Chrome and Edge browser extensions with 8 million users, collect extended AI conversations
“Security firm Koi discovered the eight extensions, which as of late Tuesday night remained available in both Google’s and Microsoft’s extension stores. Seven of them carry “Featured” badges, which are endorsements meant to signal that the companies have determined the extensions meet their quality standards. The free extensions provide functions such as VPN routing to safeguard online privacy and ad blocking for ad-free browsing. All provide assurances that user data remains anonymous and isn’t shared for purposes other than their described use.”
Yes, I know this will not be a surprise to many, but there have been many cautions specifically around using free VPNs. Visiting a website in a browser tab is usually a lot safer than installing a browser extension, and especially extensions that grant privileged access like ad blockers.
So, if you are a user of:
- Urban VPN Proxy
- 1ClickVPN Proxy
- Urban Browser Guard
- Urban Ad Blocker
you will probably want to read the linked article.
And for others smiling smugly, just remember that even apps like WhatsApp quite openly state in their T&Cs that they share user metadata with upstream partners. The devil is often in plain sight, just buried deep in the lengthy T&Cs that most don’t read.
There are some companies though like Proton, Signal, etc who state that your privacy is not compromised, and then others who require no e-mail, phone number, etc as they do not identify you in any way at all.
See arstechnica.com/security/2025/…
#Blog, #browsers, #privacy, #technology
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juliadream
•"as they do not identify you in any way at all"
So how do Proton KNOW you have paid??? ...
Danie
•@juliadream no, if you read that sentence again, you'll see I said ",and then others" which does not mean Proton. The others are like SimpleX, Threema, Nostr, bitchat, Jami, and plenty more.
Proton does identify users for accounts yes, and does allow access via Tor too, but they don't see the encrypted contents of one's documents, and importantly they are not selling user data, not even metadata. This is why they are mostly a paid service without adverts etc.