Topics essentially works like this: rather than using cookies to track people around the web and figure out their interests from the sites they visit and the apps they use, websites can ask Chrome directly, via its Topics JavaScript API, what sort of things the user is interested in, and then display ads based on that. Chrome picks these topics of interest from studying the user’s browser history.

Isn’t this completely immoral? They are literally stealing the users private browsing history and uses it to boost their own profits.

        • GFGJewbacca@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          11
          ·
          1 year ago

          I somehow doubt that Chromium is safe from this. I would imagine that anything built off of Chrome will have this implemented, because otherwise they’re just “leaving money on the table.”

              • Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                1
                ·
                1 year ago

                Already there. Been here since the Netscape Navigator days.

                It’s just that some people want to try the chrome-chromium route before landing in Firefox land.

                • Doc Blaze@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  3
                  ·
                  edit-2
                  1 year ago

                  I think the best route for preventing browser fingerprinting is to use multiple browsers for different things. Firefox is of course always the long standing favorite, but chromium has a place on my OS as well.

                  • Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz
                    link
                    fedilink
                    arrow-up
                    2
                    ·
                    1 year ago

                    Thats also very true in a mobile environment. I have Firefox Focus for clicking random news links on Lemmy, normal Firefox for all the serious stuff, Brave for logging into Google services and Safari for those sites that refuse to work with Firefox.

          • Doc Blaze@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            I’m was more talking about pure ungoogled chromium, as built from scratch or by popular Linux distributions. People that use commercial chromium browsers are already lost causes. Brave alone has more privacy red flags in its short existence than Google has in its over 2 decades.