Review: Google Chrome Has Become Surveillance Software. It's Time To Switch

Discussion in 'Gadgets & Tech Talk' started by Ken Anderson, Jun 22, 2019.

  1. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Continue: SiliconValley.com
     
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  2. Thomas Stearn

    Thomas Stearn Veteran Member
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    That's why I have been using Firefox on my computer ever since I can remember. Using it on the smartphone seems a bit troublesome, though. So I keep using Chrome.
     
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  3. Hedi Mitchell

    Hedi Mitchell Supreme Member
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    @Ken Anderson ....I have questions..
    Ditched Firefox on home computer because of issues working incorrectly and slow. About two years ago.
    Chrome is now on home computer and on or phones. Do you think Firefox has made enough progress to switch back ?
    Is staying in the incognito mode all the time better tan just switching - regardless of browse ?
    We have two google email accts. His I use for BS stuff which also brings in much spam. My acct is solely for doctors, busineeses we deal with. This week bought new phone for him..Samsung... I have emails syncd and now after switching his data to new phone - my email acct gas blown up with spam! I never get spam. So how can I fix this..or can I?
     
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  4. Bess Barber

    Bess Barber Veteran Member
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    I suppose one would have to live like a hermit to avoid the surveillance going on around us all the time. I look at it like gaining five pounds over the holidays, I just pretend it isn't there.
     
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  5. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Bess Barber

    Snooping.......it has been estimated that the City of London has 50,000+ cameras installed outdoors, along the streets......how in the world would the data from them be constantly scrutinized in order to provide benefit to the citizens as the trouble was presenting itself, rather than hours or days after it had occurred? It might be quite enlightening to know just how many of those obvious "cameras" are fakes.
    Frank
     
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  6. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    @Gloria Mitchell, I don't know. I used to love Firefox, and I do have Firefox for the Mac OS installed on my computer, but it seemed kind of clunky to me the last time I tried it as if they have tried to add so much to it that the basic browser didn't work well.

    Google Chrome is the most popular web browser right now, and it does seem to work well, but I don’t use it. I use Safari, which is the browser that comes with a Mac. I think the only thing that keeps Safari from being one of the most popular browsers is that there is no Windows version. Since it works as well as any other browser I have tried lately, I haven’t seen a reason to use another, except to play around with them from time to time.

    Are you using Windows? If so, Microsoft Edge is the third most popular browser, after Google Chrome and Firefox.

    Next is Opera. Opera was once my favorite browser. Years ago, Opera was a premium product, and I was willing to pay to use it. I still have a fondness for Opera, except that some of the sites that I visit don’t render well in Opera, at least the last time I tried it. Another problem that people have with Opera is that, by default, it compresses images and caches content. This is great for people who have low bandwidth but, for things like the forum, it means that I have to keep reloading it in order to see new stuff. There is probably a way to turn that off but, again, I don’t have a strong reason to replace Safari.

    I have not tried it, but there is an open-source browser called Chromium, which is the one that Google stole from to make Google Chrome, adding some proprietary stuff to make it its own. I think that Chromium is still available and in current production, but I have not tried it personally.

    Another one that people seem to like, but which I have not tried, is Vivaldi, which was created by one of the Opera co-founders.
     
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  7. Bess Barber

    Bess Barber Veteran Member
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  8. Bess Barber

    Bess Barber Veteran Member
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    I watch BBC crime documentaries. They, as well as Australia, seem to solve a great many of them using the CCTV scans. It's really impressive.
     
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  9. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    @Ken Anderson -- there is a Safari browser for Windows; I used to use it. Not sure how dumbed down it is, though.
     
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  10. Hedi Mitchell

    Hedi Mitchell Supreme Member
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    @Ken Anderson - they are all probably in cahoots with each other anyway. My desktop has gotten so slow I seldom use it- my phone much quicker. Guess I will just keep plugging along with nosry Chrome;)
     
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  11. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    I watch a series on ID called "See No Evil," where all the murders have been solved with security cameras. I find it really interesting how they can piece together a crime, usually using videos from random businesses, traffic cams, etc.
     
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  12. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    They stopped making the Windows version in 2012.
     
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  13. Michael Kaytoo

    Michael Kaytoo Very Well-Known Member
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  14. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    DuckDuckGo is a metasearch engine, not a browser.
     
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  15. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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