Time to De-Google I guess. I will keep using Firefox and if it when I come across any website pulling this crap I won't hesitate to blast then till eternity. I suggest everyone else do the same please.
this post was submitted on 26 Jul 2023
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Privacy
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Time was a decade ago... But better now than never.
With that kind of attitude, it's a wonder no one listened to you a decade ago!
Lol. As soon as I heard someone upload their contacts to Google I thought "welp, I'm out." And yeah, no one listened then either.
Still, we got diaspora working finally. May the force be with you.
I've been converting folks where I can! I work in IT for a huge corporation, so our computers all come pre-loaded with Firefox set as the default browser haha.
And with you!
Damn. How'd you swing that? Everyone I know is still stuck in the Microsoft/Chrome cycle.
I don't give my users a choice at work and those computers are all locked down to where they'd need an admin to install Chrome.
As far as my personal life goes, I've just been the go-to guy for computer questions for friends and family most of my life, so they usually listen to my advice, but it also helps to just go into detail as to why the change is necessary (not recommended, but necessary). No one likes to hear that their web browser is making it impossible to block ads and is streamlining the ad experience so they get more ads. Everyone despises ads lol.
Chad!
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I’m just going to stop using sites that implement this tech. Maybe I’ll even make a site and actually contribute to the web with all the free time I’ll have 😇
It'll be next to impossible when those websites are your bank and Netflix etc.
Not using Netflix is very possible :) Even easier with the pricing they are up to lately.
(But I know you were just listing some examples)
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It's small, but here's a real actionable item that you can do to help:
Put a gentle "Use Firefox" (or any other non-Chromium-based browser) message on your website. It doesn't have to be in-your-face, just something small. I've taken my own advice and added it to my own website: https://geeklaunch.io/ (Only appears in Chromium-based browsers.)
We can slowly turn the tide, little by little.
Copy and paste:
<p>
This site is designed for <a href="https://firefox.com/">Firefox</a>,
a web browser that respects your privacy.
</p>
(I also posted this on the HN discussion.)
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De-google, anyone?
How do you "de-google" when most websites expect most browsers to use chromium and start requiring this to ensure ~~companies buying ad space get the best bang for their buck~~ security?
Most websites? Haven't come across one yet (I am using Firefox on all devices and don't have any other browser installed) ... Do you have any examples?
Yeah I don't think this comment is accurate, the only website that gives you a subpar experience to incentivize you to use a Chromium-based browser that I've come across is, well, google.com on mobile.
Luckily you can download a plugin on Firefox to trick google.com to show you the Chromium experience, or you can just use something like startpage.
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I’ve been de-Googled for 6 months now and the internet works just fine on Firefox and Safari. No significant differences.
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Firefox and ublock origin to start. Site requires Chromium? Buh bye now.
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I agree it is an uphill battle, but it must start somewhere. Else, it only gets worse, and then movements against such abuses will get easily crushed. As I like to say, "the hardest part of a journey is the first step", but also "the future belongs to those who prepare now".
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IE in the 2000's called, it wants it's dream back.
Between this, hobbling adblockers and performing enough monopolistic acts to warrant swift government action, I really see this more as Chrome dying than the web itself.
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Honestly this won't effect me a ton, though I wouldn't be surprised if I have to boot up a windows virtual machine just to check my bank in a few years cause my bank doesn't know what Linux is and doesn't want go trust it. I'm mad about it but given slowly but surely I've been replacing everything with FOSS stuff. I just fear one day they will force you to use corpo approved software to use WiFi , or get cell service
It will likely not work inside a VM. Haven't looked into the implementation, but they will probably want to use the hardware DRM manufacturers have been sneaking into the CPUs and GPUs.
So you will be required to use "approved" CPU, "approved" OS and "approved" browser to access certain websites, as it is already the case with online streaming. You can kiss foss goodbye.
Entirely separate laptop purely for those annoying sites it is, then. At least until the approval inevitably gets cracked and can be bypassed.
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ELI5 Anyone?
You will use the web as google said or you won't use it at all.
Google is underestimating my ability to drink all day and forget the internet entirely.
Ah but what you don't remember is when you're drunk you go on the Internet and stumble around and talk incoherently
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DRM for the web.
Basically, if your browser modifies a web page in any way (such as by blocking ads, applying a theme, disabling javascript, whatever), the server wouldl be able to detect this and deny access.
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Google is pushing some bullshit that would allow websites to check if a client (you, your browser, your device) is on the okie-dokey list. If yes, you may enter e. g. Youtube, if not the you're out. It's like a bouncer for websites and of course Google would be that bouncer. So you might stand out in the rain if you are using one of the following:
-
VPN
-
Adblock
-
Non-Chromium browser like Firefox
At that point they will just have the Google internet and either you're in it or you are not.
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WEI checks your browser, your extensions and your OS to ensure that a site is not tampered with. Officially it's to make sure that sites don't have to deal as much with bots.
Too bad that many of us use adblockers to protect us from malicious ads or remove ads to make a website bearable. Google also happens to distribute ads which makes the fact that adblockers likely won't work anymore a very concenient coincidence they totally didn't have in mind.
It's also possible that non-Chromium browsers (for example Firefox) will stop working due to them either not supporting WEI or not being considered legitimate by whoever will do the checks.
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So this is a problem for all browsers based on Chromium right???
No, it is a problem for all browsers, present and future, period.
The point is that major websites, even government ones might decide to be only available on Chrome.
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Is there anything a person can do about it, other than using Firefox and degoogling?
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Question for anyone with more understanding of the implementation…
Doesn’t this still presume the browser tells the truth to the third party attester? Could we not build something that just straight up lies to the attester? Says I’m a good Google chrome user with no extensions please serve me ads sir?
My understanding was that the browser vendor itself would be the attester. So if Google says it's Google Chrome, it probably is. Unless you somehow reverse engineer how Google decides that it's Google Chrome and spoof that or something...
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