https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/12/year-review-googles-corporate-paternalism-browser Skip to main content * About + Contact + Press + People + Opportunities * Issues + Free Speech + Privacy + Creativity and Innovation + Transparency + International + Security * Our Work + Deeplinks Blog + Press Releases + Events + Legal Cases + Whitepapers + Podcast + Annual Reports * Take Action + Action Center + Electronic Frontier Alliance + Volunteer * Tools + Privacy Badger + HTTPS Everywhere + Surveillance Self-Defense + Certbot + Atlas of Surveillance + Cover Your Tracks + Crocodile Hunter * Donate + Donate to EFF + Giving Societies + Shop + Other Ways to Give + Membership FAQ * Donate + Donate to EFF + Shop + Other Ways to Give * Search form Search [ ] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Email updates on news, actions, and events in your area. Join EFF Lists * Copyright (CC BY) * Trademark * Privacy Policy * Thanks Electronic Frontier Foundation Donate Electronic Frontier Foundation * About + Contact + Press + People + Opportunities * Issues + Free Speech + Privacy + Creativity and Innovation + Transparency + International + Security * Our Work + Deeplinks Blog + Press Releases + Events + Legal Cases + Whitepapers + Podcast + Annual Reports * Take Action + Action Center + Electronic Frontier Alliance + Volunteer * Tools + Privacy Badger + HTTPS Everywhere + Surveillance Self-Defense + Certbot + Atlas of Surveillance + Cover Your Tracks + Crocodile Hunter * Donate + Donate to EFF + Giving Societies + Shop + Other Ways to Give + Membership FAQ * Donate + Donate to EFF + Shop + Other Ways to Give * Search form Search [ ] Year In Review: Google's Corporate Paternalism in The Browser DEEPLINKS BLOG By Daly Barnett January 1, 2024 2023 Year in Review (text animated to change colors) Year In Review: Google's Corporate Paternalism in The Browser Share It Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Copy link 2023 Year in Review (text animated to change colors) It's a big year for the oozing creep of corporate paternalism and ad-tracking technology online. Google and its subsidiary companies have tightened their grips on the throat of internet innovation, all while employing the now familiar tactic of marketing these things as beneficial for users. Here we'll review the most significant changes this year, all emphasizing the point that browser privacy tools (like Privacy Badger) are more important than ever. Manifest V2 to Manifest V3: Final Death of Legacy Chrome Extensions Chrome, the most popular web browser by all measurements, recently announced the official death date for Manifest V2, hastening the reign of its janky successor, Manifest V3. We've been complaining about this since the start, but here's the gist: the finer details of MV3 have gotten somewhat better over time (namely that it won't completely break all privacy extensions). However, what security benefits it has are bought by limiting what all extensions can do. Chrome could invest in a more robust extension review process. Doing so would protect both innovation and security, but it's clear that the true intention of this change is somewhere else. Put bluntly: Chrome, a browser built by an advertising company, has positioned itself as the gatekeeper for in-browser privacy tools, the sole arbiter of how they should be designed. Considering that Google's trackers are present on at least 85% of the top 50,000 websites, contributing to an overall profit of approximately 225 billion dollars in 2022, this is an unsurprising, yet still disappointing, decision. For what it's worth, Apple's Safari browser imposes similar restrictions to allegedly protect Safari users from malicious extensions. While it's important to protect users from said malicious extensions, it's equally important to honor their privacy. Topics API This year also saw the rollout of Google's planned "Privacy Sandbox" project, which also uses a lot of mealy-mouthed marketing to justify its questionable characteristics. While it will finally get rid of third-party cookies, an honestly good move, it is replacing that form of tracking with another called the "Topics API." At best, this reduces the number of parties that are able to track a user through the Chrome browser (though we aren't the only privacy experts casting doubt toward its so-called benefits). But it limits tracking so it's only done by a single powerful party, Chrome itself, who then gets to dole out its learnings to advertisers that are willing to pay. This is just another step in transforming the browser from a user agent to an advertising agent. Privacy Badger now disables the Topics API by default. YouTube Blocking Access for Users With Ad-Blockers Most recently, people with ad-blockers began to see a petulant message from Youtube when trying to watch a video. The blocking message gave users a countdown until they would no longer be able to use the site unless they disabled their ad-blockers. Privacy and security benefits be damned. YouTube, a Google owned company which saw its own all-time high in third quarter advertising revenue (a meager 8 billion dollars), has no equivocal announcement laden with deceptive language for this one. If you're on Chrome or a Chromium-based browser, expect YouTube to be broken unless you turn off your ad-blocker. Privacy Tools > Corporate Paternalism Obviously this all sucks. User security shouldn't be bought by forfeiting privacy. In reality, one is deeply imbricated with the other. All this bad decision-making drives home how important privacy tools are. Privacy Badger is one of many. It's not just that Privacy Badger is built to protect the disempowered users, that it's a plug-n-play tool working quietly (but ferociously) behind the scenes to halt the tracking industry, but that it exists in an ecosystem of other like minded privacy projects that complement each other. Where one tool might miss, another hones in. This year, Privacy Badger has unveiled exciting support projects and new features: * Badger Swarm revolutionized Privacy Badger's learning capabilities * Google's link-tracking system is now thwarted in a recent update * Privacy Badger's widget replacement mechanism has seen some major improvements Until we have comprehensive privacy protections in place, until