Do coast to coast am listener trust Google Chrome

[Taridb]

Hi

It,s true that coast to coast am listener tend to be conspiracy minded (I am) and I was wondering if you guys trusted Google Chrome. I finally gave a shot the browser as it has been recommended to me so many times but can't help feeling uneasy. A quick research on the net points to many privacy concerns about it.

What do you think?

[Yorkshire pud]

I use it, but accept they save everything I look for and at. If you use Gmail (I don't), that's saved too, but then so does every other e mail provider. Nothing is really secure on the net.

Typewriters are allegedly making a comeback with the German security services because they don't trust the NSA to not spy on them..

[Gd5150]

If you use Gmail (I don't), that's saved too, but then so does every other e mail provider.

Shame w'all can't register email addys @irs.gov Then we'd have plenty of privacy as they apparently don't save anything. Typewriters rock!

[VtaGeezer]

I think all browser developers now follow the Google model of snagging and selling every fragment of data they can glean on users.  It sucks and is outrageous, but people it shrug off, our lawmakers have allowed it, and surveillance agencies are in eavesdropper heaven.  I can only imagine the public reaction if in 1958 it was discovered that Ma Bell recorded the contact info and contents every call made, and extracted all marketable data.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

I can only imagine the public reaction if in 1958 it was discovered that Ma Bell recorded the contact info and contents every call made, and extracted all marketable data.

If it had been technologically feasible, you can bet they would have done it. 

http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/ccManager/clips/the-presidents-analyst-explains-why-the-phone-company-had-to-be-broken-up/view

[Taridb]

Do you guys use Google Chrome or if not what else do you use?

Technically speaking I think Chrome is very good, I mean it's very fast and responsive there is no denying that.

[analog kid]

I think all browser developers now follow the Google model of snagging and selling every fragment of data they can glean on users.  It sucks and is outrageous, but people it shrug off, our lawmakers have allowed it, and surveillance agencies are in eavesdropper heaven.  I can only imagine the public reaction if in 1958 it was discovered that Ma Bell recorded the contact info and contents every call made, and extracted all marketable data.

Before Prism, it was room 641A, before 641A it was Redhook and DCSNet, before those two the failed Trailblazer Project, then it was Stellar Wind, before Stellar Wind it was ThinThread, before Thinthread is was Carnivore, before Carnivore it was PROMIS and Main Core, before, during and after it was ECHELON, before that it was MINARET and SHAMROCK and don't forget good ol' fashioned surveying, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting with CoIntelPro (circa 1956-1971).

edit: on review, this is only slightly relevant, I guess.

[Kelt]

Do you guys use Google Chrome or if not what else do you use?

Technically speaking I think Chrome is very good, I mean it's very fast and responsive there is no denying that.

Chrome as default.

Tor for questionable stuff.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

It,s true that coast to coast am listener tend to be conspiracy minded (I am) and I was wondering if you guys trusted Google Chrome. I finally gave a shot the browser as it has been recommended to me so many times but can't help feeling uneasy. A quick research on the net points to many privacy concerns about it.

I can't for the life of me imagine why ANYONE uses Google Chrome.  It is the equivalent of yanking down your pants, grabbing your ankles, and walking backwards into prison.  It's like hiring Jerry Sandusky to babysit your son.  There isn't any excuse in this day and age for not knowing what an enormously unethical company Google is become and resisting them at every opportunity. 

[Kelt]

I can't for the life of me imagine why ANYONE uses Google Chrome.  It is the equivalent of yanking down your pants, grabbing your ankles, and walking backwards into prison.  It's like hiring Jerry Sandusky to babysit your son.  There isn't any excuse in this day and age for not knowing what an enormously unethical company Google is become and resisting them at every opportunity.

[/b]


If ethics were any reason to stop using a company's product you'd be lucky if you could eat or pull on a pair of underpants.

[VtaGeezer]

Chrome as default.

Tor for questionable stuff.

So, Jamal, is it true they really can't track you on Tor?

