• PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
    15·
    4 months ago

    If this is the same Ghostery that makes the Chrome/Firefox extension, they were in hot water a few years ago for selling the extension to an ad agency. That ad agency almost immediately turned around and started selling usage data to the sites whose trackers were being blocked.

    Basically, Ghostery was selling info about how users were using the extension, how their trackers were being blocked, and which trackers were present on different users’ browsers. And the extension had this data collection quietly turned on by default. It also meant that ghostery was only acting as a middleman in the data collection process (and profiting as a result,) because the trackers were still able to get the info; They just had to pay Ghostery for access.

    • cantankerous_cashew@lemmy.world
      6·
      4 months ago

      It would appear that this is indeed the same ghostery that sold its users out to the highest bidder.

      I recommend using AdGuard which is free and doesn’t have such serious privacy issues:

      also there’s no need to pay, the free tier is more than sufficient

    • Patrick@lemmy.todayEnglish
      6·
      4 months ago

      I’ve had the extension for a years and basically forgot about it but boy was it eye opening to see all the blocked requests it throws on adguard home. Not as bad as microsoft trying phone home but it’s noticeable. (I’ve since removed it)

    • reddig33@lemmy.worldOP
      4·
      4 months ago

      To block ads. And to automatically dismiss “agree with our cookies” banners.

      I’m hoping some of these blocking extensions will start blocking the stupid “sign in with Google” pop ups that have started appearing everywhere.