As a long-time Google Chrome user, I recently started switching back to Firefox. Firefox several years ago was a bit of a memory hog, so I started using Chrome, which eventually became my default browser. For privacy reasons, I recently started looking at other browsers, starting with Brave. Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript and co-founder of Mozilla, started Brave (the company behind the Brave browser) and a cryptocurrency, the Basic Attention Token (BAT), in order to replace intrusive ads and the trackers that typically accompany them by creating a system that allows micropayments directly between users and the websites that they visit.
Brave is a Chromium-based browser, so it operates similarly to Chrome. While Brave is quite functional, it does not yet offer the level of customization that Firefox does. However, Brave’s features are easy to use and deliver decent privacy technology out of the box. For less tech-savvy users who want tracking protection, Brave is a good choice. Simply click the Brave button and raise or lower the tracking shields. I tested Brave on desktop and mobile platforms for a couple weeks, but I prefer the granular control allowed by various Firefox extensions (particularly containers). However, I still recommend Brave for users who are not comfortable finding, installing, and configuring multiple plugins.
Consequently, I am back to running Firefox. But as I was swapping between Firefox and Chrome a few days ago, I noticed something odd. I noticed that I appeared to be signed into Chrome. I had always avoided signing in to the browser because I had no desire to allow Google to see all of my browsing activity. Why then was I signed in? I wondered if I had accidentally clicked a sign-in button somewhere, though I thought that unlikely. I didn’t think too much about it at the time because I was busy, but I figured I should revisit the issue later.
Then a couple nights ago I came across Matthew Green’s post about why he is no longer using chrome. I knew that Chrome had been updated recently, and Green’s post revealed that the latest Chrome update automatically logged users into Chrome when they logged in to any Google account through the browser.
Like Green, I am greatly displeased by this change. For the moment at least, Google has clarified that automatic sign-in in Chrome does not automatically synchronize the browser’s data with Google’s servers. However, I am not particularly reassured that synchronization will continue to be optional.
In the comments on Green’s post, user Himanshu suggested that “This seems like Google’s workaround to ITP 2.0. In near future they will implement it in Chrome to compete with Safari and Firebox [sic] but still get to bypass it because user is still logged in.” I think this idea is plausible. Google is surely aware that ad blockers and tracking protection are becoming increasingly popular.
Google’s services exist primarily to serve the needs of advertisers, so the company needs to respond to ad blockers in some fashion. I expect that browser synchronization will eventually become mandatory when using any Google service, and most people are unlikely to log in and out of those services if they use them frequently. This possible change would provide Google with complete activity logs regardless of whether individual sites can track users. Google would be able to allow users to block ads and trackers while still tracking users through their browsers. At some point, I would not be surprised if Google were to introduce a system to inject ads into Chrome based on that stored tracking information.
Consequently, like Matthew Green, I am leaving Chrome. A browser is a tool, and Google changed Chrome into a tool that no longer serves my needs. Plenty of alternatives exist. Brave offers a Chrome-like experience without Google. Firefox is quite extensible. And I have not had time yet to try some of the other browsers out there like Opera, Vivaldi, and Epic. Some may think that I am paranoid, but as I often say, it’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you.