[Kelt]

'They' can track pretty much anything they want to track, including Tor users.

But then again, you can still get pregnant even if you use birth control.

Nothing's foolproof, but that's no reason not to use protection.

[eddie dean]

I can't for the life of me imagine why ANYONE uses Google Chrome.  It is the equivalent of yanking down your pants, grabbing your ankles, and walking backwards into prison.  It's like hiring Jerry Sandusky to babysit your son.  There isn't any excuse in this day and age for not knowing what an enormously unethical company Google is become and resisting them at every opportunity.

What do you use then?

I like chrome. I switched away from IE a few years ago due to the security holes I kept hearing about. It sucks google saves/tracks/sells user's info, but, as someone else mentioned, what company that distributes free software doesn't track these days. I fucking hate it, but what can a person do, other than stop using the web.

[b_dubb]

firefub.  what fucking planet have you guys been living on? sheesh

[PB the Deplorable]

I can't for the life of me imagine why ANYONE uses Google Chrome.  It is the equivalent of yanking down your pants, grabbing your ankles, and walking backwards into prison.  It's like hiring Jerry Sandusky to babysit your son.  There isn't any excuse in this day and age for not knowing what an enormously unethical company Google is become and resisting them at every opportunity.

Their motto 'Don't be evil' was a dead giveaway

[zeebo]

firefub.  what fucking planet have you guys been living on? sheesh

firefub's security is so bad no hacker would bother with it, there's no challenge, so actually it's awesome ...  plus, has those free goatse bookmarks included.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

but, as someone else mentioned, what company that distributes free software doesn't track these days.

And god knows, we all HAVE to use that free software.  If only things were different...

I fucking hate it, but what can a person do, other than stop using the web.

Now THAT'S the American fighting spirit!  In the face of adversity against evil...give up!

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

If ethics were any reason to stop using a company's product you'd be lucky if you could eat or pull on a pair of underpants.

A silly generalization.  If ethics were irrelevant, no one would care about monopolies.

[Taridb]

Microsoft, Google and Apple pretty much control the web. Avoiding those basically means avoiding most of the web and falling in the margin. Now some people claims that Google is ''worst'' than the others, and that's concerning but how do we know it's true?

Choosing the right browser than becomes a matter of who do we trust the most, or should I say trust the least so not to use it.

I used to be a Firefox user, it's an open-source product and it doesn't seem to be ideologically motivated in mining your data. But again who really knows? We have to take their words for it. And there is the fact that the browser is crashing a lot for some reason. That's why I decided to give a shot at Chrome.

Opera is another browser I tried in the past. It's a closed-source compagny somehwere in Norway. Not sure I should trust it more than the others.

[eddie dean]

And god knows, we all HAVE to use that free software.  If only things were different...

Now THAT'S the American fighting spirit!  In the face of adversity against evil...give up!

How wonderful for you to act like a sarcastic douche on the internet.
Never miss an opportunity to belittle your fellow bellgabbers.

[Kelt]

A silly generalization.  If ethics were irrelevant, no one would care about monopolies.

Lol.

[Morgus]

I use Firefox on my desktop PC and I use Dolphin browser app in my Samsung Galaxy S4.

[phrodo]

I use Firefox with Ghostery, NoScrpt and Adblock Plus - and scan weekly with AVG and Spybot. I wouldn't use IE or Chrome if they paid me.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

How wonderful for you to act like a sarcastic douche on the internet.
Never miss an opportunity to belittle your fellow bellgabbers.

Did you find my words offensive?  I was attacking the ideas, not the person.  Isn't that the point of discussion and debate?

I find the ideas you expressed to be extremely offensive.  There's a significant segment of the population that thinks just like that.  Look at all the free shit I can get!  It's really awful about what they're doing with the spying and information stealing, but...look at all this free shit!  If it was limited to people who think that way, it wouldn't bother me as much.  But people with that kind of submissive, sheep-like mentality of exchanging their freedom for a doggie treat drag the rest of us along with them.  Everything is changing to a model where you can be monitored and tracked for every fuckin moment of your life, through your smart phone, through your TV, through the appliances in your home.  Not surprisingly, the people with the power are pushing things that way.  You won't be able to operate a car, use a thermostat, or watch the fuckin TV without doing it through a monitoring and tracking device.  Because of the sheep people, there won't be an alternative.  The rest of us will not have a choice in the matter.

