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Chrome Chromium IT

Google Removing Inadvertent Ability for Chromium Browsers To Access Chrome Bookmarks, Sync (9to5google.com) 34

Posted by msmash from the fixing-things dept.
Besides the intended differences, web browsers based on Chromium offer an underlying experience that's mostly identical to Chrome. Google recently discovered that users of third-party Chromium browsers have inadvertently been able to access data and other sync features reserved for Chrome. From a report: "Some" Chromium browsers today can leverage features and APIs that are "only intended for Google's use." This includes Click to Call and, notably, Chrome Sync. The latter is responsible for syncing bookmarks, extensions, history, settings, and more across signed-in devices running the first-party browser. As a result, users logged into Google sites on Chromium browsers are able to see their old bookmarks and other data from previous Chrome usage. This inadvertent access was discovered during a recent audit and Google will be "limiting access to [its] private Chrome APIs" from March 15th.
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Google Removing Inadvertent Ability for Chromium Browsers To Access Chrome Bookmarks, Sync More

Google Removing Inadvertent Ability for Chromium Browsers To Access Chrome Bookmarks, Sync

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  • "Inadvertant" (Score:3)

    by Arthur, KBE ( 6444066 ) on Friday January 15, 2021 @04:29PM (#60949526)
    OK. bro.

  • Good (Score:3)

    by Dan East ( 318230 ) on Friday January 15, 2021 @04:32PM (#60949534) Journal

    Good, because Google is undoubtedly the only tech company we can trust with our personal data.

  • Building the wall ... higher (Score:3)

    by Jerry ( 6400 ) on Friday January 15, 2021 @04:51PM (#60949602)

    Not to keep people out as much as to keep them in Google's "Garden" by making certain features only available via pristine Chromium.

    ZDNet had an article, from two years ago, listing the browsers based on Chromium: https://www.zdnet.com/pictures... [zdnet.com] "While initially we thought we'd find 15-20 browsers, the number of Chromium-based browsers was far larger than we expected."

    There are "some" browsers NOT based on Chromium, but the pickings are slime.

    https://www.slant.co/topics/23... [slant.co]

    I'm currently running Waterfox.

    https://www.waterfox.net/ [waterfox.net]

  • cripes almighty

  • Eh.. (Score:2)

    by poptix ( 78287 )

    I'm not sure I want third parties mucking around with my Chrome data anyway.

    It's pretty trivial to export from Chrome if you're moving to some other browser, and there are extensions that will sync for you.

    • What if you have to use Chromium because there's no Chrome for your platform (like on Linux arm most notably on Raspberry Pi but not only) and want to keep syncing everything with your Chrome for other platforms?

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by hawky ( 14175 )

        umm I have been using Chrome in Ubuntu for about a decade..

      • What if you have to use Chromium because there's no Chrome for your platform (like on Linux arm most notably on Raspberry Pi but not only) and want to keep syncing everything with your Chrome for other platforms?

        I guess you'll be stuck with the Edge version, once there is one. ARM linux is an interesting case I guess.

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Linux (Score:3)

    by Geekbot ( 641878 ) on Friday January 15, 2021 @05:10PM (#60949642)

    Well, there goes my linux laptop setup.

  • Cant wait until there is more competition. I hate the new IE as much as the old IE.

    • And the new IE aka edge, written by the new millennial woke Microsoft? :)

      Dear MS developers reading this forum,

      If you want to earn partial cred with Slashdotters, open source your Edge syncing code. OK, that's swapping one 'evil empire' Google for MS but still...

      Better still import Firefox's sync code so one can use the same cross device settings across Firefox, Chromium derivatives and Edge.

      • Setting up your own Firefox sync server is unnecessarily cumbersome though.

        Why the hell doesn't it just save files to a SSHFS mount with local caching and offline support ... You know... like NORMAL.

        We should all be using Plan 9's network file system by now. This backwardness amd bad wheel re-inventing is nothing but harming us.

  • ... time to move everything to Firefox. I won't give Google the ability to shove new apps onto my Linux box, and I need cross-platform sync. Screw 'em.

  • While most people think Incog mode is about user privacy i storngly believe it was a move to kill other competitors in the ad game. G has the advantage of a far larger tracking system on far more sites than others and that means they can quickly gather enuff details to try and target ads on users, even if they are in incog mode. If you are a different non G ad system, incog mode makes it significantly more difficult to build up a profile because you just lost your history and it takes time to buld up a hist
  • An OS is impartial. A browser to render things, is impartial. OS API's do not have 'owners'. Such discrimination introduces black/white slave/master concepts. IF they are not then they are limited, with manufacturer deployed overt discrimination and monetization is NOT a level paying field. Time for high level breakups and sliding taxation levels on market share. Bring on 'API lives matter' . Bring on the breakup cases.

    • I was with you until "black/white/slave conepts".

      PROTIP: It's an inanimate fucking object! It is not wrong to say it has an owner because it would be wrong to say that about a lifeform! It is wrong because it's just a file on MY computer, owned by ME, not the developer!

      Why are SJW so retarded?? What the hell is wrong with your brains?

      (Alternatively: Mod parent "Troll", please.)

  • Declaring non-monopolism a security bug... (Score:3)

    by BAReFO0t ( 6240524 ) on Saturday January 16, 2021 @04:59AM (#60951076)

    You are such a dick, want to block others from accessing the bookmarks after they switched away from Chrome, like a racketeering scheme, ... so you speak of is as if it was a leak and security threat to users... to access their own data ... on their own damn PCs...

    Seriously, Google?
    You must believe we fall for every last sleazy sneaky shit you can come up with.

    • You are such a dick, want to block others from accessing the bookmarks after they switched away from Chrome

      They don't. You can happily import or export bookmarks from Chrome browser into any other browser, including Firefox if you want to. Why should a Google (bookmark sync) service for a Google product be automatically open to all others?

      Racketeering? I'd say you were really gunning for the title of Slashdot's most ignorant poster, but you've had that for a long time already.

  • I've heard some messengers like to peep into the directories of Chrome, just because they want to learn more about the user. Basic intelligence about people.

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