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Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

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Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#121

Post by yobuko »

I see a lot of comments on HN and other sites which could be summarized as whatabout-ism or defending the changes on the premise that "I know someone|people that will welcome this change."

The problem is that I can't help shaking the feeling that those comments are either written by people who do not consider privacy to be a right, or fail to understand GDPR, or are Google paid shills / fanatics.

Ultimately the changes represent dark patterns and I fear the worst is yet to come for the darling browser of the web. Someone somewhere at Google made the decision to turn Google Chrome in to AOL v2.

I take solace in the fact that AOL's walled garden approach ultimately failed.

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#122

Post by fjsolwmv »

redm wrote: post #28
Analemma_ wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don’t understand why the Chrome team is picking this hill to die on Because they’re not “dying on a hill” at all, because nobody cares. Nobody outside Hacker News and Twitter infosec people only followed by other Twitter infosec people cares about this. > I really expect this change to push a lot of people away from chrome Care to bet on that? Because I would happily take the opposite side of that bet. I think th…

Maybe not in a few months, but things like this are funny. People who were looking for a reason to leave Chrome may use this to justify it, and while it may be a small audience, small audiences can be trendsetters, especially if they are passionate. Much like the slide from IE and FireFox to Chrome, by the time Mozilla and Microsoft reacted, it was already too late. Time will tell if this is the start of such a momen…

10+ years ago, techies were the trendsetters in computer technology, because computers were hard to use.

Now computers are easy to use, and the massmarket does not need to rely on techies for guidance, and non -techies can be early adopters. The general public relies on mainstream popular culture / fashion influencers.

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#123

Post by throwawaymath »

landr0id wrote: post #86
fladrif wrote: post #81

This is the second time I've seen the reference to Chrome being the most secure browser. What's that based on?

Exploit prices and complexity usually accurately reflect the security of a product when compared to their competitors. Take a look at how much Zerodium pays for full-chain exploits here: https://zerodium.com/program.html $250,000 - Chrome RCE + SBX (Windows) including a sandbox escape (previously: $150,000) Whereas it's up to $100k for Edge RCE+SBX, $80k for Firefox RCE+SBX You obviously need to factor in other thing…

Adding to this comment, see prices for 2018's Pwn2Own contest [1], for which Google Chrome has a 50% premium over Firefox and Safari. The Chromium bug bounty [2] is also the most accessible in terms of documentation and requirements; likewise it has the lowest floor and highest ceiling on potential payouts.

______________________

1. https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/Pwn2Own2018Rules.html

2. https://www.google.com/about/appsecurity/chrome-rewards/

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#125

Post by bepotts »

kowdermeister wrote: post #57
faragon wrote: post #5

Please, Google, fix those mistakes soon, and avoid a PR fiasco.

Nobody really cares outside this tech bubble. There won't be a PR fiasco, because it's hard to explain why it's bad for a non techie end user. "Google simplifies the login experience in Chrome", is essentially what's happening here and it's far from obvious how to sell it as a doomsday scenario as I read the mood correctly of many HN users.

Maybe I'm just crazy, but if I didn't like Google Chrome (or if I was a privacy hawk), I wouldn't use Google products. Why do so many people complain about "privacy" and still use Google products?

The people who think they can speak for their parents or the less technically inclined are being too presumptuous in my opinion. YOU may have a problem with these methods, but not everyone does. Heck, there's people as technical as you that still don't have a problem with it.

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#127

Post by throwawaymath »

reificator wrote: post #115
amdelamar wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but my parents _understand_ Facebook collects/sells their data. But they don't _care_ enough to stop using Facebook.

They may understand it on a superficial level, but do they understand it on a practical one? Everyone "understands" that Facebook collects user data. It's the contextual understanding that makes techies uneasy.

What you're saying is a pretty condescending way to treat other people's opinions. You're essentially questioning whether or not they really understand (complete with scare quotes) if they don't share your opinion.

It's not the "contextual understanding" - or any kind of understanding - that makes some techies uneasy. It's their own opinions and personal comfortability with regard to data monetization. Many people understand their data is monetized in myriad ways and fully don't care. Asking if they actually understand is only going to patronize them.

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#128

Post by user812 »

drusepth wrote: post #34
Analemma_ wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don’t understand why the Chrome team is picking this hill to die on Because they’re not “dying on a hill” at all, because nobody cares. Nobody outside Hacker News and Twitter infosec people only followed by other Twitter infosec people cares about this. > I really expect this change to push a lot of people away from chrome Care to bet on that? Because I would happily take the opposite side of that bet. I think th…

>Because they’re not “dying on a hill” at all, because nobody cares. Nobody outside Hacker News and Twitter infosec people only followed by other Twitter infosec people cares about this. Ever since I updated to 69 I've been absolutely loving it. The most noticeable improvement is it feeling incredibly faster, but as someone who's been using 4-5 profiles on Chrome for over a year the new user management stuff just fee…

I wrote elsewhere that Chrome 69 marks a big change for the browser world.

Chrome 69 is simply the best. Not for me, but for the average user. The reading and work flow is incredible for casual browsing.

The negative reaction on HN is understandable, but it's not relevant for most people.

The goal of Google is merging the user experience of Android, Chrome, Google search and personal Google accounts into one, and it will get increasingly difficult for users to get out of this ecosystem.

Re: Am I logged in or not? GDPR case study on the example of Chrome browser change

#130

Post by ceejayoz »

hetspookjee wrote: post #105
davb wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could support both use cases by popping up a dialog on sign-in to a Google web property: "You're signing into Gmail. Would you like to link Chrome to joebloggs@gmail.com? This will enable automatic notifications in Gmail, sync passwords and web history, and also automatically log into other Google websites when you visit them". "Yes / No / No, and don't ask again"

Excuse my cynism but the options would be: "Yes / Ask again later"

Email harvesting on ecommerce sites have moved on from that to "Yes / I am an evil puppy hater and eat children for breakfast" sort of copy.
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