# Google Chrome..uh...yeah. Thought so.



## wallmaxx (Jun 18, 2007)

Can't trust ANY technology if personal privacy is your goal.


http://www.theguardian.com/technolo...g-tool-installed-computers-without-permission



*Google eavesdropping tool installed on computers without permission*

Privacy campaigners and open source developers are up in arms over the secret installing of Google software which is capable of listening in on conversations held in front of a computer.

First spotted by open source developers, the Chromium browser – the open source basis for Google’s Chrome – began remotely installing audio-snooping code that was capable of listening to users.

It was designed to support Chrome’s new “OK, Google” hotword detection – which makes the computer respond when you talk to it – but was installed, and, some users have claimed, it is activated on computers without their permission.

“Without consent, Google’s code had downloaded a black box of code that – according to itself – had turned on the microphone and was actively listening to your room,” said Rick Falkvinge, the Pirate party founder, in a blog post. “Which means that your computer had been stealth configured to send what was being said in your room to somebody else, to a private company in another country, without your consent or knowledge, an audio transmission triggered by … an unknown and unverifiable set of conditions.”

The feature is installed by default as part of Google’s Chrome browser. But open source advocates are up in arms about it also being installed with the open source variant Chromium, because the listening code is considered to be “black box”, not part of the open source audit process.

“We don’t know and can’t know what this black box does,” said Falkvinge.

Opt-in or opt-out

Google responded to complaints via its developer boards. It said: “While we do download the hotword module on startup, we do not activate it unless you opt in to hotwording.”

However, reports from developers indicate otherwise.

After having identified Chromium as the culprit, developer Ofer Zelig said in a blog post: “While I was working I thought ‘I’m noticing that an LED goes on and off, on the corner of my eyesight [webcam]’. And after a few times when it just seemed weird, I sat to watch for it and saw it happening. Every few seconds or so.”

Google also blamed the Linux distribution Debian for downloading the non-open source component with Chromium automatically, rather than Google Chrome.

“The key here is that Chromium is not a Google product. We do not directly distribute it, or make any guarantees with respect to compliance with various open source policies,” Google developer mgiuca said.

Falkvinge countered Google’s explanations saying: “The default install will still wiretap your room without your consent, unless you opt out, and more importantly, know that you need to opt out, which is nowhere a reasonable requirement.” He says a hardware switch to disable the microphone and camera built into most computers is needed.

Voice search functions have become an accepted feature of modern smartphones, but their movement into the home through the smart TV, and now browser, have caused concerns over the possibility of being listened to within the home.

While most services require a user to opt in, privacy advocates have questioned whether their use, which requires sending voice recordings over the internet to company servers for processing, risks unintentionally exposing private conversations held within the home.

A Google spokeswoman said on Wednesday: “We’re sure you’ll be relieved to learn we’re not listening to your conversations – nor do we want to. We’re simply giving Chrome users the ability to search hands free at their computers by saying “OK Google” while on the Google homepage – and only if they choose to opt in to the feature.”

• Samsung’s voice-recording smart TVs breach privacy law, campaigners claim


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

You can still trust Tor, but it automatically makes you a target.


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## madmax718 (Dec 7, 2012)

if people were so concerned with privacy, the'd give up their android and iphones and switch to a blackberry.

Then again, if you care about your privacy, quit posting stuff to FB and twitter.


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## wallmaxx (Jun 18, 2007)

madmax718 said:


> if people were so concerned with privacy, the'd give up their android and iphones and switch to a blackberry.
> 
> Then again, if you care about your privacy, quit posting stuff to FB and twitter.



All technology can be used to locate you.


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## madmax718 (Dec 7, 2012)

it ain't just the cell phone. Its everything. Credit cards too. Why do you think they want us all to stop using cash?


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## Red Adobe (Jul 26, 2008)

I never liked chrome or much anything google.......that being said several browsers are now using the chrome engine from what I gather , even Firefox.

I don't do anything I need to hide but I HATE TARGETED ADDS and being part of the social media directed crowd.


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## carpenter uk (Nov 25, 2009)

I notice the webcam light coming on on one of my pc's overtime i opened chrome so i have a sticker over it now
Its getting ridiculous the amount of spying companies now do


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## gideond (May 17, 2007)

Firefox is not using webkit. Firefox is still Gecko and probably always will be since they invented it way back in the Netscape days. There has been some talk that FF may have to go Webkit for iOS only because they will not allow implementation of Gecko on that platform.


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## Red Adobe (Jul 26, 2008)

gideond said:


> Firefox is not using webkit. Firefox is still Gecko and probably always will be since they invented it way back in the Netscape days. There has been some talk that FF may have to go Webkit for iOS only because they will not allow implementation of Gecko on that platform.


R U Sure?

I stopped upgrades at 30 on FF and i know the stock version has google all embeded in it straight from Mozilla. If you go deep in you can disable most of it but my understanding was newer versions you can't ( not talking about "default search engine" as much as the rest of the add/spy ware


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## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

madmax718 said:


> if you care about your privacy, quit posting stuff to FB and twitter.


Yeah.. it's amazing how much people share about themselves on social media and don't even realize what they are saying or who is reading it.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

I'm at FF 22.0. Starting to have issues with some websites denying me access because it's outdated.

They can try all they want to activate my microphone. My computer doesn't have one. The android on the other hand...


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## RangoWA (Jun 25, 2014)

I mostly use FF (v39 now) and usually use duckduckgo for searches, no tracking. I do use Chromium for a cookie enabled browser so I don't have to keep turning it on and off.

I don't do Face*uck or Titter.


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## VandV225 (Jul 30, 2015)

madmax718 said:


> if people were so concerned with privacy, the'd give up their android and iphones and switch to a blackberry.
> 
> Then again, if you care about your privacy, quit posting stuff to FB and twitter.


This is 100% false and incorrect. Please do not spread FUD.

BB still are just as vulnerable as Android or iOS.

http://www.spiegel.de/international...phones-including-the-blackberry-a-921161.html



> As far back as 2009, the NSA specialists noted that they could "see and read" text messages sent from BlackBerrys, and could also "collect and process BIS mails." BIS stands for BlackBerry Internet Service, which operates outside corporate networks, and which, in contrast to the data passing through internal BlackBerry services (BES), only compresses but does not encrypt data.





> In June 2012, the documents show that the NSA was able to expand its arsenal against BlackBerry. Now they were also listing voice telephony among their "current capabilities," namely the two conventional mobile wireless standards in Europe and the United States, "GSM" and "CDMA."


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