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

Post by auslander » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 6:14 AM UTC

3pt14159 wrote: post #221

grey-area wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see why they thought this was a good change. It's a good change only if you are permanently logged in to google services, which is probably why it seemed like a great idea to the Chrome team, who probably have no idea how much distrust Google has started to build up. It moves the browser closer to an app runner for google services - I'd understand that if this was on Chrome OS or a specific 'Google' app, but in…

Just use different browsers for different things man, this isn't even hard. I seriously do not understand the outrage over this. Half the websites we visit host their fonts on Google domains, where is the outrage over that?

Post by brokenmachine » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 6:19 AM UTC

hrktb wrote: post #434

Tracist wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you have a checkbox for every possible customisation option, you end up with a commercial airliner cockpit - hundreds of flashing lights and switches, that you need a comprehensive manual and years of experience to properly operate.

I wonder if we’re not already at this point though, and it might not be a bad thing. Not everyone uses a browser the same, but a decent part of people here will spend their working life in the browser. I think for people here it won’t be rare to have dozen of windows with each dozen of tabs, some logged in different acconts within the site they show, some in incognito, some with in developer mode. Even with just the…

Post by claudius » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 6:21 AM UTC

auslander wrote: post #441

3pt14159 wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just use different browsers for different things man, this isn't even hard. I seriously do not understand the outrage over this. Half the websites we visit host their fonts on Google domains, where is the outrage over that?

> Half the websites we visit host their fonts on Google domains, where is the outrage over that? Copy that. Thats a serious privacy leak, Referrers, none of the adblockers handle today.

Post by visarga » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 6:26 AM UTC

colordrops wrote: post #321

ewjordan wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah...and that thread says that the change is basically nothing, just a UI indicator: > Q: I don’t get, though — if you’re signed in to the browser but sync is off, then what does it mean to be signed in to the browser? What does it do besides sync? > A: Not much, you can think of it like a Gmail login state indicator. If that's fully the case, then there's nothing to see here and people are freaking out over nothin…

It's almost a certainty that they will continue down the slippery slope and start syncing data automatically in a future update. That sort of change has happened several times, so there is precedent.

Post by grey-area » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 6:38 AM UTC

torstenvl wrote: post #442

grey-area wrote: post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It all makes sense if the end goal is for the browser to push google login across the web, and make google accounts the preferred way to log in to websites. In that case they're doing you a favour, it's all in your best interests, as well as Google's of course. [/sarcasm] I simply don't trust a single corporation that much.

They are not doing me a favor. Software companies need to stop believing their own paternalistic propaganda. Nobody at Google is in a position to determine whether they are doing me a favor or not.