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Disable Google Chrome Sign In and Sync

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Re: Disable Google Chrome Sign In and Sync

#101

Post by alyandon »

techntoke wrote: post #61
talkingtab wrote: post #57

I tried to install Chromium but don't know how to install my extensions. So the this seems like the best solution for now although I am working to rehabilitate Firefox. Thank you for doing this.

You install extensions the same way with Chromium. I don't understand how this could be hard to figure out.

It can be more difficult than you might think.

About a year ago I installed the chromium package provided by Debian and went to install my favorite set of extensions and kept getting a weird error about not being allowed to install them. Turns out that the Debian package maintainer had decided to build Chromium with a patch that disabled installing extensions unless you pass in a flag on the command line to chromium to re-enable the feature. I found this out not because it was properly documented but instead from a bug report on the Debian bug tracker.

Of course, FireFox on Debian hasn't been similarly modified to disallow installing extensions from AMO.

Re: Disable Google Chrome Sign In and Sync

#102

Post by techntoke »

alyandon wrote: post #101
techntoke wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You install extensions the same way with Chromium. I don't understand how this could be hard to figure out.

It can be more difficult than you might think. About a year ago I installed the chromium package provided by Debian and went to install my favorite set of extensions and kept getting a weird error about not being allowed to install them. Turns out that the Debian package maintainer had decided to build Chromium with a patch that disabled installing extensions unless you pass in a flag on the command line to chromium…

Sounds like poor packaging from Debian. I haven't had any issues on Arch with the following package:

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/chromium-vaapi-bin/

Re: Disable Google Chrome Sign In and Sync

#103

Post by sidko »

Tallain wrote: post #99
reacharavindh wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll add one more to your side note. Please tell your particularly non technical friends and relatives to avoid Google like plague if they care about privacy. Show them how - give a link to Firefox, Privacy badger. A relative of mine who paid $7/month for a VPN service because he cared about his privacy from ISP, but was using Google Chrome and Gmail for sensitive personal Email. Fewer people from the non-engineering…

Do you have any recommendations for a good alternative to Gmail? I've already made the switch away from Chrome, but for some reason my mind blanks on email -- I can only think of Yahoo or Hotmail

Protonmail.

Re: Disable Google Chrome Sign In and Sync

#104

Post by nolok »

daveFNbuck wrote: post #89
jasonkester wrote: post #56

Keep in mind that while everybody here is all outraged about this, nobody else is. Because the experience is so nice. It's the reason why I can search for "prefecture Melun" on my laptop, then jump in the car, open up maps on my phone, Start typing "1" and watch it suggest "12 rue de Gambas, Melun 77320", which happens to be the address of the Melun prefecture. That sort of thing happens for me every day, and i think…

Can you give one example of a convenience you got from being signed in to the Chrome browser? All of your examples would work without that.

Having the same settings/history/bookmarks/extensions shared between my main laptop, my cheapo 10" notebook I use when in on the beach or in a plane etc ..., and my phone.

Being able, in three clicks, to re-open on my computer a tab I closed on my phone a couple hours ago.

For me that's it.

Re: Disable Google Chrome Sign In and Sync

#105

Post by reacharavindh »

Tallain wrote: post #99
reacharavindh wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll add one more to your side note. Please tell your particularly non technical friends and relatives to avoid Google like plague if they care about privacy. Show them how - give a link to Firefox, Privacy badger. A relative of mine who paid $7/month for a VPN service because he cared about his privacy from ISP, but was using Google Chrome and Gmail for sensitive personal Email. Fewer people from the non-engineering…

Do you have any recommendations for a good alternative to Gmail? I've already made the switch away from Chrome, but for some reason my mind blanks on email -- I can only think of Yahoo or Hotmail

My alternative is not free :-( I use FastMail and pay for mine and my wife's accounts. It may not be for everybody, but it is one choice, and I'm a happy customer.

It is by far a "No bullshit" email service. They do one thing, and very well. It's simple, fast and reliable.

Re: Disable Google Chrome Sign In and Sync

#106

Post by jrockway »

reacharavindh wrote: post #71
jasonkester wrote: post #56

Keep in mind that while everybody here is all outraged about this, nobody else is. Because the experience is so nice. It's the reason why I can search for "prefecture Melun" on my laptop, then jump in the car, open up maps on my phone, Start typing "1" and watch it suggest "12 rue de Gambas, Melun 77320", which happens to be the address of the Melun prefecture. That sort of thing happens for me every day, and i think…

The day is not that far, when you look to buy say car insurance, and you get $XYZ as a quote. Your ur friend gets $ABC where $ABC Is there a way you could prevent this? Yes, if you care about privacy and not let someone build that database in the first place. It's not only/always the NSA that we need to worry about.. You can already see this in some sense. A flight ticket could cost more if you look for it using a Ma…

I feel like insurance companies are already doing this in a more transparent way:

https://www.joinroot.com/

If you want the lower rate, you let them track you with the app. If you don't, you call up Geico or whatever and let them decide based on your age and zip code.

Chrome Sync has nothing to do with this.

Re: Disable Google Chrome Sign In and Sync

#107

Post by Tallain »

reacharavindh wrote: post #105
Tallain wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any recommendations for a good alternative to Gmail? I've already made the switch away from Chrome, but for some reason my mind blanks on email -- I can only think of Yahoo or Hotmail

My alternative is not free :-( I use FastMail and pay for mine and my wife's accounts. It may not be for everybody, but it is one choice, and I'm a happy customer. It is by far a "No bullshit" email service. They do one thing, and very well. It's simple, fast and reliable.

I'll give them a look, thanks! It may not be free but it is cheaper than I expected. Looks nice.

Re: Disable Google Chrome Sign In and Sync

#108

Post by dylan604 »

reacharavindh wrote: post #37
newscracker wrote: post #26

Thanks, but no thanks. Ditch Chrome and don’t worry about ugly hacks to remember or bookmark or ask about in the future when they no longer work. Life is too short to put up with such nonsense. There are better alternatives [1] available. P.S.: When you uninstall Chrome on certain platforms, it’ll open your default browser and direct you to a feedback page. Be honest and tell them why, and that you wouldn’t recommend…

I'll add one more to your side note. Please tell your particularly non technical friends and relatives to avoid Google like plague if they care about privacy. Show them how - give a link to Firefox, Privacy badger. A relative of mine who paid $7/month for a VPN service because he cared about his privacy from ISP, but was using Google Chrome and Gmail for sensitive personal Email. Fewer people from the non-engineering…

>Please tell your particularly non technical friends and relatives to avoid Google like plague

For anyone that has never had a conversation like this, you really have to be careful with this and pick your battles wisely. Some people are so non-technical, that they will not understand what you are explaining to them, or why you are even bothering them. You will be perceived as a tinfoil hat wearing conspiracy theorist. Some people will understand what you are explaining and might even understand your stance, but ultimately will still continue in their ways because it's so much easier and convenient.

What ever you do, don't be judgemental about their decision. You will only make them less interested. Start slowly. It can be overwhelming how fubar'd the web experience has become.

Re: Disable Google Chrome Sign In and Sync

#109

Post by hobofan »

savanaly wrote: post #84
hobofan wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What competition? Oh, you mean those companies on the second page of the search results?

Lack of ability for companies to advertise to you seems like a distinct concern from that of how much information they have about you, let's take it one at a time!

> Lack of ability for companies to advertise to you seems like a distinct concern

It's not about "lack of ability to advertise", it's about someone being able to heavily manipulate the perceived availability of competition (which is much more important than the real availability of competition). And that someone is the same someone that helps the companies manipulate the price (hint: it's Google).

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