Google is neutering (among other things) the most effective web spyware blocker. That tells you so much about the motives of a company that once promised to not be evil. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-chrome-warns-ublock-origin-may-soon-be-disabled/

@geomannie @dangillmor

The FBI says, "Use an ad blocking extension when performing internet searches"

https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2022/PSA221221?=8324278624

(Remember "winners don't use drugs?" in video games? The new version should be "winners block search ads")

@dangillmor The ad giant #Google blocking #ublock_origin because it works.

Switch to #Firefox

@odr_k4tana Manifest 3 is designed, in part, to prevent the most effective ad/tracker blockers from working.

@dangillmor

I've used Firefox exclusively now for years, along with uBlock Origin. But I'm forced to use Chrome for Open University online tutorials. The experience makes me feel slightly ill.

@dangillmor Solution? Delete Chrome?

@dangillmor Google, like everyone else, collected more data than they can sell. AI isn't going to help, the storage costs are huge, the data is old, the cost of curating and sifting, storage aside are stupendous.
Fresh data is still (just about) valuable, youbet they don't want adblockers.
Ads are the only market they have for their data now. Nobody else wants it, and only the fresh stuff counts for targetted ads. I don't want the same stuff I wanted a month ago, let alone a year ago.

@dangillmor
short: use firefox or even chromium if compatibility is required.

what i have heard from mozilla and firefox is little sad. mozilla basically takes google's money, and it shows in default firefox. google as a default search engine and some other annoying defaults.

@dangillmor people should come back to Firefox.

@dangillmor that’s not what’s happening, that headline is misleading, and the story explains what’s happening as misleadingly way possible.

Google deprecated an old way of creating extensions, and any extensions using the old way are being warned to update to an extension using the new way.

The old style has been disallowed since 2022. This is the next phase.

I don’t like Google as much as the next guy, but they’re not doing anything bad here.

@dangillmor they do that I'm gone for sure.

@dangillmor They actually switched away from "do not be evil" motto some time ago. Yes, that tells a lot about them :-).

@dangillmor Would it be possible to force Google to continue to allow access to web requests via an EU law? That also worked for Microsoft with the kernel rights (see Crowdstrike).

@dangillmor Maybe an advertising company isn't the best option for a functional monopoly on the search engine we use to find information on the internet, the browser engine we use to render the internet, and mobile device that hold so much personal information

@drsbaitso @dangillmor having an advertiser as an intermediary betwen you and 'data you seek' sure as fuck seems like a conflict of interest

@drsbaitso @dangillmor

Maybe.

How many not-advertising companies can you list?

@lobingera @drsbaitso @dangillmor

https://www.mozilla.org/

@lobingera @drsbaitso @dangillmor nice what aboutism you got there

@sibrosan @lobingera @drsbaitso @dangillmor That'll be the Mozilla that just bought an advertising tech company and makes data collection opt-out.

No thanks. Already deleted.

@acute_distress @drsbaitso @dangillmor

I can somehow understand your comment and yes i agree, it's not helpful to point out, that the situation will not be simply overcome by reducing the impact of Google/Alphabet - which is "too big to care"

@sibrosan @lobingera @drsbaitso @dangillmor Incorrect https://fosstodon.org/@gabrielesvelto/112779517523976541

@dmarti @geomannie @dangillmor Thanks for the FBI link.

@AlfNoProblem @geomannie @dangillmor

you're welcome. Malware operators are getting better at search ads, too, best not to take chances...
https://www.threatdown.com/blog/workersdevbackdoor-and-madmxshell-converge-in-malvertising-campaigns/

@dangillmor Guck Foogle.

@knightlie @lobingera @drsbaitso @dangillmor

Does Firefox collect data to be used for personalized advertising?

Should I be alarmed by anything that is stated on https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/ ?

@sibrosan @knightlie @lobingera @drsbaitso @dangillmor Yes. They call it PPA, which does in fact not preserve privacy

@sibrosan @lobingera @drsbaitso @dangillmor the data is anonymised, but it is opt-out - not a good look for a company claiming to be privacy-focused.

@SiteRelEnby @knightlie @lobingera @drsbaitso @dangillmor

How would this impact my privacy then?

If I understand correctly, it may help advertising companies to find out about the effectiveness of their advertising method, but not about me.

@sibrosan Because it's flawed (as you'd expect anything designed by fucking Facebook to be...).

https://github.com/patcg-individual-drafts/ipa/issues/57