Chrome’s “Topics” advertising system is here, whether you want it or not

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/03/googles-topics-advertising-system-starts-rolling-out-to-chrome-canary/

by yabones • 4 years ago

43 3 4 years ago

metadat• 4 years ago

Unlike other browser companies like Apple and Mozilla, which block third-party cookies outright, Google is one of the world's largest advertising companies. It doesn't want to kill the third-party cookie without first protecting its primary revenue source. Google seems to view user tracking as a mandatory part of Internet usage

Why is tracking considered necessary in order to use the Internet? Fuck this noise.

It's laughable, GChrome used to be amazing but the more I learn about their decisions and plans (like FLoCK and now FLEDGE), the more I'm creeped out, and I'm increasingly uncomfortable it is to continuing using chrome.

Recently I've been defaulting to Safari, and for Android mobile using Brave. These browsers have kept improving over time and today they are actually really nice. About the only thing they can't do is casting.

If I knew a reasonable way of exporting all my saved credentials from chrome into Brave, I'd stop running Google chrome completely.

I appreciate that google has a conflict of interest, often what is best for Google is inherently not so good for respecting end users desire to live their life without personal data being beamed back to the mother ship. This whole thing feels like an abuse of monopoly power.

Is Google big enough that once in awhile they could afford to go all-in on keeping user privacy and trust high at a slight expense? As it stands today, the relationship is one-sided in their favor, so GreedyGoogMonster can go shove it.

u20772• 4 years ago

I currently block all 3rd party cookies and manually add sites I need to an allow list. Once you have your normal logins, it’s not much hassle. Also have UBO installed to nuke everything else. If a site doesn’t load without cookies I don’t use it.

See also, the topics api on GitHub: https://github.com/jkarlin/topics

u20772• 4 years ago

Who on earth allowed Google to control web standards. Privacy invasion as a web standard?! How did the world come to this?

Chrome’s “Topics” advertising system is here, whether you want it or not

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