corporate tech stops abusing our desires to not be snooped on, privacy tools must be empowered to make up for these harms. Users deserve the right to choose what privacy means to them, not have that decision made by an advertising company like Google. This blog is part of our Year in Review series. Read other articles about the fight for digital rights in 2023. Related Issues Privacy Share It Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Copy link Join EFF Lists Discover more. Email updates on news, actions, events in your area, and more. Email Address [ ] Postal Code (optional) [ ] Anti-spam question: Enter the three-letter abbreviation for Electronic Frontier Foundation: [ ] Don't fill out this field (required) [ ] [Submit] Thanks, you're awesome! Please check your email for a confirmation link. Oops something is broken right now, please try again later. Related Updates Cat Astronaut Soars Through Cyberspace, Leaving a Glowing Rainbow Trail Deeplinks Blog by Paige Collings | January 1, 2024 Digital Rights for LGBTQ+ People: 2023 Year in Review An increase in anti-LGBTQ+ intolerance is impacting individuals and communities both online and offline across the globe. Throughout 2023, several countries sought to pass explicitly anti-LGBTQ+ initiatives restricting freedom of expression and privacy. This fuels offline intolerance against LGBTQ+ people, and forces them to self-censor their online expression to avoid... young EFF'ers show phones with security icons Deeplinks Blog by Jason Kelley, Aaron Mackey | December 30, 2023 States Attack Young People's Constitutional Right to Use Social Media: 2023 Year in Review Legislatures in more than half of the country targeted young people's use of social media this year, with many of the proposals blocking adults' ability to access the same sites. State representatives introduced dozens of bills that would limit young people's use of some of the most popular sites and... 2023 Year in Review (text animated to change colors) Deeplinks Blog by Christoph Schmon, Joe Mullin, Paige Collings | December 30, 2023 Fighting European Threats to Encryption: 2023 Year in Review Private communication is a fundamental human right. In the online world, the best tool we have to defend this right is end-to-end encryption. Yet throughout 2023, politicians across Europe attempted to undermine encryption, seeking to access and scan our private messages and pictures. But we pushed back in the EU,... 2023 Year in Review (text animated to change colors) Deeplinks Blog by Hayley Tsukayama | December 29, 2023 Fighting For Your Digital Rights Across the Country: Year in Review 2023 EFF works every year to improve policy in ways that protect your digital rights in states across the country. Thanks to the messages of hundreds of EFF members across the country, we've spoken up for digital rights this year from Sacramento to Augusta.Much of EFF's state legislative work has, historically,... 2023 Year in Review (text animated to change colors) Deeplinks Blog by Karen Gullo | December 28, 2023 Protecting Students from Faulty Software and Legislation: 2023 Year in Review Lawmakers, schools districts, educational technology companies and others keep rolling out legislation and software that threatens students' privacy, free speech, and access to social media, in the name of "protecting" children. At EFF, we fought back against this overreach and demand accountability and transparency.Bad bills and invasive monitoring systems, though... young EFF'ers show phones with security icons Deeplinks Blog by Jason Kelley | December 28, 2023 Kids Online Safety Shouldn't Require Massive Online Censorship and Surveillance: 2023 Year in Review There's been plenty of bad news regarding federal legislation in 2023. For starters, Congress has failed to pass meaningful comprehensive data privacy reforms. Instead, legislators have spent an enormous amount of energy pushing dangerous legislation that's intended to limit young people's use of some of the most popular sites and... 2023 Year in Review (text animated to change colors) Deeplinks Blog by Joe Mullin | December 24, 2023 Protecting Encryption And Privacy In The US: 2023 Year in Review EFF believes you have the right to have a private conversation-in the physical world, and in the digital world. The best technology to protect that right is end-to-end encryption. Governments around the world are working hard to monitor online conversations, far beyond the bounds of traditional targeted law enforcement. 2023... 2023 Year in Review (text animated to change colors) Deeplinks Blog by Bill Budington, Alexis Hancock | December 23, 2023 Sketchy and Dangerous Android Children's Tablets and TV Set-Top Boxes: 2023 in Review In a series of investigations this year, EFF researchers confirmed the existence of dangerous malware on set-top boxes manufactured by AllWinner and RockChip, and discovered sketchyware on a tablet marketed for kids from the manufacturer Dragon Touch. 2023 Year in Review (text animated to change colors) Deeplinks Blog by Cindy Cohn | December 21, 2023 2023 Year in Review Digital rights started as a niche, future-focused issue that we would struggle to explain to nontechnical people. Now it's deeply embedded into all of our lives. This movement is possible thanks to the strong partnership of EFF's members, supporters, and all of you who stood up and took action to... [mobile-privacy] Deeplinks Blog by Cindy Cohn | December 18, 2023 Does Less Consumer Tracking Lead to Less Fraud? Here's another reason to block digital surveillance: it might reduce financial fraud. That's the upshot of a small but promising study published as a National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper, "Consumer Surveillance and Financial Fraud. Authors Bo Bian, Michaela Pagel and Huan Tang investigated the relationship between... Discover more. Email updates on news, actions, events in your area, and more. Email Address [ ] Postal Code (optional) [ ] Anti-spam question: Enter the three-letter abbreviation for Electronic Frontier Foundation: [ ] Don't fill out this field (required) [ ] [Submit] Thanks, you're awesome! Please check your email for a confirmation link. Oops something is broken right now, please try again later. 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