Your "argument" that nothing can be done isn't really an argument at all.  It's submission.  It's that moment in Charlotte's Web where there's a hole in the fence and yet none of the animals will escape the confines of the farm.  Freedom, there lies the way!  And yet...it means giving up all that free shit.  Free food, shelter, and care.  Even though they are fully aware that it means ending up as the main course one day, that day is in the future.  Right now...free shit!  Did I mention that some of these animals are sheep?  Actually, they're all sheep, in a way.

Your comments aside, none of the monitoring and tracking we are experiencing is "inevitable" unless we agree to have it that way.  Excuse me, unless the mass of sheep people puts enough momentum behind it to overcome the opposition of those who prefer a life of freedom to ending up on the dinner plate. 

You think my words are offensive?  In a few days, your butthurt will have subsided, and nobody will even remember them.  The ideas of capitulation to evil that you expressed will shape the fabric of society for generations to come.  Judge for yourself which are more worthy of complaint.

[VtaGeezer]

What ever you choose, be sure to download a clean install file directly from the developer's server.  I got Chrome from a 3rd party site that had loaded it up with a bunch of parasite programs that were a PITA to get rid of.

[wr250]

There's a significant segment of the population that thinks just like that.  Look at all the free shit I can get!  It's really awful about what they're doing with the spying and information stealing, but...look at all this free shit!

from the windows 8/8.1 EULA:
Does the software collect my personal information? If you connect your computer to the Internet,
some features of the software may connect to Microsoft or service provider computer systems to send or
receive information, including personal information. You may not always receive a separate notice when
they connect. If you choose to use any of these features, you agree to send or receive this information
when using that feature. Many of these features can be switched off or you can choose not to use them.
How do we use your information? Microsoft uses the information it collects through the software
features to upgrade or fix the software and otherwise improve our products and services. In certain
circumstances, we also share it with others. For example, we share error reports with relevant hardware
and software vendors, so that they can use the information to improve how their products run with
Microsoft products. You agree that we may use and disclose the information as described in our Privacy
Statement, at go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=190175.

link:
http://download.microsoft.com/Documents/UseTerms/Windows_8_English_ca383862-45cf-467e-97d3-386e0e0260a6.pdf

last i knew windows is not free.so paid applications are not immune to spying/stealing .

If it was limited to people who think that way, it wouldn't bother me as much.  But people with that kind of submissive, sheep-like mentality of exchanging their freedom for a doggie treat drag the rest of us along with them.  Everything is changing to a model where you can be monitored and tracked for every fuckin moment of your life, through your smart phone, through your TV, through the appliances in your home.  Not surprisingly, the people with the power are pushing things that way.  You won't be able to operate a car, use a thermostat, or watch the fuckin TV without doing it through a monitoring and tracking device.  Because of the sheep people, there won't be an alternative.  The rest of us will not have a choice in the matter.

Your "argument" that nothing can be done isn't really an argument at all.  It's submission.  It's that moment in Charlotte's Web where there's a hole in the fence and yet none of the animals will escape the confines of the farm.  Freedom, there lies the way!  And yet...it means giving up all that free shit.  Free food, shelter, and care.  Even though they are fully aware that it means ending up as the main course one day, that day is in the future.  Right now...free shit!  Did I mention that some of these animals are sheep?  Actually, they're all sheep, in a way.

Your comments aside, none of the monitoring and tracking we are experiencing is "inevitable" unless we agree to have it that way.  Excuse me, unless the mass of sheep people puts enough momentum behind it to overcome the opposition of those who prefer a life of freedom to ending up on the dinner plate. 

