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Never connect to ProtonMail using Chrome

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Re: Never connect to ProtonMail using Chrome

#61

I just don't understand how so many people in the HN community, who are so vocal about privacy, turn around and use Chrome. Don't feed the beast.

And I don't understand how so many people in the HN community can believe such conspiracy theories about Google and Chrome, what info they collect and how it's used and shared.

AFAICT Google doesn't share any info with 3rd parties unless you sign up with some 3rd party and ask them to share the info. I've never used my Google account to sign up with any 3rd parties.

As for Chrome collecting my history.(a) I want that since I want to be able to search my history across devices. For those rare cases where I don't I use an Incognito window. (b) you can opt out of having Google use your history for ad targeting. https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated

Note that ad targeting does not in any way suggest Google is sharing data. In fact it's in their best interest not to share data. If they share the data then other companies can use that data themselves. If they don't share data then other companies have to go through Google for targeted ads.

Re: Never connect to ProtonMail using Chrome

#62
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been using Firefox since version 1.0. I don't understand the desire to use google's browser. However, why would even trying view secure data in your web-browser... Not even just Chrome. Things may get cached ect... Although, Mozilla has been doing things that I find annoying at times. Like adding pocket ect... Little Rant Although, I have looked at some of the other forks. What I find more depressing is how fe…

I've seen a number of comments about http/2 and http/3 being driven by Google. The ideas originated there (SPDY and QUIC respectively) but in both cases many different entities backed the ideas and formulated specifications in IETF settings. I'm not sure I buy that somehow Google managed to hoodwink the people that toiled on these specifications in a non-Google environment and managed to influence them in such a way…

It's just an example of how much weight Google is able to throw around. That's a just one part of what would be needed for a browser. The more parts you add the harder it becomes to build a browser.

Also I have read about QUIC there are some things that are interesting about it. However, there are things that I don't like.

Moreover, this was something I read from IETF mail archive: "That QUIC isn't yet proven. That's true, but the name won't be formalised or used on the wire until the RFC is published, so we have a good amount of time to back away. Even then, if it fails in the market, we can always skip to HTTP/4 one day, if we need to."[1]

I find that pretty concerning. If it does not pan out we can just skip over. That's still something someone has to implement even it's not used much. I would only be considering things that people in general are eager to use not just a few big companies.

[1] https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/quic/RLRs4nB1lwFCZ_7k0...

Re: Never connect to ProtonMail using Chrome

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen a number of comments about http/2 and http/3 being driven by Google. The ideas originated there (SPDY and QUIC respectively) but in both cases many different entities backed the ideas and formulated specifications in IETF settings. I'm not sure I buy that somehow Google managed to hoodwink the people that toiled on these specifications in a non-Google environment and managed to influence them in such a way…

Cloudflare seem to be big backers of http/3 [1]. Having the second-largest traffic analyzer on board would seem like more of a cautionary negative than a positive to me.

Tinfoil hat off for a second it makes more sense Cloudflare and Google are backing these protocols because they're more efficient which means lower infrastructure costs. They both terminate traffic already so can already see everything regardless of the protocol used.

Re: Never connect to ProtonMail using Chrome

#64

I just don't understand how so many people in the HN community, who are so vocal about privacy, turn around and use Chrome. Don't feed the beast.

And I don't understand how so many people in the HN community can believe such conspiracy theories about Google and Chrome, what info they collect and how it's used and shared. AFAICT Google doesn't share any info with 3rd parties unless you sign up with some 3rd party and ask them to share the info. I've never used my Google account to sign up with any 3rd parties. As for Chrome collecting my history.(a) I want that…

Google is the third party in this case.

Re: Never connect to ProtonMail using Chrome

#65
post #54
post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend to my non-IT friends and family that they should use gmail and chrome because they use Windows and Google's security is fantastic. Sure there is a compromise. Google are using private information for advertising but (1) Google doesn't have a history of sharing PII with third parties and (2) Google are very good at keeping information and passwords secure. Many of my non-tech friends and family use Android…

Have you given Firefox another shot during the past year? I agree that it used to be terrible, (as in bloated and buggy and slow) but the work they've been doing with servo and quantum has really, really paid off. It really is a whole new experience. I don't do webdev, so I can't really comment about that. I agree wrt edge being terrible and not being willing to pay Apple prices.

[deleted]

Re: Never connect to ProtonMail using Chrome

#66

I just don't understand how so many people in the HN community, who are so vocal about privacy, turn around and use Chrome. Don't feed the beast.

Here is an alternative view from Theo De Raadt, OpenBSD founder: “[firefox catching up with chrome’s security] is lipstick on a pig”: https://marc.info/?l=openbsd-misc&m=152872551609819

Re: Never connect to ProtonMail using Chrome

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's the point. The problem here is that we seem ro forget that by using Chrome, Google has direct access to absolutely everything we do on the internet. Go to https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity and you will see all the things they track. It's bizarre. The one that pisses me off the most is that they track the apps that I open by binary name and I own an iPhone and use Safari. I don't even know…

I'm heavily into Google and have 2 Macs and 4 iOS devices all signed in using Google apps. I don't see any iOS app activity in that link you posted except Chrome and Google Maps. Can you tell me where I can find other iOS app activity you mentioned?

They just appear there. In my bundle view I have logs like the following:

"Used com.shazam.Shazam"

"Used com.teamblind.blind"

It seems they log app usage for apps that have some sort of Google SDK installed or are serving Google AdSense. Definitely not all the installed apps, but several.

Re: Never connect to ProtonMail using Chrome

#68
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cloudflare seem to be big backers of http/3 [1]. Having the second-largest traffic analyzer on board would seem like more of a cautionary negative than a positive to me.

Tinfoil hat off for a second it makes more sense Cloudflare and Google are backing these protocols because they're more efficient which means lower infrastructure costs. They both terminate traffic already so can already see everything regardless of the protocol used.

I am not the person you responded to. However, I would only be considering things that people in general are eager to use not just a few big companies. Most users of HTTP have never been too concerned with it's overhead. Except maybe the way cookies have been design. It definitely has problems, but most peoples problems are not googles or cloud flares.

Re: Never connect to ProtonMail using Chrome

#69

I just don't understand how so many people in the HN community, who are so vocal about privacy, turn around and use Chrome. Don't feed the beast.

And I don't understand how so many people in the HN community can believe such conspiracy theories about Google and Chrome, what info they collect and how it's used and shared. AFAICT Google doesn't share any info with 3rd parties unless you sign up with some 3rd party and ask them to share the info. I've never used my Google account to sign up with any 3rd parties. As for Chrome collecting my history.(a) I want that…

It doesn't matter if they're not sharing it with third parties.

If the user in question did not give specific permission for Google to steal their ProtonMail email/s and send them back to Google servers, then that should be a crime. It should be a felony, just as it would be if a Google employee opened or obtained my physical mail without permission, scanned it in some manner, and took it back to their offices.

Re: Never connect to ProtonMail using Chrome

#70
post #46
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is true, but a web browser can't really make those choices without a breaking a lot existing stuff. The big problem is that we keep piling onto HTML, CSS, and JS. For instance if we wanted web apps it would have been better to make something separate. Instead we have taken HTML which was originally just a way of rich text formatting and have made into the beast that it is today.

I wish Google Search would create an HTML5 subset for documents that would boost rankings if used. A good majority of search results I am looking for should be simple single page HTML documents that don't use complex HTML5 features that are needed for web apps. Change ranking, and you give websites the incentive to avoid JavaScript or CSS features that are against the reader's interests.

Last thing we need is google dictating more about the internet.
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