162 lines
10 KiB
HTML
162 lines
10 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
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<head>
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<meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="application/xhtml+xml;charset=utf-8"/>
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<title>Google Chrome — Spyware Watchdog</title>
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="../style.css"/>
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</head>
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<body>
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<div class="case">
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<div class="nav"><a href="index.html">← Catalog</a></div>
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<div class="main">
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<img src="../images/chrome_logo.png" alt="Chrome logo"/>
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<h1>Google Chrome</h1>
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<p>
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Google Chrome is a web browser developed and distributed by <a href="../articles/google.html">Google</a>.
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</p>
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<h2>Spyware Level: <span class="red">EXTREMELY HIGH</span></h2>
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<h3>Google Chrome is not fully open source</h3>
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<p>
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Large parts of Google Chrome are open source, however not all of them are, and this prevents people from
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checking the entire software for potential spyware features that are not disclosed.
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</p>
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<h3>Google Chrome tracks the user's search history</h3>
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<p>
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Google Chrome contains several spyware features that reply on the user's search history being uploaded to Google
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servers. This is confirmed by the language in the privacy policy<sup><a href="#s1">[1]</a></sup>, clarifying the
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spyware features that rely on this.
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</p>
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<p>
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The first spyware feature is Google Chrome's integration with the "Google Account" spyware platform. <i>" If you
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are signed in to a Google site or signed in to Chrome and Google is your default search engine, searches you
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perform using the address bar in Chrome are stored in your Google account. "</i>
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</p>
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<p>
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Google Chrome also contains a spyware feature called "Search prediction service". It is explained that: <i>"When
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you search using the address bar in Chrome, the characters you type (even if you haven’t hit "enter" yet) are
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sent to your default search engine. If Google is your default search engine, predictions are based on your own
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search history, topics related to what you’re typing and what other people are searching for."</i>
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</p>
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<p>
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There is also the spyware feature "Navigation Assistance" which states that: <i>"When you can’t connect to a web
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page, you can get suggestions for alternative pages similar to the one you're trying to reach. In order to
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offer you suggestions, Chrome sends Google the URL of the page you're trying to reach. "</i>
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</p>
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<h3>Google Chrome profiles your computer usage</h3>
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<p>
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In the privacy policy<sup><a href="#s1">[1]</a></sup>, Google details the extreme spyware feature it labels
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"Usage Statistics and Crash Reports". What it does, is it sends very detailed information about your hardware
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and computer usage, which confirms that it definitely contains the following spyware features: </p>
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<ul>
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<li>A tracker that records mouse input over time</li>
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<li>A tracker that profiles memory usage</li>
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</ul>
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<p>
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But, it can also be extrapolated from the vague language that Chrome could and probably does monitor what other
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programs you have open. Either way, it is an extreme amount of information being collected, since it can be used
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to recreate what the user is doing on their desktop at all times. Chrome clarifies that this information is
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being sent whenever a website is being "slow" or whenever Google Chrome crashes.
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</p>
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<h3>Google Chrome is integrated with Google Payments</h3>
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<p>
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Google Payments is a spyware service that records your banking information and sends it to Google.<sup><a
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href="#s2">[2]</a></sup> This service is integrated into the Google Chrome browser, which makes it another
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opt-in spyware feature in the software.
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</p>
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<h3>Google Chrome contains a keylogger</h3>
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<p>
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This was confirmed in multiple places<sup><a href="#s3">[3]</a></sup><sup><a href="#s4">[4]</a></sup>. Basically,
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whenever you type into the search bar, that information is sent to Google. You can apparently turn it off by
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opting out of the "suggestion service".
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</p>
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<h3>Google Chrome records your voice</h3>
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<p>
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Google Chrome is confirmed to be constantly listening to any open microphones on your computer. This can be
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found in this statement<sup><a href="#s5">[5]</a></sup> in a privacy publication. <i>"Voice & audio
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information may be collected. For example, if your child uses audio activation commands (e.g., "OK, Google" or
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touching the microphone icon), a recording of the following speech/audio, <b> plus a few seconds before, </b>
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will be stored to their account…"</i> This feature is opt-in if you are using the "Google Accounts" spyware
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platform and specifically tell Google to build a profile of your child. It's unverified whether or not Google
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uploads information it listens too to its servers outside of this feature.
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</p>
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<h3>Google Chrome saves user passwords on Google Servers</h3>
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<p>
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Any password stored in Google Chrome's "password management" feature is uploaded to Google if you sign into the
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"Google Accounts" spyware platform.
