Technology

59534 readers

3196 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

Follow the lemmy.world rules.
Only tech related content.
Be excellent to each another!
Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
Politics threads may be removed.
No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 1 year ago

MODERATORS

1531

Google Chrome ships a default, hidden extension that allows code on *.google.com access to private APIs, including your current CPU usage (fedi.simonwillison.net)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by Andromxda@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/technology@lemmy.world

199 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/23752739

https://simonwillison.net/2024/Jul/9/hangout_servicesthunkjs/

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] VelvetStorm@lemmy.world 17 points 4 months ago (16 children)

Can someone explain this to me like I'm 5. I understand it's not good but I don't know why and I would like to understand it.

[–] JustARegularNerd@lemmy.world 54 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (15 children)

Effectively Google has a browser extension (just like the ones you'd install from the Chrome Web Store like uBlock Origin) that comes with the browser that's hidden.

This extension allows Google to see additional information about your computer that extensions and websites don't normally have access to, such as checking how much load your PC has or directly handing over hardware information like the make and model of your professor.

The big concern in the comments is that this could be used for fingerprinting your browser, even in Incognito mode.

What this essentially means is that even though the browser may not have any cookies saved or any other usual tracking methods, your browser can still be recognised by how it behaves on your machine in particular, and this hidden extension allows Google to retrieve additional information to further narrow down your browser and therefore who you are (as they can link this behaviour and data to when you've used Google with that browser signed in), even in Incognito mode.

[–] dan@upvote.au 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

even in Incognito mode.

I thought extensions don't run in incognito mode?

I know Firefox doesn't run them by default - you can specify which extensions you'd like to run in incognito mode.

[–] griD@feddit.org 2 points 4 months ago

I tested it with a stock install of chrome/windows 11. Works.

load more comments (1 replies)

load more comments (13 replies)