A lot of people swear by Chrome. To be honest it’s an awesome browser. I have no issues with the speed, in fact it feels faster than Opera which is already pretty damn fast. I don’t have a problem with the minimalist UI or innovative features; I love them. I have a problem with their privacy issues. But there are a few things that make this browser a problem.
What are they tracking?
There are a few metrics which is tracked through Chrome. The eye catching ones:
- Client-ID: unique number to track you
- Timestamp: the exact time the software was installed
- Suggest: information as you type in the address bar is sent back to provide suggestions for search results
- Alternate Error Pages: error pages redirect back to Google servers
- RLZ-Tracking: transmission of encoded information back to Google which is known to include when and where your browser was downloaded, and God knows what else
- Google Updater: quiet little application hanging around on your system for the purpose of “updates”
- URL Tracker
- Error Reporting: details about crashes and failures which may include information about your computer
Fortunately, Client-ID, Suggest, Error Reporting, alternate error pages are possible to disable. The RLZ tracking, timestamp, Updater appear not to be.
Some say…
“Why shouldn’t we trust it?”
“There’s no reason not to trust it.”
“Oh, just use Chromium and you’ve got nothing to fear.”
“They release source code, so why would they put in tracking code?”
Back when Google Chrome browser was released, there was a stifling statement in their End User License Agreement (EULA):
By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.
This has since been redacted. Google claimed it was a copy and paste error from a EULA of another product. In my eyes, more legal and publicity team babble trying to cover up the mistake, test the user populace’s intelligence, or to see if we’re awake. But this is now a splinter which sticks out in my mind. A reason to be more skeptical and objective, not a reason to put blind trust in a company which is taking over the web. The web seems to have this innate protection which the legal and regulatory systems have not fully caught up to yet.
What is Chromium, how does it relate to Chrome?
Chromium is the open source web browser project from the developers at Google under BSD license. Chrome is developed from that. Keep that in mind, the order is important.
There is a subtle nuance which could be considered sneaky. The code is available as Chromium and is available to the public. Google then takes this code, updates, modifies, compiles and distributes under the Chrome name. Under the BSD License, they only need to include a reference to a copyright notice. This source code for “Chrome” isn’t available anywhere and under the BSD license which allows open and closed versions, means they don’t need to release it to anyone.
Users are led to believe that because the source code is available it’s trustworthy and that the code has been audited by an objective party.
Introducing the Alternatives
Luckily we have diligent and knowledgeable communities working to leverage the power of open source and the wonderful project of Chromium. I am glad that as users, we are given choices which keep the marketplace competitive and healthy.
- SRWare Iron, a great alternative which removes every tracking “feature” in Chrome that may be used to track you online. Apparently they even have support for Mac OS X and Linux
- Comodo Dragon. Still in Alpha (Download), test at your own risk. Claim to remove most of Chrome’s tracking features (Release Notes, must be logged into their forum)
- UnChrome, removes the unique Client-ID
- Other popular non Chromium based browsers, the Usual Suspects: Opera, Firefox, Safari.
I urge all readers to please remain skeptical. Just because these programs claim to be on your side, it may not necessarily be so. Exercise your own judgement!
Related posts:
Google Chrome Alternatives
A lot of people swear by Chrome. To be honest it’s an awesome browser. I have no issues with the speed, in fact it feels faster than Opera which is already pretty damn fast. I don’t have a problem with the minimalist UI or innovative features; I love them. I have a problem with their privacy issues. But there are a few things that make this browser a problem.
What are they tracking?
There are a few metrics which is tracked through Chrome. The eye catching ones:
Fortunately, Client-ID, Suggest, Error Reporting, alternate error pages are possible to disable. The RLZ tracking, timestamp, Updater appear not to be.
Some say…
“Why shouldn’t we trust it?”
“There’s no reason not to trust it.”
“Oh, just use Chromium and you’ve got nothing to fear.”
“They release source code, so why would they put in tracking code?”
Back when Google Chrome browser was released, there was a stifling statement in their End User License Agreement (EULA):
This has since been redacted. Google claimed it was a copy and paste error from a EULA of another product. In my eyes, more legal and publicity team babble trying to cover up the mistake, test the user populace’s intelligence, or to see if we’re awake. But this is now a splinter which sticks out in my mind. A reason to be more skeptical and objective, not a reason to put blind trust in a company which is taking over the web. The web seems to have this innate protection which the legal and regulatory systems have not fully caught up to yet.
What is Chromium, how does it relate to Chrome?
Chromium is the open source web browser project from the developers at Google under BSD license. Chrome is developed from that. Keep that in mind, the order is important.
There is a subtle nuance which could be considered sneaky. The code is available as Chromium and is available to the public. Google then takes this code, updates, modifies, compiles and distributes under the Chrome name. Under the BSD License, they only need to include a reference to a copyright notice. This source code for “Chrome” isn’t available anywhere and under the BSD license which allows open and closed versions, means they don’t need to release it to anyone.
Users are led to believe that because the source code is available it’s trustworthy and that the code has been audited by an objective party.
Introducing the Alternatives
Luckily we have diligent and knowledgeable communities working to leverage the power of open source and the wonderful project of Chromium. I am glad that as users, we are given choices which keep the marketplace competitive and healthy.
I urge all readers to please remain skeptical. Just because these programs claim to be on your side, it may not necessarily be so. Exercise your own judgement!
Related posts: