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

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.

"Inadvertant"

[Arthur, KBE]

OK. bro.

Re:

[BeerFartMoron]

"limiting access to [its] private Chrome APIs" from March 15th.

And "private" too.

Re:

[khchung]

The inadvertent part is letting you know about it.

Re:

[bill_mcgonigle]

> OK. bro.

We're lying about not realizing this but you can trust us with your private data!

Brave sync chains are superior anyway. Good job, Brave team.

Good

[Dan East]

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

Re:

[igelineau]

Nothing is free in this world.

Re:

[Linux Torvalds]

You forgot the next lyric from your tired old song. "And there's nothing pure in this world. It's a nice day for a White wedding..."

Re: Biden

[BAReFO0t]

Yes it is, you fuckin Ferengi.

Air is free.
Sunlight is free.
Time is free. I get 24h every day.
Hell, if you're a bank or the content Mafia or a stock gambler, or frankly any other making-profit-but-not-working leech (like an "employer"), (Yes, you probably are), YOUR lunch is literally free!

And you ONLY say thar, because you want to steal money from us for using those free things too!
Just like you already steal money from us for wealth createe by automation that we financed and is now making free wealth that

Building the wall ... higher

[Jerry]

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]

Re:

[denis-The-menace]

I vaguely remember a browser called FireFox. Doesn't it count?

Re:

[Cmdln Daco]

I also remember SeaMonkey, all I need to do to be reminded is look up at the title bar.

oofa

[Hectar]

cripes almighty

Eh..

[poptix]

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.

Re:

[itsme1234]

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:

[hawky]

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

Re:

[hawky]

oh you said Linux ARM, missed that part.

Re: Eh..

[BAReFO0t]

You seem to confuse Slashdot with some SJW platform.

Re:

[bobstreo]

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.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Linux

[Geekbot]

Well, there goes my linux laptop setup.

New IE

[awwshit]

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

Re:

[ChunderDownunder]

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.

Re: New IE

[BAReFO0t]

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.

Well, I'm convinced

[ufgrat]

... 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.

Repeat of incognito mode.

[AlexHilbertRyan]

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 - Monopoly case to proceed

[Canberra1]

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.

Re: An OS is impartial - Monopoly case to proceed

[BAReFO0t]

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.)

Re:

[ozmartian]

i think they were being sarcastic

Declaring non-monopolism a security bug...

[BAReFO0t]

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.

Re:

[thegarbz]

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.

On Windows - other apps read Chrome history, do ML

[Inyu]

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.