Google "Chrome"

[herm]

don't think of it as a replacement for firefox or internet explorer. think of it as a platform for running very specialized web-hosted applications.

'k, so the goodness is over my head.
i can live with that (or without i suppose)

[ZLTFUL]

I am guessing none of you have actually read the Chrome EULA or seen any of the myriad of write ups about how make the beast with two backsed up this browser really is in terms of what they can harvest from your browsing?

Hehe. Sheeple.

Funny thing is, the Chinese government PAID Google to do what they are doing to all of you unaware folk...

[ZLTFUL]

Article courtesy of Sean Kalinich of PlanetX64.com

This is a question that many people are asking right now. After months of denial Google finally released its Chrome browser. Many thought this was one of the best things since the invention of Linux. There were multiple articles praising the browser for the wonder that it is. Then, after a very short honeymoon some very disturbing information started to surface. It seems that the folks over at Google put a nice caveat in their EULA (something that most people do not read). The following text is enough to raise the hairs on the back of your neck.


"By submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services."

With this small bit of information I (and many others) began to wonder where Google would get this information from. I began to speculate that they must be caching pages somewhere that could be retrieved later.  This is almost like what they have been doing in China but now they are doing it to everyone and putting it in writing that they are doing it.

Less than 24 hours after this little part of the EULA was unearthed Google made an announcement that was posted on Ars Technica.

"Google's Rebecca Ward, Senior Product Counsel for Google Chrome, now tells Ars Technica that the company tries to reuse these licenses as much as possible, "in order to keep things simple for our users." Ward admits that sometimes "this means that the legal terms for a specific product may include terms that don't apply well to the use of that product" and says that Google is "working quickly to remove language from Section 11 of the current Google Chrome terms of service. This change will apply retroactively to all users who have downloaded Google Chrome."

This begs the question “how can you apply one ToS to a completely different product and not catch these things?”
Yes Chrome is still new but I do not think for a minute that this was an accident. I will be looking very closely at the language Google uses in the new ToS.

But that is not all, later that same day it was uncovered that Chrome indexes all pages viewed, including HTTPS/SSL pages. This means that once you are in your browser and you visit, say your bank, Chrome is going to index all of that information: charges credits, account numbers etc. This information can be called up later through a simple search in the Chrome browser or by parsing the index files stored on the local machine.
Now the argument can be made that you can turn this off or open an incognito browsing session where pages are not indexed or to clear personal data but how many novice users know how to do that?

How many are going to get sucked in and install this because they use Google everyday and upon seeing a new Google browser will go ahead and install it? The answer is simple; millions, just as many as get caught by spammers, phishsers and viruses every year. Next up on the list of things wrong is the finding made by CNET about Google tracking browsing habits.

"Provided that users leave Chrome's auto-suggest feature on and have Google as their default search provider, Google will have access to any keystrokes that are typed into the browser's Omnibox, even before a user hits enter.
What's more, Google has every intention of retaining some of that data even after it provides the promised suggestions. A Google representative told CNET News that the company plans to store about 2 percent of that data--and plans to store it along with the Internet Protocol address of the computer that typed it."

This to me has reached the level of unacceptability. Google is showing themselves to be a very unsavory company.  They have been leading up to this for sometime, they have tracked search habits of Google Desktop users, have tracked Google Toolbar, and instituted tracking of browsing habits by IP in China (just to get the business there) Google has been involved in people actually being arrested for the websites or searches they visited (Google provided IP information to the Chinese Government), now we see they are bringing this to the rest of the world.
Personally I am not going to be installing this browser ever and I know these glaring issues have prompted more than one enterprise to ban its installation on corporate systems one has even made it grounds for dismissal.

I think Google has a rather large amount of explaining to do and without some major changes their shiny new Chrome browser may tarnish and pit in the coming months.

[derby]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080903-google-on-chrome-eula-controversy-our-bad-well-change-it.html

[NAKID]

Well, the last 2 posts were enough for me to uninstall Chrome and explain in my unistallation why I did it.

[derby]

Well, the last 2 posts were enough for me to uninstall Chrome and explain in my unistallation why I did it.

what? you don't like that they're changing their blanket, use-for-everything EULA in response to customer concerns?

[NAKID]

Uhhhh, riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight..

[darylbowden]

Well, the last 2 posts were enough for me to uninstall Chrome and explain in my unistallation why I did it.

What?  You think Google doesn't already know everything about you?  Puh-leaze.

[NAKID]

Hahahahahaha


I do online banking for everything since my bank is in AZ and I'm in CT. I don't need them knowing what I do with my money let alone my log in info....

[derby]

Hahahahahaha


I do online banking for everything since my bank is in AZ and I'm in CT. I don't need them knowing what I do with my money let alone my log in info....

that's why your login and session info are encrypted.

[NAKID]

But if they can track keystrokes, what does it matter?

[derby]

But if they can track keystrokes, what does it matter?

do you type your login information into the address bar/omnibar? of course you don't.

fwiw, that article above also says this:

That said, individuals have a clear way to use Chrome and avoid having this occur. Turning off the auto-suggest feature means that Google will neither get nor store this information. One can also select a search provider other than Google as their default to avoid having their search queries stored by Google. (Update 11:45 a.m. PDT: Switching to Chrome's Incognito mode also switches off the auto-suggest features, the Google representative said.)

so, you can just simply turn it off. easy.

[roy-nexus-6]

I don't do go online to do any kind of banking whatsoever.

And the credit card I use for transactions can only be charged a few hundred dollars. And I change it every 6 months or so.

Google makes its money from selective advertising. The money is HUGE. i can't see anyone from google making illicit cash transfers of any sort - that would definitely be killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

[arai_speed]

This reminds me of the days when people were afraid of cookies.  Wait, maybe some of you STILL are afraid of cookies?  You don't think every site, post, you make here does not get logged by your ISP to do as they wish in accordance with the law (BB to ISP "if they type in Bomb or Lolita, let us know ok?") ?  You don't think Google stores your IP and sees what search terms you are typing in? 

How about your Credit card company?  Do you think they know what you buy and when you buy it?

Ohh wait, you all carry wads of cash?

Plluuuuueeezzzzzz people.

[derby]

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/update-to-google-chromes-terms-of.html

So for Google Chrome, only the first sentence of Section 11 should have applied. We're sorry we overlooked this, but we've fixed it now, and you can read the updated Google Chrome terms of service. If you're into the fine print, here's the revised text of Section 11:

    11. Content license from you
    11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.

And that's all. Period. End of section.