Firefox now shows ads as sponsored address bar suggestions.

While I'll stand corrected about rogue employees misusing data, Google itself does give it out users' personal information to the NSA,

Again, what has that got to do with Google and my banking data or my personal information? If the NSA wants my banking data, they're not gonna be asking Google. Google cooperating with the NSA has exactly nothing to do with the topic. If the NSA wants my personal information, Google ain't gonna stop 'em from getting it.

The discussion is about if I'd trust Google to do banking in Chrome/Chromium and with my personal information. The answer is, "Of course." Google cooperating with the NSA isn't going to change that. I can't imagine why you'd think that'd matter. (No, the NSA doesn't care about you either.)

For the record, I don't like the NSA spying on American citizens. Also for the record, that's gonna impact me exactly none.

I'd trust Google to keep my personal information pretty secure. It'd look bad if they didn't. There's no real motivation for them to share it with anyone else - while there's lots of motivation for them to gather it.

They don't care too much about the individual, they care about the aggregate. E.g. What interests do I have and how can they exploit them to sell me more products? They're not gonna go skulking about and stealing my money. Oh no! They might tell the NSA that I searched for ways to encrypt a thumb drive!

While we're at it... No... No, the big ol' bad government doesn't scare me either. There's pretty much nothing they can (realistically) do that's going to meaningfully impact my life in one way or another. It's statistically unlikely that they'll randomly charge me with a crime. I don't do anything interesting. I pay my taxes.

No, I'm not worried that they'll come take my rights. No, I'm not worried that they'll come take my firearms. No, I'm not worried that they'll target me for anything nefarious. No, I don't live in fear. I assess probabilities and adjust accordingly. I don't 'trust my gut', I trust data and facts.
 


Good people have nothing to hide, Google are the good guys, it's even in the motto.
 
I use Firefox as my main browser, I very very rarely open Chromium or any other browser.
Firefox does what I need it to do.
 
Does Google need to know about your sex life?
Yes.

You still don't get it, do you? Google is an advertising company. People's sex lives are simply another business for them to sell advertising. People buy sex toys, lubricants, subscribe to porn, arrange dates, cheat on their spouses... and Google helps show them how and where. The more Google knows about you, including your sexual proclivities, the more accurately they can target you and your most basic desires to those who will buy Google advertising to try to reach you.

And you know what? It works. It works very well, making Google one of the most valuable companies in the world. You don't have to like it. But other people DO like their search results.

Here's more food for thought: It matters little if you don't use Firefox, or Google Chrome. It matters little if you don't use Google Search. It matters little if you use Odysee instead of YouTube. Most of the websites you visit, including THIS ONE, have embedded Google scripts that scarf you up like a Hoover vacuum... because that's how the websites rank higher in search queries, and that's how they make money... Google pays them. There is much we can learn about YOU just by reading your posts here. If that bothers you too much, turn off your smartphone and get off the internet. Google will know you left, but they won't care.
 
@KGIII @stan
After reading your responses, and realizing I wasn't thinking clearly when I was making mine, I'll admit I created a red herring and wave the white flag.
 
My guilty pleasure is scat and piss sex yet Google advertisements have never suggested any items or online shops that could help me out with purchases to enhance my experiences. I've also been looking to become a member of Satanic cult that sacrifices babies and drinks the blood to have eternal youth and life, however I have never had a useful Google search result that has gotten me closer to me finding what I am looking for. Google you are a disappointment!
 
My guilty pleasure is scat and piss sex yet Google advertisements have never suggested any items or online shops that could help me out with purchases to enhance my experiences.
You aren't trying very hard! (Almost 38,000 results) ;)

Spend more time there... you'll probably get ads that you prefer.
 
That's just porn and I was talking about Google advertisements you get when searching the average online shop or other sites that uses ads, haven't found any Satanic cult websites yet who the practices I am looking for. However you get my point I was making exaggerated points to lighten the air in this thread because it seemed like it was about the blow up. ;)

Now days I use 4 different browsers and 4 different search engines and a de-Googled phone to limit the information that goes to Google about me because it is impossible to not come across something Google on the web.
 
And you know what? It works. It works very well, making Google one of the most valuable companies in the world.

I use Google's services for quite a few things and I'm perfectly okay with that. I know that I cede privacy (which is intertwined with security but is not the same thing as security) when I use Google's services.

I know this. I clearly make the choice. To me, and it's a very personal thing, it's worth it. It's worth ceding my privacy to get the benefits. This isn't a black and white thing. It doesn't mean that I approve of everything Google does.

In fact, I just recently shifted all my searches to Google instead of Bing. (That was a long time coming, as Bing's results have gone downhill for the past six or so months.)

Not only am I searching at Google - I'm logged in at Google to perform those searches. I *want* Google to track my search history and give me results tailored to my profile. This gets me good results with less effort.

I use AdSense, Analytics, GMail, Google Drive, YouTube, and Chrome.

I trust Chrome well enough to sync my browser history, open tabs, and usernames/passwords (for some sites). To be clear, I don't sync important passwords. No, no... I just don't trust 'em that much - but I don't trust anyone that much.

Finally, I don't really do any banking online. The only bills I pay online are those that are online bills, like streaming. I don't even 'save $2' and pay my credit card every month. I have that automatically paid in full before the due date though my bank. If I need to transfer assets, it's easily done with a phone call or stopping at the nearest lending institution - usually a credit union for small stuff.

I do have PayPal and that's pretty active. It's tied to a bank account that is generally empty. So, if that's compromised I just lost the money that was sitting in my PayPal account (less than a few grand at any given moment) and PayPal should make me whole again if it's stolen. It being tied to an empty bank account limits the damages. Also, I don't trust PayPal all that much - so I minimize my risk. I use PayPal for convenience, not because of a love for the company.

