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Amazon Warned Holiday Shopper That Honey, a Popular Browser Extension, Was a 'Security Risk' (wired.com) 29

In an apparent swipe at PayPal's recent $4 billion acquisition of Honey, a popular browser extension that tracks prices and discount codes, Amazon labeled the service as "a security risk" for shoppers over the holidays. Wired reports: "Honey tracks your private shopping behavior, collects data like your order history and items saved, and can read or change any of your data on any website you visit," the message read. "To keep your data private and secure, uninstall this extension immediately." It was followed by a hyperlink where users could learn how to do so. Screenshots of the warning were posted to forums and social media by Honey users, like Ryan Hutchins, an editor at Politico.

Honey isn't some obscure browser extension from an unknown developer. Founded in 2012, the Los Angeles-based startup now boasts over 17 million users. It finds discount codes to save shoppers money at tens of thousands of online retailers, including Amazon. Amazon's warning, which began appearing on December 20, confused and angered many of Honey's users, some of whom complained on its official social media channels. The browser extension has been compatible with Amazon since it was founded, and it is a significant part of Honey's appeal. Amazon declined to explain why it decided to label Honey a security risk so suddenly last month. "Our goal is to warn customers about browser extensions that collect personal shopping data without their knowledge or consent," a spokesperson for the company said in a statement. They declined to answer follow-up questions about the basis for that claim.
Honey says in its privacy policy that it doesn't "track your search engine history, emails, or your browsing on any site that is not a retail website."

"We're aware that Droplist and other Honey features were not available on Amazon for a period of time. We know these are tools that people love and worked quickly to restore the functionality. Our extension is not -- and has never been -- a security risk and is safe to use," a Honey spokesperson said.
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Amazon Warned Holiday Shopper That Honey, a Popular Browser Extension, Was a 'Security Risk'

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  • What's to say? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Pollux ( 102520 ) <speter&tedata,net,eg> on Thursday January 09, 2020 @08:42PM (#59605170) Journal

    "Honey tracks your private shopping behavior, collects data like your order history and items saved, and can read or change any of your data on any website you visit," the message read. "To keep your data private and secure, uninstall this extension immediately."

    Well, ain't that the pot calling the kettle black.
    Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
    Look who's talking!
    Practice what you preach!
    What's that you see in the mirror?
    Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
    People living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

    In other words...you're being hypocritical, Amazon.

    • They could say: "To keep your data private and secure, never do business with us".
  • by The MAZZTer ( 911996 ) <{megazzt} {at} {gmail.com}> on Thursday January 09, 2020 @09:01PM (#59605208) Homepage
    Since they were spamming YouTube with ads and generally such services don't work in my previous experience. But since Amazon is complaining about them, they must be legit. Thanks for the recommendation Amazon, I'm going to install Honey!
    • by gl4ss ( 559668 )

      Probably works best on amazon? I didn't have much luck with honey a while ago when I tried it, though I don't shop much on amazon. would make most sense that it would have the most discount codes for amazon though. it actually messes up with amazons ad efficiency tracking big time which is probably why they're pissed off about it..

  • To deliver this delicious cake I'm going to need the keys to your car, your house, and I'll need to know what time you go to bed so I don't disturb you. I promise I won't use them inappropriately. You can trust me.
  • Get that extension.
  • As is running a browser in the first instance, or turning on the computer... But this just reeks of amazon marketing bs.
  • Honey does track you (Score:5, Informative)

    by SmaryJerry ( 2759091 ) on Friday January 10, 2020 @01:24AM (#59605614)
    It may not view your browser history but does exactly what amazon says it does. It also steals any referral money that any other website might get for linking to a page when it checks for coupons. Honey is useful but not exactly ethical. Since they got bought by PayPal you can count on the fact they will only get less ethical.
    • by gl4ss ( 559668 )

      Amazon is probably the site it would be most ethical to use it on I guess. if you just go on amazon.com and buy stuff anyways if you don't want to support some random site.

  • Good enough for the sheep - they willingly worship at the Amazon altar of amazing leadership in privacy protection, security and truth in advertising.
    Wonder how badly Honey has been impacting the Amazon bottom line...

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I once installed this Honey plugin in my regular firefox browser, which just so happens to have Slashdot as its home page. I also have the "Disable Advertising" option selected so that Slashdot shows me fewer Ads while I joyfully waste more of my time reading stuff here. I noticed that almost immediately that as soon as I installed Honey I suddenly had advertisements injected into the Slashdot upper right frames where the advertisements were normally turned off. These were not even the kind of cool-tech Ads

  • Doesn't Honey just do the same thing as Amazon Assistant, but only when browsing Amazon.com? AA peeks at everything you browse anywhere to find comparable Amazon products. If you run it, you get pop-ups whenever you shop for an item on a great many websites other than Amazon websites.

    "Amazon Assistant automatically collects information about websites you view where we may have relevant product or service recommendations when you are not interacting with Amazon Assistant. We do not connect this information

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