium browsers have been quietly sending user information to Google
An API provided by a preinstalled extension called "hangout_services" in Chromium browsers is quietly sending information about users' CPU and GPU usage to Google when visiting Google...
Google to users: "I'M GOING TO STEAL ALL YOUR INFORMATION!"
Google: steals users information
Users: shocked pikachu face
113Indeed. I’m trying to figure out how “quietly” makes any sense in that headline. Google has been very public about what they’re doing, and has usually published their proposed actions months in advance of actually taking them.
41It probably is intended to indicate that Google's software doesn't have a notice anywhere it's sending this data that a normal human could reasonably find.
There's a lot of 'Data we collect' stuff on sites and software now, and I'm entirely sure I've never seen this on any browser using Google's code for this.
27
Dear everyone. Chromium Browser does not just mean chrome.
It means Edge, Brave, Opera, and virtually every other browser you've ever heard of but Firefox and Safari.
57
47No shit
26You act like this has not been a decade long "argument"
Yeah anyone doing critical thinking caught with this fact mid 2010s but normie core still in the trust me bro stage, even if mega corps are spying, they got nothing to hide anyway
6
Well, not all chromium browsers. Ungoogled chromium disabled this 8 years ago.
16The face eating leopards are getting fat
15How does this affect Ungoogled Chromium?
5My understanding is that it affects it all the same.
4
Yeah, that was clear from the start...
5Wut!!!! A browser engine made by Google have been sending user data to Google? What a surprise
5Permanently Deleted
2I'd take it the opposite way, does Google have evidence that it wasn't used outside the hangouts domain?
4
Oh no. The CPU and GPU usages.
Stop the presses. This is huge news
2It isn't quiet. You can prevent it with enterprise policies. Firefox sends information to Mozilla too. With AI now though, more people than ever are willing to have their data mined to be able to participate in AI.
-5Firefox sends information to Mozilla too.
Oh fucking christ this again.
No, they send general telemetry by default. Which is one toggle to disable. They don't continue to send information back after that point, and certainly not to the same degree that chrome does AFTER you disable it in chrome. So saying "Mozilla too" in the same context of Chrome is stupidly disingenuous.
30Simply not true. The only way to stop Firefox from phoning home completely is via about:config or a policy template file:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-stop-firefox-making-automatic-connections https://mozilla.github.io/policy-templates/
You can do the same with Chrome:
https://chromeenterprise.google/policies/
Firefox certainly phones home less by default, especially when opting out through various settings, but not completely. Chrome/Chromium isn't evil either. Chromium sandboxing has long been praised as a more secure browser, hence why GrapheneOS (praised as the most secure phone distro) uses Chromium as their browser and not Firefox. Not saying Firefox is bad either. I actually prefer Firefox in certain scenarios and there is a reason that Tor and Mullvad use Firefox for their browsers too (easier to prevent JS from leaking system info), but Chromium is open source as well and used in things like Electron for Signal.
-11
Ok I'm gonna call something out, and you guys tell me if I'm just being a tinfoil hat weirdo: What is with the anti-Mozilla crowd on Lemmy...it feels hella astroturfed?
Like someone recommended me Librewolf (fair, good alternative but not for my needs), but then there are people who recommend Brave and Opera as alternatives which -surprise- both are Chromium browsers, and also Opera is literally owned by a Chinese conglomerate. How are they "safer" than FF?
1