I must be dense but I never see the `x-client-data` header in the request headers of the network tab in developer tools.
I just tried it now on google.com, and it sent it in 6 requests. You can ctrl+f in developer tools in Chrome.
Google tracks individual users per Chrome installation ID
381–390 of 642 posts
Re: Google tracks individual users per Chrome installation ID
#382Bypassing CORS checks by "hiding" X-Client-Data: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/f3ceca9d0fd...
Re: Google tracks individual users per Chrome installation ID
#383Earlier quoted context omitted.
To my knowledge Google still hasn't done anything comparable to the worst offenses of Microsoft in its prime. These "tests" don't really help though.
Eh. One of the things Microsoft was actually punished for was bundling IE, and it didn't help that they were actually hostile to other browsers as proven by the fact that their documentation pages would work if Opera faked the IE headers. Googles pushing of Chrome and disregard for other browsers across their web properties comes dangerously close in my opinion.
I think that Googles' push is even worse. Just think about how many possible devices Microsoft could target back in the days. 300-500 million devices maybe?
Google not only invaded desktops in the past decades, but completely owns the Android platform, which comes bundled with Chrome and Google as the primary search engine. Desktops with Chrome plus the Android platform must be far more than 2-3 billion devices.
Re: Google tracks individual users per Chrome installation ID
#384Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Linking that browser ID to a personal account is trivial as soon as someone logs in to any Google service. Wat? You mean to tell me they can identify you if you log into their service? Am I missing something here? Who cares?
I care. I care that I even if I log off, even if I use a vpn, even if I go into incognito mode, they still can associate my requests with the account I initially logged in.
I believe someone else in the thread stated it's cleared for incognito, don't remember if they meant it's not sent or that it's a new value.
Re: Google tracks individual users per Chrome installation ID
#385Earlier quoted context omitted.
No, it's what unethical A/B testing is.
" involuntary, unpaid guinea pigs. No consent. No opt-out" That sounds like all A/B testing...
That sounds like all A/B testing...
In the tech world, maybe. But not in the real world.
For example, one of the colleges I went to was in an area with a lot of pharmaceutical companies. My friends would A/B test drugs for the companies. They made enough money to pay for college. But it was all completely consensual, with contracts and disclosures, etc...
Companies in the increasingly morally bankrupt SV bubble just test on people without letting them know about it. That's the problem.
Re: Google tracks individual users per Chrome installation ID
#386Just ask: why does an advertising company make a browser?
so that you don't have to pay royalties to other browsers for being the main search engine. I mean you have to pay one less. And if you have the most used browser, you save a lot.
In the good old days everyone and their grandmother just sideloaded their malware toolbars with freeware crap like picasa or maps or outright bundled their bloatware with the system like Google still does for Android.
Re: Google tracks individual users per Chrome installation ID
#387I don't understand why Google and some other tech companies use their users as involuntary, unpaid guinea pigs. No consent. No opt-out. What's the motivation? Is it simple laziness because they don't want to deal with wetware? Is it afraid that if people knew what was happening they wouldn't be happy? Google has eighty brazillion employees it can test new features on.
Bias up front: I work at Google but am not speaking for Google. > involuntary, unpaid guinea pigs. I don't see how this is involuntary. You are choosing to use the product. If you choose to use the product, yes, you may be exposed to features that the product has. If you don't want to be exposed to those features, the way to opt out is to not use the product. > What's the motivation? It lets the company incrementally…
I don't see how this is involuntary. You are choosing to use the product
It's involuntary because it's not informed consent. Google doesn't tell people up front or in any meaningful way that this is happening.
That's like saying "Oh, that steak was covered in the chef's experimental hot sauce that we didn't list on the menu? Well, too bad, you chose to come to this restaurant."
Re: Google tracks individual users per Chrome installation ID
#388Earlier quoted context omitted.
Microsoft Vista was a Windows 7 beta, and was "necessary" to basically experiment on the entire Home market, to make the product stable enough for enterprise. Although Window 7 may have been one of the most complex software deployments in history, needing to support decades of poorly written drivers, while making the system both stable and compatible.
>Microsoft Vista was a Windows 7 beta, and was "necessary" to basically experiment on the entire Home market, to make the product stable enough for enterprise. That claim is directly contradicted by the fact that there's Windows Vista enterprise edition[1]. Vista is also supported for a full 10 years just like 7, which would be strange for something that was supposed to be an "experiment". [1] https://en.wikipedia.or…
most enterprises skipped it.
Re: Google tracks individual users per Chrome installation ID
#389I must be dense but I never see the `x-client-data` header in the request headers of the network tab in developer tools.
I just tried it now on google.com, and it sent it in 6 requests. You can ctrl+f in developer tools in Chrome.
I think extensions can filter out the x-client-data header, though Google should definitely make this data collection opt-in.
GDPR is very clear about this data being personal information [1], since Google has access to the IP address on the receiving end, which has been repeatedly tested in courts as being personal data.
Google is engaging in personal data harvesting without user consent and control, and no amount of mental gymnastics presented in their privacy whitepaper [2] will save them in courts.
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/refo...
[2] https://www.google.com/chrome/privacy/whitepaper.html#variat...
Re: Google tracks individual users per Chrome installation ID
#390Is this at the "Chrome" level, or baked in at the "Chromuim" level? And therefore also an issue for Brave, Opera, Vivaldi, new-Edge, and anything else jumping on the browser engine monoculture?
I don't see it in Brave