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Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

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451–460 of 507 posts

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#451
post #434

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if we’re not already at this point though, and it might not be a bad thing. Not everyone uses a browser the same, but a decent part of people here will spend their working life in the browser. I think for people here it won’t be rare to have dozen of windows with each dozen of tabs, some logged in different acconts within the site they show, some in incognito, some with in developer mode. Even with just the…

The problem is that you're in the 0.001% of people who want their software complicated like an airline cockpit. Most people don't give a shit, they just want to check their gmail and couldn't care less. They don't even read the alert boxes that do pop up. They just click almost anything blindly. As a result, companies get away with dark patterns and privacy-compromising changes like this. I'm somewhere in the middle.…

Yes, I think the middle ground will be the majority. All the more so actual “casual” users that want stuff that “just work” will use their phone or tablet, or the default browser already installed and is good enough.

Chromebooks are in an interesting position, with a chance to have newer users. But then they will literally live their life in the browser.

In that sense, Chrome users are already set apart I think.

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#452
post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been considering switching over to Firefox after being a day-one adopter of Chrome and this helped become a tipping point to get me to switch over. Though, full disclosure: I've been working to limit Google services in my day-to-day life (Maps, Gmail, and now Chrome) in the last couple of months over privacy concerns.

I've been using Firefox for quite awhile as my primary browser. I'm now to the point that I only use Chrome for checking websites I'm working on. I've had no complaints about Firefox. For me it is fast and stable.

Does Firefox work with Gooogle Hangouts/Meet/“whatever it’s called now”?

I know they were working on removing the need for plugins in other browsers. Ut last time I checked it was still a bit iffy.

This is what’s keeping Chrom(e|ium) installed on my machines right now. (I have a customer that uses it extensively).

If Hangouts works in Firefox I think I'll uninstall Chrome.

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#453
post #450

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Evil sort of loses it’s meaning when it’s thrown a google in a world where Pennsylvania just banned books that aren’t sold through their systems from prisons, where ICE kills children in concentration camps, and that’s talking domestic issues only. I mean, if google is evil then what do you call North Korea? Super duper evil?

I was just referring to Google's own phrase: "Don't be evil." Google is evil in the same way now, that Microsoft was back in the day.

Tellingly, it was changed to "Do the right thing." after the alphabet split.

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Half the websites we visit host their fonts on Google domains, where is the outrage over that? Copy that. Thats a serious privacy leak, Referrers, none of the adblockers handle today.

ublock Origin blocks third-party content, including silly fonts hosted by Google, just fine for me.

I recall seeing fonts.googleapi.com being allowed by uBO (in medium mode) once, so it needs be double checked.

Also, it not just fonts, but jquery and other stuff. And two places to check: Referrers HTTP header and meta element Referrer Policy of the page

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#455
post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work at Google; opinions are my own. > I don't understand why the Chrome team is picking this hill to die on- their team (managers and developers) are all over twitter and reddit trying to explain the privacy violations away as if the people upset about this are just not understanding what's going on. My impression is that this is the new norm at Google. It happens with everything, internal or external. The sad rea…

Why would they repeat the Google+ linked accounts nightmare though? I never wanted a fucking chrome account, and linking my business and private accounts is the stupidest thing you idiots could have done. I never wanted my youtube account tied to my business email.

Or before that, Google Buzz! The opt-out social network which nobody asked for that automatically shared your contacts.

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FF with Multi Account Containers is heaven

FF itself since Quantum has been heaven for me personally. I've always used FF and Chrome, flipping back and forth as Chrome filled in where FF had issues and vice versa, but after a week or 2 on Quantum I just didn't need Chrome anymore and uninstalled it. Haven't regretted it once.

The only thing that doesn't work for me at work with Firefox is some parts of our Google-powered meeting rooms. I can do videoconferencing just fine in Firefox, but I can't do screen sharing, even though Firefox seems to think screen sharing is enabled and working, only a black screen goes to the meeting room's projector.

Hopefully that'll be fixed soon...

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#457
post #433

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You said it yourself, Google’s raison d’etre in some ways into these markets was that they were not evil anticompetetive Microsoft. Today, they very much are. Arguably they were always this way, but dark patterns like this is a new low. And no you don’t need to be North Korea to be evil. That is a meaningless comparison. Coincidentally Google has started working with regimes similar to NK; The PRC. Is that not evil?

> Coincidentally Google has started working with regimes similar to NK; The PRC. Is that not evil? No, it's not, because evil is a negative ideal , but I don't think it actually exists in reality. Even Hitler wasn't evil, he was insane, and the whole situation is a case study of what happens when people, regular people , are given an easy explanation for all their problems. Placing something in the category of "evil"…

You just implied that Hitler was insane, a slang and disrespectful word for mentally ill people.

I can’t even start to consider that it’s an appropriate analogy so Godwin point is dully granted.

PS: If it please your mind regexp replace "evil" by "ill intentioned" in Google related threads. But don’t forget that it’s Google that originated this terminology in the first place with their moto "Don’t be evil"...

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#458
post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't say you had to...

Earlier comment said "Once people understand, they care." Your comment basically implied "maybe they don't really understand which is why they don't care". So I am refuting the original statement because I presumably do understand, and I still don't care.

[deleted]

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#459
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're on the right track but it'd probably be a modal popup with "Google is making things better by inventing foo and elevating bar to the height of technology, as part of this change we'll be cloudifying some technical data. [Accept and Continue?]" with a teensy tiny little x in the corner... possibly burying all these in a EULA update.

Judging by all those post-GDPR popups I frequently receive the text would also contain some text like “by clicking ‘accept’ or ‘X’ you consent to XYZ.” Theres almost never a true choice.

You don't have to click on 'accept' or 'X'...

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#460
post #374
post #3

I don't understand why the Chrome team is picking this hill to die on- their team (managers and developers) are all over twitter and reddit trying to explain the privacy violations away as if the people upset about this are just not understanding what's going on. I really expect this change to push a lot of people away from Chrome, and frankly I wouldn't be surprised if it started opening up more antitrust possibilit…

It's about privacy and also about taking away functionality that worked all these years for me. At work we use Google Apps and I sign in as with my work address for Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Drive, etc. and am used to one click access to all these apps. But I like to sync my bookmarks, extensions and settings to my personal account - and that's it - I don't want to sign in to my personal Gmail, Docs, Drive in the browse…

Just. use. Firefox.
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