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Chrome 69 will keep Google Cookies when you tell it to delete all cookies

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Re: Chrome 69 will keep Google Cookies when you tell it to delete all cookies

#341

Another confirmation that engineers and product developers are no longer in control at Google. Engineering and product first is how Google won the game initially, very easy to forget that when the money rolls in massively and the power structures move away from those driving forces. Microsoft already went through this engineering/product growth to bizdev/marketing control to stagnation and is already in the return to…

The idea that technical people are all impeccably ethical is not very plausible. Consider the scientists who promoted the claim that smoking was harmless long after it clearly was not, the engineers who concocted VW's diesel-emissions fraud, and the developers who produced Madoff's fake accounting. And, of course, this particular deception is hardly the first fall from grace on the internet.

Re: Chrome 69 will keep Google Cookies when you tell it to delete all cookies

#342

Another confirmation that engineers and product developers are no longer in control at Google. Engineering and product first is how Google won the game initially, very easy to forget that when the money rolls in massively and the power structures move away from those driving forces. Microsoft already went through this engineering/product growth to bizdev/marketing control to stagnation and is already in the return to…

That feels like whitewashing part of the blame that applies to engineers and product developers. We don't get to say "oh it's those pesky money people, how dare they", while drawing a salary from the same pockets.

Engineers losing control to money types and bureaucrats is a gradual process. It is not that one day Google strikes out the second word from its unofficial motto ("do not be evil"). Engineers might dislike each small step in that direction, but it is not enough to make them pack up and move (house, family, kids, etc.). Pretty quickly they are tamed by both money people and the bureaucrats -- still appreciated and paid, but as brains to be tasked, with no ability to influence company policy.

People accept a LOT with gradual changes over a few years that they would never accept as an upfront bulk package. This is not just in engineering. But there is a flip side to this -- once bureaucrats are in control and engineers who stay accept "that is the way we do it" as a justification they often lose energy and become set in their ways. This is more dangerous to a company than a rotting executive class. My 2c.

Re: Chrome 69 will keep Google Cookies when you tell it to delete all cookies

#343
post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd love to tell people the only way to replace gmail is to get either your own mail server or at least your own domain, but this is an unreasonable goal. However.... re-decentralization resonates quite well these days when it comes to the web. I wonder what it would take to be re-applies to email.

> I'd love to tell people the only way to replace gmail is to get either your own mail server or at least your own domain, It's trivially easy to get blacklisted as spam that way...

Maybe this is too much tinfoil, but it feels like Google has a bit of a perverse incentive here to make their spam blacklist unnecessarily trigger-happy. After all, anyone they block will just think running their own mail server is too hard these days and might switch back to using Gmail...

Re: Chrome 69 will keep Google Cookies when you tell it to delete all cookies

#344
post #94
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While still using Windows...

Can't speak for ux-app but most people on HN are on macs, also a lot of people on linux.

Is there some actual data on this somewhere? I'd be curious to know the browser / OS breakdown.

Re: Chrome 69 will keep Google Cookies when you tell it to delete all cookies

#345
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can't speak for ux-app but most people on HN are on macs, also a lot of people on linux.

Right. But there's a certain amount of irony that people are ditching Chrome, while still using an OS which literally does spy on you.

Even Windows 10 seems much less creepy compared with what Google's become.

Re: Chrome 69 will keep Google Cookies when you tell it to delete all cookies

#346
post #62

Seriously don't know why anyone is surprised that a browser built by an ad-tech company pushes the user tracking tech of that company. Just use Firefox and have done with it - there's been a series of these kinds of posts over the last couple of days with people suggesting insane workaround hacks instead of just changing their browser. P.S. if you keep chrome because some websites only work properly there, maybe y'al…

Dropping chrome is not enough. Switch to bing (Just as good as G), or ddg if you really want. Then ditch android which is the spy in your pocket. If you're installing G analytics for clients then choose an alternative (I'm open to suggestions here). It's really time to disentangle ourselves from google. They've quietly and effectively insinuated themselves across the web. Enough is enough.

If you have your own server somewhere or access to such managed by someone you trust may I suggest using a meta-search engine like Searx [1] instead? That way you get to swat a whole cloud of flies in one fell swoop:

1: no personal tracking or profiling data for the search providers

2: no 'personalised' search

3: search results from several providers condensed into one list, i.e. more results for the same query

You can also use one of the public Searx instances [2] if you trust them enough not to do their own profiling. By default Searx does not use cookies but there are other ways of tracking individual browsers so that is not a guarantee for tracking-free browsing.

[1] https://github.com/asciimoo/searx/

[2] https://github.com/asciimoo/searx/wiki/Searx-instances

Re: Chrome 69 will keep Google Cookies when you tell it to delete all cookies

#347
One thing that really surprises me with Google is how some of the old timers there (who very likely aren't constrained by the "I have o make a living" at this point) can still agree to continue working there when they witness what the culture has become.

Re: Chrome 69 will keep Google Cookies when you tell it to delete all cookies

#348
post #62

Seriously don't know why anyone is surprised that a browser built by an ad-tech company pushes the user tracking tech of that company. Just use Firefox and have done with it - there's been a series of these kinds of posts over the last couple of days with people suggesting insane workaround hacks instead of just changing their browser. P.S. if you keep chrome because some websites only work properly there, maybe y'al…

Dropping chrome is not enough. Switch to bing (Just as good as G), or ddg if you really want. Then ditch android which is the spy in your pocket. If you're installing G analytics for clients then choose an alternative (I'm open to suggestions here). It's really time to disentangle ourselves from google. They've quietly and effectively insinuated themselves across the web. Enough is enough.

But Bing is Microsoft. Aren't they evil ? :)

Re: Chrome 69 will keep Google Cookies when you tell it to delete all cookies

#349

Another confirmation that engineers and product developers are no longer in control at Google. Engineering and product first is how Google won the game initially, very easy to forget that when the money rolls in massively and the power structures move away from those driving forces. Microsoft already went through this engineering/product growth to bizdev/marketing control to stagnation and is already in the return to…

Maybe an antitrust break up of Google will be a good thing.

Re: Chrome 69 will keep Google Cookies when you tell it to delete all cookies

#350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also believe most of these topics are just talk. But the point I was making is that whenever someone talks about "I'm leaving Mac for whatever reason" it blows up and everyone and their mom weighs in to give their opinion. It's not uncommon to have these on the frontpage. Why? Because most people use Mac so they have something to say. However when someone says "I am moving away from windows because of X" it never h…

> What about you? You think the opposite? I mostly agree with everything you said. But I speculate, a good collection of today's "chrome leavers" here already use another browser - and are just adding fuel to the fire. Or, they're not actually leaving chrome - just threatening, because they care.

> But I speculate, a good collection of today's "chrome leavers" here already use another browser - and are just adding fuel to the fire.

Haha you got me! I did leave Chrome (for privacy reason) for Firefox. Not during this big debate, but during a previous one (when Firefox came out with the big Quantum update and it started to perform on the same level as Chrome). Though I haven't stated I would leave today.

It's not a big change like migrating to another country. Most plugins have add ons for all big browser platforms. I do think that you'll see a decent amount of people in this discussion on HN change browser. But for Google this is just a blip in the graph.

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