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Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

thatprivacyguy.com

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Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

#232
post #170

Framing 4GB of data moving in a world of petabytes of traffic as a specific environmental disaster is kind of a stretch, regardless of whether we want the model.

60.000.000 kg ÷ 1.000.000.000 user is about 60 gramms of co2 per user?

Which ullustrates that humanity has reached such numbers that the smallest collective change has an enormous impact.

Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

#233
post #59

Well, npm install … did worse

that's a willing act - you are actively asking npm to download something, and accepting it might be terrible for you.

Here chrome is just installing things behind your back, whether you really want it or not.

Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

#234
How hard would have been to add a simple message, warning people about it and offering to opt out? Most would have clicked OK without reading anyway, and Google could pretend they give a shit about users. Unless they expected blowback, and that kind of message is the "compromise" they want to eventually land on.

Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

#236
post #10

Why use a browser from Google or Microsoft in 2026? Why in the world?

What browsers would you recommend? I use Brave but it's still Chromium under the hood. It's the only one that I never had trouble with adblock though. Also lets me play youtube on mobile when my screen is locked.

Vivaldi - built in ad blocker, the creator is a nice guy, transparent business model. It might be rough around the edges, but it's much better from every alternative imho.

Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

#238
post #16
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Extra power and ram usage without your permission, for example.

Read the article, it's not about that, but a mere 4GB of storage.

4GB of storage is not a “mere” thing, to the contrary.

Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no idea but when I mention Firefox my colleagues under 35 or so literally think I'm joking.

When Google stuffs AI into everything, people shrug. Can't expect anything else from big tech. When Firefox does it, it sparks outrage across the internet, with entire forums filled with people vowing to leave Firefox forever and switching to something like Waterfor or Ilp/Zorp/Floop instead. As a result, searching for experiences other people had with Firefox makes it sound like hell on earth, while people have litt…

> When Google stuffs AI into everything, people shrug. Can't expect anything else from big tech.

Because this is something expected from Google. Google has never committed to security, but Mozilla did.

EDIT: I meant privacy, not security.

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