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</p>
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<h3>Google Chrome profiles users in other various ways</h3>
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<p>
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According to the privacy policy<sup><a href="#s1">[1]</a></sup>, Google Chrome profiles what kinds of web forms
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you fill out, as well as what kind of language the content you consume is primarily in. Google Chrome also
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creates a unique identifier for each install you do. This unique identifier is sent to Google whenever you start
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the browser, so that Google can create a consistent user identity for you, undermining anonymity. Google also
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stores all of your settings on it's official servers when using the "Google Accounts" feature.
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</p>
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<h3>Google Chrome is self-updating software</h3>
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<p>
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Google Chrome has an updater which is constantly running in the background and syncing with Google servers to
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check for updates. The updater will download and run unverified binaries from Google when it updates Google
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Chrome. It is impossible for an automatic updater service such as this to verify that the updates are not
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spyware and/or do not contain additional spyware features.
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</p>
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</div>
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<hr>
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<div class="footer">
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<div class="futher">
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<h4>Further Reading:</h4>
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<ol>
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<a href="https://stallman.org/google.html">Reasons not to use Google</a>
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<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180512214729/http://stallman.org/google.html">[web.archive.org]</a>
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<a href="http://archive.is/20170929072403/https://stallman.org/google.html">[archive.is]</a>
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<br/>
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<br/>
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<a href="https://8ch.net/tech/chrome.html">Welcome to the Botnet. Or, The Case Against Google Chrome</a>
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<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150501010435/https://8ch.net/tech/chrome.html">[web.archive.org]</a> <a href="http://archive.is/OR4dz">[archive.is]</a>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<hr>
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<div class="sources">
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<h4>Sources:</h4>
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<ol>
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<li id="s1">
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<a href="https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/privacy/index.html">Google Chrome Privacy Notice</a>
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<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20180427041202/https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/privacy/index.html">[web.archive.org]</a>
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<a href="https://archive.is/GJIKw">[archive.is]</a>
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<a href="https://ghostarchive.org/archive/yCsDg?kreymer=false">[ghostarchive.org]</a>
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</li>
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<li id="s2">
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<a href="https://payments.google.com/payments/apis-secure/get_legal_document?ldo=0&ldt=privacynotice">Google Payments Privacy Notice</a>
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<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180514095832/https://payments.google.com/payments/apis-secure/get_legal_document?ldo=0&ldt=privacynotice">[web.archive.org]</a>
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<a href="https://ghostarchive.org/archive/npMRW?kreymer=false">[ghostarchive.org]</a>
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<li id="s3">
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<a href="http://www.favbrowser.com/google-chrome-spyware-confirmed/">Google Chrome – Spyware? Confirmed?</a>
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<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180410043922/http://www.favbrowser.com/google-chrome-spyware-confirmed/">[web.archive.org]</a>
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<a href="https://archive.li/jxCPf">[archive.li]</a>
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<a href="https://ghostarchive.org/archive/2ybxT">[ghostarchive.org]</a>
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</li>
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<li id="s4">
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<a href="https://jischinger.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/google-chrome-a-keylogger-privacy-concerns/">Google Chrome a Keylogger – Privacy Concerns</a>
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<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180410043922/https://jischinger.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/google-chrome-a-keylogger-privacy-concerns/">[web.archive.org]</a>
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<a href="https://archive.li/HclxK">[archive.li]</a>
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<a href="https://ghostarchive.org/archive/RhY9b">[ghostarchive.org]</a>
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</li>
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<li id="s5">
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<a href="https://families.google.com/familylink/privacy/child-policy/">Privacy Notice for Google Accounts Managed with Family Link (“Privacy Notice”)</a>
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<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180524142231/https://families.google.com/familylink/privacy/child-policy/">[web.archive.org]</a>
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<a href="https://archive.li/3ncnz">[archive.li]</a>
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<a href="https://ghostarchive.org/archive/DSx9S?kreymer=false">[ghostarchive.org]</a>
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</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<hr>
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<b>This article was last edited on 08/17/2021</b>
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<p>If you want to edit this article, or contribute your own article(s), visit us at the git repo on <a href="https://codeberg.org/shadow/SpywareWatchdog">Codeberg</a>.</p>
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<p>All contributions must be licensed under the CC0 license to be accepted.</p>
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<a href="../LICENSE.txt"><img class="icon" src="../images/cc0.png" alt="CC0 License"/></a>
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</div>
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</div>
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</body>
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</html>
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