If you're Apple, wanting to kick the Google Chrome web browser for lacking in privacy, while plugging Safari, where would be the best place to do so? On YouTube of course, which is owned by Google's mothership Alphabet.
It's not a bad concept, seagull cameras flapping around, invading people's lives and creating a nuisance. Apple has for some years now decided to champion user privacy in its marketing, which is a lot easier to communicate than the opposite. Which is to turn users into a product that is sold to advertisers and marketers, and which you then have to defend and explain how it sits with your security stance and user protection measures.
Apple touts the following features in Safari that it says Google Chrome doesn't have:
- Fights tracking with machine learning
- Removes unique tackers from URLs in Private Browsing
- Hides your IP address from known trackers
- Prevents web extensions from seeing your browsing by default
- Does not share location data with search engines
- Blocks known trackers in Private browsing
There are other info-sharing oddities as well, as a developer discovered:
So, Google Chrome gives all *.google.com sites full access to system / tab CPU usage, GPU usage, and memory usage. It also gives access to detailed processor information, and provides a logging backchannel.
— Luca Casonato 🏳️🌈 (@lcasdev) July 9, 2024
This API is not exposed to other sites - only to *.google.com.
Online privacy matters, but how much do users care? If web browser market share is a measure of that, not a whole lot. Most Internet metrics companies peg Google Chrome at steady two-third marketshare approximately. That's the "pure version" of Chrome, and there are other browsers built on the open source Chromium engine that it uses, like Microsoft Edge and Opera for example.
Safari comes in at 10 per cent or less for desktop operating systems, and under 20 per cent for mobile. This despite the Webkit-based browser being bundled with Apple's iOS and iPadOS for mobile devices, and macOS for laptops and desktops.
Make of that what you will. Meanwhile, Chrome users can go through the built-in Privacy Guide in the browser, at chrome://settings/privacy/guide (copy that into the URL/website address bar), and take a look.
8 Comments
It rather depends on how much you trust the tech companies - if you want real privacy, get hold of a Pixel phone and de-Google it using the Graphene OS, which is a very pure version of Android: no bloat or spyware. And I do care as being served ads for something I've made an inquiry about on line is just creepy.
It's kind of hilarious that Privacy Badger is blocking the X widget on this page that forms part of the report - on security.
I've got enquires in with several firms - like Air NZ - to see if their apps will work in that installation, as a Pixel phone is pricy if there's a chance of voiding the warranty for less functionality. Alternatively, I'm going to need to run Graphene's sandbox - effectively a quarantine for Google Play apps that have so many built in trackers. So far there's been a lot of silence from the companies I've asked.
That's a yes and no - the older the phone the shorter the support period - one thing Google do well is to supply security and other support for 7 years, so a 5 year old phone doesn't have a lot of support time left. I'd probably go for a 7a, maybe a 6a. The other issue with refurbs is that you might want to be careful to check on what they come installed with.
How does Firefox compare??
One answer
"The reality is both browsers are trying to provide a safe experience online, but Chrome has a poor track record in the privacy department. Chrome collects a ridiculous amount of personal info on every user, including stuff like your location, search history, and visited websites — and they share it, too. That’s why, when you head over to Facebook after searching for something on Chrome, you’ll no doubt see personalized ads relating to your search.
Chrome doesn’t try to hide how much data it collects. Google simply says it’s a way to improve their services, but it seems to me like they’re farming massive amounts of data for marketing and other purposes. You may be somewhat protected from hackers with Chrome, but it seems as if you’re going to be tracked in one way or another"
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