“Different browsers handle user data in different ways, and when you toss add-ons and extensions into the mix, the picture changes even more,” Alan Henry writes fro Lifehacker. “Let’s take a look at some of the most popular browsers from a privacy angle, and see who has your back when it comes to tracking—or not tracking—what you do online.”
“If you don’t use Firefox or Chrome, where does that leave you? We asked the EFF, but none of their experts had any knowledge when it came to browsers that weren’t Chrome or Firefox,” Henry writes. “They did, however, note that privacy advocates generally prefer open source browsers like over closed-source, proprietary ones like Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. The EFF praised both however for pioneering their own privacy features, like Safari’s 3rd party cookie blocking and IE’s Tracking Protection Lists. Still, the fact that you can’t see under the hood and that neither have developer APIs makes them tough to analyze.”
Much more in the full article here.
“…none of their experts had any knowledge when it came to browsers that weren’t Chrome or Firefox…”
Experts? Really? Chrome? Privacy? Don’t make me laugh so hard!
Chrome is not just a fail — it is negligent. The ad-pushing extensions are out there. Chrome (Google) may or may NOT be trying to fix the issue(s) in a timely manner.
Out of the box, Omniweb is the easiest to use to block cookies and third-party web bugs (tiny pixel images designed to track you when cookies don’t).
Poor OmniWeb. I loved thee well. Sadly, it is on the furthest possible back burner at OmniGroup. Please do NOT use it at this time. It’s version of WebKit is WAYYYYY out of date, just for starters. I wish it were not so.
Firefox by default, then unexpectedly Internet Explorer.
Bottom of the ranking: Chrome.
Why is it that everyone seems to have forgotten that Chrome grew out of Safari? Am I the only one that remembers nightly builds of WebKit (that incidentally, are still being built nightly)? Also, comparing Safari to IE is just as laughable as the notion that Google ever ‘has your back’. What a waste of pixels.
They don’t count Webkit as open source? Isn’t webkit the foundation of both Safari and Chrome?
http://lifehacker.com/which-browser-is-better-for-privacy-1525895782
TY Goddess!
And the best quote from the article – “did you know that Internet Explorer has a feature that sends your entire browsing history to Microsoft so they can analyze it? I didn’t, and I don’t think most readers did either.”
There are 3rd party services where you browse through a VPN connection and they claim to isolate you from the bad stuff. It is mostly marketed to corporate types but can be had if you want to pony up the cash for a subscription.
I would recommend the Epic Privacy Browser (epicbrowser.com), which is based on Chrome but blocks all tracking (kind of like have the Ghostery extension baked into the browser), which isn’t even mentioned in the article.
Thanks so much for the link! I plan on giving this a try.
I will try also. thx
Browser security is the least of Americans’ worries:
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Thursday that the Obama administration will not be releasing any more information about the controversial use of drones to kill American citizens.
Carney’s remarks, via the White House’s transcript of the off-camera press gaggle:
“This is not an open-ended process. This is a specific and unique accommodation in this circumstance. The fact is, when it comes to public disclosure, we have been — not with the kind of attention that’s been given it this week — but we have been publicly discussing these matters at the highest levels of government for the very reason that I’ve given, which is the President understands that these are core issues about how we conduct ourselves in war, how the President of the United States — any President — balances his constitutional obligation to protect America and American citizens, and his obligation to do so in a manner that is lawful under the Constitution and reflects our values.
“The President takes these issues very seriously, and he believes that the conversation about this is valid and that the questions about it are legitimate. And that’s why he has been leading this process internally to — as has John Brennan, by the way — to provide public information as much as possible, mindful of the fact that we are talking about here very sensitive matters, and that these kinds of things — they’re classification — information is classified for very legitimate reasons that go right to our national security interest.
“But within that, there is an effort underway to provide Congress information — those who have oversight over these matters — classified information as well as unclassified with the white paper and the public information as much as possible.”
Those comments by Carney follow the White House’s Wednesday evening decision to send Congress “classified legal advice” about the rationale for using drones against Americans, reported the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Obama has directed the Justice Department to give Congress’ intelligence committees access to classified legal advice providing the government’s rationale for drone strikes against American citizens working with al-Qaeda abroad, a senior administration official and Democratic lawmakers said Wednesday.
A drumbeat of demands to see the document has swelled on Capitol Hill in recent days as the Senate Intelligence Committee prepares to hold a confirmation hearing for John Brennan, who helped manage the drone program, to be CIA director.
…the controversial use of drones to kill American citizens
Another demolition of the US Constitution. That’s the fact. I will spare everyone the lecture about the utter immorality of drones for ANY purpose. Let’s just start by stopping their use for assassination of US citizens, a treasonable crime.
Good going Obama. You may well end up prosecuted in The Hague. So much for your Nobel Peace Prize bullshit.
Hi, we’re experts at EFF that don’t know anything. That’s why they call us experts.
Sagar hands down. Look at the hardware it runs on. Apple hardware is the most secure in the business.