You think my words are offensive?  In a few days, your butthurt will have subsided, and nobody will even remember them.  The ideas of capitulation to evil that you expressed will shape the fabric of society for generations to come.  Judge for yourself which are more worthy of complaint.

sorry, we agree to "have it that way" . you may not like it, but you too have agreed to "have it that way" .
by signing up for electrical service, part of the contract to have the service is they may in the  future monitor your usage for their purposes. also in most if not all cities/towns you are required by law to have the service (with certain exceptions such as shutoff due to maintenance, repairs, natural or man made disasters, or non-payment).
you agree to "have it that way" if your run :
microsoft windows
microsoft office
android
IOS
mac osx
adobe products
many games (license check anyone?)
etc etc etc.
paid software does not mean it doesn't have monitoring and tracking built in.

thus i run debian. by default there is no non-open source software, or software that tracks or monitors you for marketing or 3rd party use. there is 1 item that reports back to the debian developers, and it is explained with the option to opt out during the install procedure. its called "popularity contest"  and it sends back non-identifying stats back to debian.
you cannot legally opt out of $micro$ofts EULA, and still run $micro$oft$ products.

[eddie dean]

Did you find my words offensive? 

Not offended. From my perspective, you decided to answer my direct, earnest question " What (browser) do you use" in a way that was dripping with contempt and sarcasm.  It seems to be your default tactic for making a point.

I was attacking the ideas, not the person.  Isn't that the point of discussion and debate?

If I misread you comment as attacking me personally, I apologise.

I find the ideas you expressed to be extremely offensive.  There's a significant segment of the population that thinks just like that.  Look at all the free shit I can get!  It's really awful about what they're doing with the spying and information stealing, but...look at all this free shit!  If it was limited to people who think that way, it wouldn't bother me as much.  But people with that kind of submissive, sheep-like mentality of exchanging their freedom for a doggie treat drag the rest of us along with them.  Everything is changing to a model where you can be monitored and tracked for every fuckin moment of your life, through your smart phone, through your TV, through the appliances in your home.  Not surprisingly, the people with the power are pushing things that way.  You won't be able to operate a car, use a thermostat, or watch the fuckin TV without doing it through a monitoring and tracking device.  Because of the sheep people, there won't be an alternative.  The rest of us will not have a choice in the matter.

If your initial reply was this ^^, I'd have responded much differently due to knowing what your position is.

Your "argument" that nothing can be done isn't really an argument at all.  It's submission. 

Wasn't an "argument". I  ever said, nothing can be done, or that I'm giving up. Again, it was an earnest question coming from  frustration about these practices and the hopelessness a single person feels of effecting change. If every company tracks, including ISP, what the fuck can be done?  besides opting out of the internet completely.

Your comments aside, none of the monitoring and tracking we are experiencing is "inevitable" unless we agree to have it that way.  Excuse me, unless the mass of sheep people puts enough momentum behind it to overcome the opposition of those who prefer a life of freedom to ending up on the dinner plate. 

Tell us what you are doing to change things then.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

from the windows 8/8.1 EULA:

1)  I don't use Windows 8.  A lot of others don't either, from what I've heard.

2)  You've expanded the discussion to include paid-for software and claim that this excerpt from the EULA shows that they're all spying/stealing.  Point being that we should all just lube up and bend over.

First, this:

Many of these features can be switched off or you can choose not to use them.

Google, et al never give you that option.  In fact, Google has a thing nicknamed the "super cookie" which IDs you and tracks your activity on the Internet even if you have never used a Google product in any way, shape, or form.  That information is, or will be sold to advertisers.  In contrast to this:

Microsoft uses the information it collects through the software
features to upgrade or fix the software and otherwise improve our products and services. In certain
circumstances, we also share it with others. For example, we share error reports with relevant hardware
and software vendors, so that they can use the information to improve how their products run with
Microsoft products.

