Over 80 Chrome Extensions Found Selling Their Users Data - And It’s All Completely Legal

https://layerxsecurity.com/blog/your-extensions-sell-your-data-and-its-perfectly-legal/

  • A network of 24 media extensions that are installed on 800,000 users and collected viewing data and demographic information on major streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, Apple TV, and others
  • 12 separate ad blockers with a combined install base of over 5.5 million users openly selling user data
  • Nearly 50 other extensions, with over 100,000 users in aggregate, that collected and resold users’ browsing data
486 points · 57 comments · view on lemmy.world

57 Comments

_haha_oh_wow_@piefed.social · 148 pts · 113d (24 replies)

Nobody should still be using Chrome after they killed proper ad blocking. The browser is a legitimate security threat.

reksas@sopuli.xyz · 11 pts · 113d (1 reply)

when i uninstalled chrome long time ago, i immidiately noticed that my pc performance improved. it slows down your computer even if its not on

badgermurphy@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 112d
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lemmyng@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 113d (6 replies)

They killed uBlock Origin. Fortunately uBlock Origin Lite has been working with Cromite, but I'm holding onto my Ungoogled Chromium install with full uBlock Origin till my dying breath.

grue@lemmy.world · 26 pts · 113d (3 replies)

But why do you love helping Google control web standards, when you could just be using a Mozilla-based browser instead?

lemmyng@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 113d (1 reply)

Now hold up there, pardner! I didn't mention that I also use IronFox and LibreWolf/Mullvad! And honestly, Cromite has been crashing on me so much that I've switched my primary browser to IronFox.

Zoot@reddthat.com · 6 pts · 113d

Could they stop fucking with ironfox though please, for the love of god stop changing the UI on me. I just want a browser that stays the same and works for years, my habits are consistently wrecked with each passing update

mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 112d

Because Mozilla has their heads up their asses and won't implement tab groups on mobile

ruby@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 112d

ublock origin lite sadly does only a fraction of what the normal ublock origin does. no javascript blocking, no remote fonts blocking, no large media element blocking, no granular dynamic filtering in that popup panel. i guess it's still decent to block ads though, but so very crippled compared to the real deal

desmosthenes@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 113d

👆

Arklese1zure@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 112d

It's kinda sad, seeing how far it has fallen. Chrome was an absolute beast of a browser back in the Windows 7 days.

fxdave@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 113d

Nobody should use any browsers other than servo. But it's not ready yet 🤷‍♂️

Scotty_Trees@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 113d (2 replies)

i have morons still saying they use chrome because of it's profiles. you can't unfix the stupid, there's too much of it.

Bazoogle@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 113d

I use firefox because of its containers

badgermurphy@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 112d
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gapa@feddit.nu · 2 pts · 113d (5 replies)

I use chromium for some sites since i have written an extension that gives me dark mode for all sites. And firefox demands that all extensions have to be signed.

notastatist@feddit.org · 6 pts · 113d (4 replies)

There are darkmode extensions for firefox. Or do you like to use your own?

gapa@feddit.nu · 4 pts · 113d (2 replies)

Yeah. I try to keep the number of regular extensions low for security and privacy reasons.

x00z@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 112d (1 reply)

You can probably port it to a userscript without much trouble, and then you can use it in every browser using a single extension/addon along with other userscripts (which you can easily read the source code and disable auto updates of). I use Violentmonkey and have written a few scripts. Development and usage is easier than extensions/addons for personal stuff.

Personally I just use Dark Reader though.

gapa@feddit.nu · 2 pts · 112d

I looked at a few (3?) monkey extensions (including violentmokey). I don't remember the details but I think there were issues with all of them (probably privacy issues).

Fyurion@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 113d

Dark Reader works great, I've used it for years on firefox

ferricoxide@blahaj.zone · 2 pts · 113d (2 replies)

@_haha_oh_wow_@piefed.social @Deep@mander.xyz

I switched to Firefox a few years ago. But, I still have to use Chrome when I want to use the #AWS #FleetManager to RDP into AWS-hosted #Windows systems. FleetManager in Firefox is complete garbage.

Bazoogle@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 113d (1 reply)

There are unfortunately several websites that are only developed for Chrome. They technically work on Firefox, but not well. That would change with a larger userbase on firefox though

Fiery@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 112d

Huge strides have been made to make the standard more unified in recent years. As a result it's already way better than it was before, though it's not 100% ofc.

NGC2346@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 113d

pure chromium with extensions and ungoogled chromium are alright

Exeous@lemmy.world · 70 pts · 113d (1 reply)

The largest extensions in the network: 

• Custom Profile Picture for Netflix (200K users)

• Hulu Ad Skipper (100K)

• Netflix Picture in Picture (100K)

• Ad Skipper for Prime Video (60K)

• Netflix Extended (60K)

• Stands AdBlocker (3M users) sells browsing data to third parties for “market analytics purposes.”

•	Poper Blocker (2M users) discloses selling identifiers, browsing activity, behavioral profiles, and inferred sensitive data – including health conditions, religious beliefs, and sexual orientation, all inferred from the URLs you visit.

•	All Block, an ad blocker for YouTube (500K users), sells anonymized data “for analytical and commercial purposes.” Published by an entity called Curly Doggo Limited, based in London.

•	TwiBlocker (80K users) discloses transferring browsing data to third parties who “process or sell it for analytical purposes.”

•	Urban AdBlocker (10K users) routes browsing data and AI conversations through the BiScience data broker.

•	Career.io Job Auto Apply (10K users) states in its policy that it may use personal data collected from your resume to sell to third parties, including data brokers, for targeted advertising and profiling. A job application tool that sells your resume.

