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Chrome client “variations” can be used to identify you (2020)

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Re: Chrome client “variations” can be used to identify you (2020)

#21

Post by ameliaquining »

gorgoiler wrote: post #5

It’s a shame that Chrome turned out to be much more than just the chrome of the browser — the UI components built around the rendering and network engine. I would love to (1) see the two separated and (2) have a much smaller chrome on top. For example, I don’t even need tabs when my WM can handle that stuff for me. I’d also be quite happy for the browser to store no state in between sessions (yet still have the abili…

They already are separated, in the sense that you can, and people do, embed Chromium-powered webviews in custom apps. I don't know if the particular app you're asking for exists, but there's no fundamental reason why it couldn't be built.

(Having to re-log-into everywhere on every new session sounds like a nightmare, though, especially with phone-based 2FA, which unfortunately is still the best that most sites offer.)

Re: Chrome client “variations” can be used to identify you (2020)

#22

Post by pixelgeek »

Barrin92 wrote: post #16
Flankk wrote: post #2

Chrome also syncs your browser history and passwords with their servers. They have your search history. They have your private email. They have your YouTube history. They have your private documents and photos. They run your phone. They possibly run your laptop. I guess my point is it goes far beyond Chrome. Google is running the Borg hive mind.

tbf they're fairly competent with it, I don't think I've ever had anything Google related compromised. I'm honestly not sure what the better solution is. There's a lot of security theater around this where people will de-google their software and then run random binaries compiled by unknown people on the internet instead

> tbf they're fairly competent with it, I don't think I've ever had anything Google related compromised.

It doesn't need to be compromised. The biggest ad and ad tracking company in the world has all that data.

Re: Chrome client “variations” can be used to identify you (2020)

#23

Post by randoglando »

random-string wrote: post #19

This is great and all - but what's the alternative? I've been using Firefox as my primary browser for about 2 years now - and the javascript engine on it has recently... sh*t the bed (I cannot paste links or images into facebook, I cannot paste text with line breaks into twitter, I cannot paste using reddit's "markdownmode"). I use google-chrome for netflix, recently chromium stopped working for netflix (apprently th…

Curious, why isn't Edge an option? It's supposed to be the best alternative right now.

Re: Chrome client “variations” can be used to identify you (2020)

#24

Post by ameliaquining »

jyscao wrote: post #20
shadowgovt wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not familiar with Bitwarden. After a bit of Wikipedia and web search research on them, I'm not sure why I'd trust 8Bit Solutions over Google for storage of my PII. Do they have the resources to keep it secure? What is their incentive structure to do so? What happens if they get bought? Should I be concerned about past errors such as "In March 2018, Bitwarden's web vault was criticized for embedding unconstrained…

Bitwarden uses end-to-end encryption. So you don't have to trust them as much as Google.

Chrome also offers the option to use end-to-end encryption.

Re: Chrome client “variations” can be used to identify you (2020)

#25

Post by userbinator »

randoglando wrote: post #23
random-string wrote: post #19

This is great and all - but what's the alternative? I've been using Firefox as my primary browser for about 2 years now - and the javascript engine on it has recently... sh*t the bed (I cannot paste links or images into facebook, I cannot paste text with line breaks into twitter, I cannot paste using reddit's "markdownmode"). I use google-chrome for netflix, recently chromium stopped working for netflix (apprently th…

Curious, why isn't Edge an option? It's supposed to be the best alternative right now.

My guess is non-Windows user.

Re: Chrome client “variations” can be used to identify you (2020)

#26

Post by ronnier »

random-string wrote: post #19

This is great and all - but what's the alternative? I've been using Firefox as my primary browser for about 2 years now - and the javascript engine on it has recently... sh*t the bed (I cannot paste links or images into facebook, I cannot paste text with line breaks into twitter, I cannot paste using reddit's "markdownmode"). I use google-chrome for netflix, recently chromium stopped working for netflix (apprently th…

I've started using brave. Feels just like chrome and I can use the Chrome extensions. There's settings for everything so you can disable the parts you don't like.

Re: Chrome client “variations” can be used to identify you (2020)

#27

Post by davemtl »

random-string wrote: post #19

This is great and all - but what's the alternative? I've been using Firefox as my primary browser for about 2 years now - and the javascript engine on it has recently... sh*t the bed (I cannot paste links or images into facebook, I cannot paste text with line breaks into twitter, I cannot paste using reddit's "markdownmode"). I use google-chrome for netflix, recently chromium stopped working for netflix (apprently th…

Firefox recently started refusing to render pages for me on some sites, no amount of resetting the profile fixes it.

I'm curious why Edge isn't an option for you? I've started using it recently and so far it's a fairly decent experience. Sure, it's Microsoft and run into the same trust and privacy issues you get with Google Chrome, but that being said, my browsing habits are pretty benign so I just accept it for what it is. Let's be honest, options are slim when choosing a web browser.

Another browser on my radar is Valvadi [https://vivaldi.com/], another Chromium based browser with a ton of bells and whistles, most of which can be turned off. It has very much an Opera vibe.

Re: Chrome client “variations” can be used to identify you (2020)

#28

Post by c0nducktr »

shadowgovt wrote: post #11

Chrome only sends these headers to Google-owned domains. As an attack surface, if you're worried about being spied on by the company that you got your browser from, I'd be more concerned about the closed-source control they have over the code in the browser itself than the unique identifier you're sending to their servers when you use their browser.

Can addons remove these headers? Like say I'm using uBlock Origin, does that do anything?

Re: Chrome client “variations” can be used to identify you (2020)

#29

Post by mshroyer »

Flankk wrote: post #2

Chrome also syncs your browser history and passwords with their servers. They have your search history. They have your private email. They have your YouTube history. They have your private documents and photos. They run your phone. They possibly run your laptop. I guess my point is it goes far beyond Chrome. Google is running the Borg hive mind.

Chrome at least lets you opt into end-to-end encryption of your sync data. Unfortunately that isn't even an option on Edge yet.

Re: Chrome client “variations” can be used to identify you (2020)

#30

Post by jack1243star »

randoglando wrote: post #23
random-string wrote: post #19

This is great and all - but what's the alternative? I've been using Firefox as my primary browser for about 2 years now - and the javascript engine on it has recently... sh*t the bed (I cannot paste links or images into facebook, I cannot paste text with line breaks into twitter, I cannot paste using reddit's "markdownmode"). I use google-chrome for netflix, recently chromium stopped working for netflix (apprently th…

Curious, why isn't Edge an option? It's supposed to be the best alternative right now.

Their terrible advertisement [0] is a major turn-off.

[0]: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/12/microsoft-edge-will-...

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