I could go on, I suppose.

I'll admit I created a red herring and wave the white flag.

It's okay to care about your privacy - but a couple of notes on this:

Not everyone cares nearly as much and, frankly, it's perfectly logical to *knowingly* trade privacy for services/convenience. We give up privacy for all sorts of things - to go into stores, banks, or even walk down the street. We give up privacy to run for office, to head businesses, or to even just get a job.

These things are a spectrum. It's not black and white.

And, well, nobody cares about you. Google doesn't care about you as a person, nor does the Chinese government (unless you're Chinese and a person of interest). The Russians don't care about you as a person. Unless you're a criminal (or unless there's a mistake/malice) not even your own country cares about you.

Privacy zealots are usually unrealistic and paranoid. Again, it's a spectrum. You get to decide where you are on that spectrum, though there are consequences (and benefits) for making this decision. If you're really concerned about privacy, you shouldn't be online at all. If you care nothing about privacy, you should be on social media sharing your innermost thoughts and personal details. Somewhere betwixt the two is probably the most healthy, logical, and safe. But, it's up to you to decide where you want to be. You should probably make that decision based on facts and *honest* risk assessment.
 
However you get my point I was making exaggerated points to lighten the air in this thread because it seemed like it was about the blow up.

LOL I think it's post-blow-up at this point.

But, to touch on that, even with everything Google knows about me - it hardly ever shows me ads that are of interest to me. On a few sites, I let 'em show me ads. I do this to support those sites and sometimes even click on an ad - but it's hard pressed to find an ad that interests me.

For a while, they were trying to sell me leather messenger bags. This was after I'd purchased one. Silly Google... I don't need one. I already bought one.

Around that same time, they did show me some leather boots ads. Those interested me, but they only showed it a couple of times.

At one point, they were trying to sell me barn doors. I admit, I own some barn doors. However, if I am going to replace a barn door, I'm going to just have it done locally. Seriously, who buys barn doors online?

Google knows I have multiple automobiles - and helpfully will sometimes offer me car ads. They're for things like a used Toyota. My "daily driver" is a BMW M6 Competition. I own a 488 Spider. I have a Continental GT Speed. The list goes on... Why, Google, are you trying to sell me a used Toyota?!? No, I don't want a gently used Camry.

So, for all the fears we have about Google tracking us, they still have a long ways to go.
 
Finally, I don't really do any banking online. The only bills I pay online are those that are online bills, like streaming. I don't even 'save $2' and pay my credit card every month. I have that automatically paid in full before the due date though my bank. If I need to transfer assets, it's easily done with a phone call or stopping at the nearest lending institution - usually a credit union for small stuff.
Where I'm from online banking is the norm and I can't make in person payments for my rent and other monthly payments, I have all my monthly payments set to automatic payments so I don't have to look after it so it saves me time and problems.
 
I have all my monthly payments set to automatic payments so I don't have to look after it so it saves me time and problems.

Hmm... Any way that I say this is going to come out poorly/snobbish.

I don't really do much in the pay my own bills kinda thing. I mean, I do online - but those are subscriptions. I have an accountant that does things like make sure my bills are paid. They make sure my insurance is up to date, my taxes are paid, even utility bills get paid by them. Things like that. My credit cards are paid automatically.

Entirely unrelated:

I never used to use credit cards for much of anything. These days, they're pretty much free money. I get points and rewards, along with cash back, and I never actually pay any interest. So long as you pay it in full, there's no interest. So, the rewards and cash back are free money. (Free to me, someone else is paying for it, or we're all paying for it by slightly higher prices.)
 
I use Firefox as my main browser, I very very rarely open Chromium or any other browser.
Firefox does what I need it to do.
Agreed. Most of the time, I used Firefox and Vivaldi since those allow me to switch the search engines.
There is much we can learn about YOU just by reading your posts here. If that bothers you too much, turn off your smartphone and get off the internet. Google will know you left, but they won't care.
Agreed. Just press Ctrl + U in your browser and you will see Google Analytics, Google Adsense codes in there. Turning on the AdBlock might help, but not much in my opinion. Other factors are counted like your IP, geolocation, browser fingerprinting.
Does Google need to know about your sex life?
People buy sex toys, lubricants, subscribe to porn, arrange dates, cheat on their spouses... and Google helps show them how and where.
Not to be rude, but as far I know, porn and gambling are not allowed on Google Ads, generally. But that depends on your location, countries, etc. Most search engines have strict policy on these markets. They have to comply with the local laws.
 
Last edited:
Sadly Mozilla has lost its way since ousting its founder. I use Brave and DuckDuckGo browsers now.

Once upon a time, I donated enough money to Firefox (which wasn't all that much) for them to print my name in a 2 page ad in the NYT paper.

Come to think of it, I can't recall if I used my real name or my fake name that I always use for stuff like that. I have a copy of the 'ad' around here somewhere. Holy crap, that must have been almost 20 years ago.

I haven't used Firefox as my preferred browser in a long time.
 
I've never seen ads. Probably because long time ago I saw something about ads in about:config and blocked it by entering 127.0.0.1 for a source address and that setting has been there ever since. :D
 
I let ads though at some sites. I like to support them.
 
Once upon a time, I donated enough money to Firefox (which wasn't all that much) for them to print my name in a 2 page ad in the NYT paper.

Come to think of it, I can't recall if I used my real name or my fake name that I always use for stuff like that. I have a copy of the 'ad' around here somewhere. Holy crap, that must have been almost 20 years ago.

I haven't used Firefox as my preferred browser in a long time.

Wow, getting close to the Netscape days. lol
 

Members online


Top