•	Dog Cuties (6K users) is a cute dog wallpaper new-tab extension. Confirmed data seller through the Apex Media network.

•	EmailOnDeck (10K users) is a temporary email service – a tool people use specifically when they don’t want to share their real information. Its policy states it may sell, rent, or share its mailing list.

•	Survey Junkie discloses selling URLs visited, clickstream data, and “modeled information” about consumer preferences to market research agencies, ad agencies, and data analytics providers.

• Dashy New Tab (10K users) has its Chrome Web Store listing marked “does not sell your data.” Its actual privacy policy marks data as “Sold or Shared: Yes.” We believe this is CCPA compliance language for standard analytics, not commercial data sales – which is why we left it out. But the contradiction between the store listing and the privacy policy is real. If a publisher’s own policy says “Sold or Shared: Yes” and the store listing says the opposite, which one should users trust?

XLE@piefed.social · 8 pts · 113d

I can at least understand the ad skippers. But a custom profile picture having double the users?

DahGangalang@infosec.pub · 62 pts · 113d

Props to the article for listing some of the extensions.

Sure do wish they'd list all that they investigated and publish as a "sells data / doesn't sell data"

bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 40 pts · 113d (11 replies)

If you're still using Chrome in 2026, you get what you get.

forkDestroyer@infosec.pub · 22 pts · 113d (1 reply)

I'm sure the extensions on other browsers are doing the same thing, to be fair.

The chrome web store is also used across other chromium browsers like Vivaldi, right?

SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org · 9 pts · 112d

Chromium forks are just as bad. Reap what you sow.

Crozekiel@lemmy.zip · 12 pts · 113d (6 replies)

And then there is my company IT department wanting to forcibly uninstall anything that isn't chrome because "chrome is the only secure option". They literally made our company tools that are browser based just not work with anything that isn't chrome to curb people trying to use other browsers. :(

bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 112d

UA spoof

Fiery@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 112d (1 reply)

There's an extension for firefox based browsers that masquerades your browser as chrome.

Crozekiel@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 112d

I haven't tried that but don't think it would work because the system isn't checking what browser is used and returning an error message, they have literally coded the web tools in such a way that when running in Firefox, it just doesn't ever respond. If you try doing the same action in Opera, it literally crashes the entire browser. If you try to use Edge, the tab crashes. I'm not convinced they've done this on purpose, I think they just cobbled stuff together and only bothered testing on Chrome and called it good when it stopped crashing for them.

Bazoogle@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 113d (2 replies)

Tbf, the problem was extensions here. Which if they have those blocked as well this wouldn't be a problem.

Crozekiel@lemmy.zip · 7 pts · 113d (1 reply)

Lol, they don't. We have some of the worst IT people... Most of our computers are still on Windows 10 and just haven't been getting updates because they didn't setup extended update support properly.

dubyakay@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 112d

Time to look for a new jerb.

mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 112d (1 reply)

At work, we're only allowed to install Chrome or Edge. It's complete bullshit

bitjunkie@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 112d

Sounds like you need some portableapps.com in your life

Dyskolos@lemmy.zip · 34 pts · 113d (1 reply)

As if chrome users would give a fuck. I mean, they use chrome and probably all else that is google.

SHBI7368@sh.itjust.works · -2 pts · 113d

loll

Lux@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 18 pts · 113d (1 reply)

thought the thumbnail was MF DOOM for a sec

PotatoesFall@discuss.tchncs.de · 4 pts · 112d

I thought it's a melange between the puzzle piece autism thing and evil hacker stock photo stereotype

Jiral@lemmy.org · 14 pts · 113d (6 replies)

In the US maybe, I doubt this is legal in the EU. It is most definitely illegal with sensitive data like health data.

freddo@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 113d (4 replies)

I doubt they care about EU laws.

Jiral@lemmy.org · 3 pts · 113d (2 replies)

You'd be surprised. When fines are commonly in the billions, they start to care as a matter of fact. At least proper companies do. Criminals with scam businesses are a different story of course.

cookiecoookie@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 112d (1 reply)

Not many proper companies in America, at least none of the large ones

Jiral@lemmy.org · 0 pts · 112d

I was not talking about erhical companies just companies that can't just go bankrupt without a trace. Google and Co do actually care about billions of fines. Why do you think US tech fascists are so hysterical about EU regulations. If they didn't care they would just ignore them

x00z@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 112d

Then the EU can force Google to remove or disable them for EU users.

x00z@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 112d

In the EU you must give explicit consent.

magnue@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 113d (3 replies)

Who even installs these?

XLE@piefed.social · 19 pts · 113d

People who aren't experts in privacy and web browsing.

1.6 million people installed this ad blocker that claims to be open-source, but has no published source code.

Is it malware? Probably not.

Is it worth installing? Hell no.

Oh, and it's a Firefox extension.

BigJohnnyHines@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 113d

There are a LOT of people out there who honestly have no idea that a website is capable of collecting data. Maybe even the majority. The fact these numbers are not higher is due to most people sticking with defaults rather than them making a privacy decision.

spicehoarder@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 113d

Children.

spicehoarder@lemmy.zip · 9 pts · 113d

It's the evolution of shareware.

Miller@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 112d

Is it really news that tech and associated companies say the security of their users is important to them while grossly violating that principle.

sirico@feddit.uk · 6 pts · 113d

Just use the eff ones if they're ever in this position we're done

RedFrank24@piefed.social · 0 pts · 113d
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Scotty_Trees@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 113d

ohhhhh nooooooo this is soooooo horrible /s