In case I wasn't clear about it, I realize that information collection exists for many software products or services these days.  I don't have a problem with using it in the manner described by Microsoft.  Utilizing usage information to improve products is progressive and ethical, and (to me at least) not creepy.  That is not what I am arguing about in this thread.  There are alternatives to Windows -- Linux being the obvious choice.  Again, this is different than a situation in which you can't perform simple everyday functions without being tracked and monitored.  That's separate and different from choosing to use the Internet.  My feeling is that a person should be able to live a private life in their homes without multiple gadgets spying upon their every move and beaming the data back to Google or whatever.  We are not quite there yet, but certainly well on the way to being there. 

last i knew windows is not free.so paid applications are not immune to spying/stealing .

So you think that quoting that EULA proves that MS "spys" on people and "steals" their data?  I can already see this discussion going right down the shithole.  You've done nothing to address my points and on top of that, did a shitty job of supporting your own.

microsoft windows
microsoft office
android
IOS
mac osx
adobe products
many games (license check anyone?)

You need to go back and read my post again, and try to understand what I was talking about.  There is NOTHING on that list that fits my complaint.  NOTHING.

[wr250]

1)  I don't use Windows 8.  A lot of others don't either, from what I've heard.

2)  You've expanded the discussion to include paid-for software and claim that this excerpt from the EULA shows that they're all spying/stealing.  Point being that we should all just lube up and bend over.

First, this:

Google, et al never give you that option.  In fact, Google has a thing nicknamed the "super cookie" which IDs you and tracks your activity on the Internet even if you have never used a Google product in any way, shape, or form.  That information is, or will be sold to advertisers.  In contrast to this:

In case I wasn't clear about it, I realize that information collection exists for many software products or services these days.  I don't have a problem with using it in the manner described by Microsoft.  Utilizing usage information to improve products is progressive and ethical, and (to me at least) not creepy.  That is not what I am arguing about in this thread.  There are alternatives to Windows -- Linux being the obvious choice.  Again, this is different than a situation in which you can't perform simple everyday functions without being tracked and monitored.  That's separate and different from choosing to use the Internet.  My feeling is that a person should be able to live a private life in their homes without multiple gadgets spying upon their every move and beaming the data back to Google or whatever.  We are not quite there yet, but certainly well on the way to being there. 

So you think that quoting that EULA proves that MS "spys" on people and "steals" their data?  I can already see this discussion going right down the shithole.  Nothing we can do, folks!  Everyone lube up and bend over!

You need to go back and read my post again, and try to understand what I was talking about.  There is NOTHING on that list that fits my complaint.  NOTHING.

i thought this was your complaint:

It's really awful about what they're doing with the spying and information stealing, but...look at all this free shit!

bah i had a big long post written out, but said fuck it , it aint worth it.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

Not offended. From my perspective, you decided to answer my direct, earnest question " What (browser) do you use" in a way that was dripping with contempt and sarcasm. 

Your perspective is wrong.  I didn't answer that question at all.

Here's my answer: I use an older version of Firefox, one that can be configured to block updates.  I lock it down with add-ons that block tracking mechanisms.  I realize that it's not foolproof. 

it was an earnest question coming from  frustration about these practices and the hopelessness a single person feels of effecting change.

No snowflake ever feels responsible for an avalanche.

If people didn't use software that tracks and monitors them, and didn't buy products that enable that tracking, then it would stop.  It's as simple as that, believe it or not.  Once the money dries up, they'll stop doing it.  So long as there's a lubed up, gaping anus attached to a compliant person, it's going to get fucked. 

If every company tracks, including ISP, what the fuck can be done?  besides opting out of the internet completely.

Not all information collection is for bad purposes.  Some software, or products, require it in order to function.  By contrast, nobody needs a fucking thermostat that monitors your activity within your home and beams that information back to Google, but there is one out there on the market, and the sheep are lining up to buy it.  Once that reaches a tipping point, the only thermostats you'll be able to buy are ones that spy on you.  THAT is what I am complaining about.

Tell us what you are doing to change things then.

I avoid buying or using products that contribute towards this universal network of monitoring and tracking.  And to reiterate the point, if enough people did that, those products would not exist.