Google's own Safe Browsing feature (which Firefox and Safari also rely on) simply downloads a list of malicious websites, so your browser can compare the pages you visit without sending network requests. Needless to say, this level of tracking is absolutely not necessary for checking if a certain website is safe. The extension was recording every page visited, how you got to the page (the referrer), your IP address and locale, and other information - all attached to a unique ID for easy tracking. The original blog post found that the Avast Online Security extension, which is usually installed as part of Avast's anti-virus products, transmits far more data than is necessary to check if a page is 'safe' or not.
In a somewhat-belated response, Google has now removed some of Avast's extensions from the Chrome Web Store.
0 kommentar(er)
