I hope your kidding.

Google is great stuff.

Yes, I think all their products are great. Call me careless but I really don't care about their data collection. The government ? Yes, I do care about that. As long as Google fights the NSA/CIA/FBI/etc about data collection, I'm good. I don't know the latest facts on all that.

That's what I meant. I use Chrome all the time and Gmail.

eta: For those of you who do not know what I'm referring to, it's here: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22Google+Chrome%22+%22data+collection%22&t=hf&ia=web

I know you know Egnever, not for you of course.

you have long ago given up your privacy. The idea you are protecting yourself from google is silly if you do any of the above.

I get not trusting what is going on when you use the internet or google but it doesn't make it nefarious. It would do google absolutely no good to abuse the data they get from you. Quite the opposite it would harm them considerably, they have every incentive to use that data responsibly.

Not only that Google makes it incredibly easy to wipe any and all data you wish that is collected by them at any time.

https://www.androidauthority.com/delete-google-history-692726/

if you do choose to entrust your data with them on the other hand they provide a huge service suite that includes things from map directions to personalized search results to home automation to media and entertainment tailored to you.

The list of services that work together is ridiculous at this point and continue to improve constantly.

Your cost...0

Yes they learn things through your data and make money using your data to deliver adds to you they think pertain to you. But it is not people peering through your stuff it is all computer algorithms crunching away at that data that is providing these connections to your data and you. No one actually looks at it unless there is a problem and you ask them to or in an extreme case the federal government does.

Now if you are worried about the feds looking at you I would say you have other issues and in that case by all means avoid google like the plague but also don't forget all that other stuff either , the credit card etc..you can certainly go to the dark web and hang out there but well need I go on?

Glad to hear this is not you just really leaving all this for others that might stumble onto it.

I freaking love google and Microsoft even though both of them piss me off at times. Millions and millions of people working on both companies platforms every day for decades now and with few exceptions the services keep getting better and better. they have transformed our world and while some are resistant to that change (and I understand that) I would argue it has vastly improved the world in myriad ways and continues to do so.

We all want them to be perfect but if there's anything I have learned in my years around computers there is no such thing. They do keep getting better and better though. How far we have come in what we can do in the last 20 years with computers and the internet is nothing short of amazing and a huge portion of that growth was driven by Microsoft and google products.

I'm expecting you to be scolded any day now for trusting anyone with your data. Like you said, a human is NOT going to go looking through my data to find stuff. Google has every incentive to safeguard data and I'm sure you really have to have a top-level clearance at Google to do that in case of the feds.

Security discussions get way too close to the truly paranoid for me at times. Yes, you want to take reasonable measures but jesus, if you're THAT worried, go live in the Montana woods like Ted Kaczynski and don't tell anyone anything unless there's a gun to your head.

I've been on the net for 21 years being reasonably careful and OMG (sarcasm) I'm still ok. Could the NSA get me ? Hell yes, but if the NSA wants you, they WILL get you, it's only a matter of time. The only way to avoid the NSA is to go offline completely. AFAIK, they have even cracked Tor and probably crack everything.

Not ranting at you, Egnever, just the people who just get a bit....off...about this whole privacy thing.

Built in email, no drama.

Good luck with that, eh?

It's about as secure as anything... not at all.

Canceling my second debit card in the last 3 months... but, not before we get our Christmas tree.

Opera and Firefox are my primary browsers, with Pale Moon hanging in there. I like the way Edge handles downloads, so that's still around. Chrome is a decent browser, but I just get tired baring my soul to Google.

Opera used to include email, but I got Thunderbird for that now

And Epic. May not be as secure as advertised (what is?) but bars snooping and has its own VPN built in.

Security is important, and I can't believe you wouldn't want everyone on DU to be safe while they are posting here or browsing there.

I'm assuming:

1- You're using Tor

2- or you're using the very best VPN service

and

3- you're using a browser like Epic

and

4- there is 0% chance of anyone tracing you

and

5- you use the Tails OS.

I'm not going to be paranoid. I won't do it. I'm not careless either. Happy middle ground.

Laters.

I was married to a tech guy for years and, neither he, nor anyone he worked with, would ever treat security as if it were secondary.

Neither would I. Neither would my former employer.

:heavy sigh:

I don't like to baffled by BS, even when it's being disguised as something supposedly helpful.

I tend to highlight text from right to left in order to copy or cut. In twitter this activates a gesture that apparently means, "close this silly pop up text window and go back to where I was before!". I tried turning off gestures, did no good. Eventually I just changed my habit instead b/c the rest of the browser is that useful.

Note: I was a FF user since the first versions. It's biggest strength was the way we could use plugins to make it work "just right". About 2-3 versions ago they blocked all of my favorite plugins because they didn't fit in with the developer's new philosophy. So I am left with installing ver 54 in order to make it work the way I need it to work. Not a great solution & for the most part firefox is no longer my browser of choice.

Then it started freezing. Found that it was a common problem, and the Vivaldi "helpers" in the discussion groups were blaming the users. I said to hell with it and switched back to Firefox. I understand that Vivaldi has since fixed the problem, but I will keep using Firefox until one of their revisions screws it up and I'll probably go back to Vivaldi.

Firefox Quantum, the current version, is very fast and lightweight. All the plugins I liked back when I was using it last time work in this version, so I'm happy enough with it. Sooner or later they'll break it and I'll check the other browsers to see which one I like best.

The problem with all browsers is that they are constantly changing and working on them. I know they are doing it to counter threats, but they can't resist the temptation to tinker with the bells and whistles at the same time, and inevitably the break something that either slows it to a crawl, makes it freeze, or injects bells and whistles that make it play a tune that I don't want to listen to.

I don't really care. There are many, many browsers available, and I am "loyal" to none of them. When one starts acting in a manner that is annoying, it bothers me not the least to start looking at others to find one I like better. None of them are "wonderful," they are just tools. I use them the way a ditch digger uses a shovel.

The most recent snapshot of the Vivaldi web browser comes with integrated Sync functionality to sync data across devices.

The much awaited functionality makes it easier to keep data such as settings, passwords or extensions in sync automatically.

While Sync landed in the Vivaldi 1.14 snapshot, it is not yet a given that the functionality will land in the next stable version of the web browser as well.

Vivaldi staff will monitor the feature closely and base the decision on how it performs both on the user side but also on Vivaldi's side as infrastructure is required to maintain the Sync functionality of the browser.

https://www.ghacks.net/2017/11/29/vivaldi-lands-sync-functionality-in-latest-browser-snapshot/