Socket, posted yesterday: 108 Chrome Extensions Linked to Data Exfiltration and Session Theft via Shared C2 Infrastructure https://socket.dev/blog/108-chrome-ext-linked-to-data-exfil-session-theft-shared-c2 @SocketSecurity

More:

Infosecurity-Magazine: Malicious Chrome Extensions Campaign Exposes User Data https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/chrome-extensions-expose-user-data/ #infosec #Google #Chrome #threatresearch

Migrated away from #google search to #kagi. Can't say enough nice things about that service. Yes, you pay. And in return you get what google felt like before it fully enshitified. There are AI features, but they are easily turned off, and they will even optionally derank AI results. There is a kid-friendly version in our family plan which is perfect for learning and research without wading thru slop.

Google Broke Its Promise to Me. Now ICE Has My Data.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/google-broke-its-promise-me-now-ice-has-my-data

#news #politics #uspol #uspolitics #GOPCult #trump #ethics #corruption #maga #ICE #google

🆕 blog! “Android now stops you sharing your location in photos”

My wife and I run OpenBenches. It's a niche little site which lets people share photos of memorial benches and their locations. Most modern phones embed a geolocation within the photo's metadata, so we use that information to put the photos on a map.

Google's…

👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/04/android-now-stops-you-sharing-your-location-in-photos/
⸻
#android #geolocation #geotagging #google #OpenBenches

2017 verkündete Google, E-Mail-Inhalte nicht mehr für personalisierte Werbung zu nutzen. Was viele als Ende des Mitlesens verstanden haben, war keines: Google scannt weiterhin sämtliche ein- und ausgehenden Mails. Für andere Zwecke – und die bleiben bewusst vage.

Das Pikante: Selbst wer kein Gmail-Konto hat, ist betroffen. Schreibst du an eine Gmail-Adresse, analysiert Google auch deine Inhalte. Du hast dem nie zugestimmt.
Kontakte, Betreff, Links, Kalendereinträge, Kommunikationszeitpunkte – alles verwertbar für detaillierte Nutzerprofile.

Wechseln. Jetzt! 👇

https://www.kuketz-blog.de/unplugbigtech-e-mail-ohne-werbe-oekosystem-teil-4/

#Datenschutz #Gmail #Google #Mail #DigitaleSelbstbestimmung

Ha! Google's AI gets this wrong* —
Ask Ethan: How did Artemis II break Apollo's distance record? - Big Think
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/how-artemis-ii-break-apollo-distance-record/
*h/t @startswithabang
https://mastodon.social/@startswithabang/116380940996324360
#Artemis #space #ArtemisII #AI #google

Sigo pensando que no hay razón para que #Prestocast esté bloqueada en mi área. No se trata de una app o red de pago, ni tampoco pesa políticamente tanto como para estar baneada por #Google , ni tampoco me queda clara una intención de resolver este conflicto.
#podcast

cc. @joanboluda

Alt...

Mensaje de error desde el navegador Chrome para Android: 403. That’s an error. Your client does not have permission to get URL / from this server. That’s all we know.

@neil I would say that there is a certain amount of #AppleEnvy at #Microsoft and #Google right now.

A #WalledGarden allows higher #Rent and cheapens compliance with legislation that attempts to restrict what users can do.

Open source - and thus backdoor-free - VPNs and e2ee are probably being targeted as preemptive obedience to future laws.

Open Street Maps: directs me through a road closed due to roadworks.

Google Maps: directs me to drive down a pedestrian walkway and through a tennis court.

I think I'll just read the road signs.

#Google #OpenStreetMap

#Samsung is shutting down its text messenging app and forcing people onto #Google for SMS and MMS. At #techreclaimers we have been discussing alternatives to avoid Google. Several Reclaimers recommend Fossify Messages and Fossify Contacts as a good alternative, others have used Textra, and we'd all love to know about more options that keep your data private and sovereign.

If you're stuck, check these out and let us all know how you found the switch.
If you're a super user already, share the knowledge! What do you use?

https://www.fossify.org/apps/
https://www.reclaimcontrol.tech

@TheBulletin

Here's a rare article in the news that accurately represents the current state of SEO.

https://www.theverge.com/tech/900302/ai-seo-industry-google-search-chatgpt-gemini-marketing

#SEO #AI #Google

#Google to tap into gas plant for #AIDatacenter in sharp turn from climate goals

#Texas power plant would emit 4.5m tons of carbon dioxide per year, more than that of the entire city of San Francisco

Dara Kerr, Thu 2 Apr 2026

"According to Crusoe’s 465-page permit application, the power plant would emit as much as 4.5m tons of carbon dioxide, a primary driver of climate change, per year. For comparison, the entire city of San Francisco emits about 4m tons of carbon dioxide annually."

Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/02/google-ai-datacenter

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/wZFzr

#GoogleSucks #AISucks #Datacenters #ClimateChange #ClimateDenial #FossilFuels #FossilFools

I was wondering why my photos were no longer getting #location tagged. Turns out the #Google fuckers only *allow* location tagging on #Android on "backed up" photos - i.e. giving them free map and image-training content. Screw that. I will just have to tag them manually, later.

The Guardian | Google to tap into gas plant for AI datacenter in sharp turn from climate goals by Dara Kerr

Texas power plant would emit 4.5m tons of carbon dioxide per year, more than that of the entire city of San Francisco

Google has struck a partnership for a natural gas power plant that could provide energy for one of its datacenters in Texas, unearthed by new research and confirmed by the company. The move is part of an ongoing about-face for the tech giant, which once pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030 and has long been seen as a pioneer in clean energy.

The gas power plant is slated to be built in Armstrong county, a sparsely populated area in the Texas panhandle. According to a report by the research organization Cleanview, the project is being led by Crusoe Energy, which partnered with Google to develop the datacenter campus known as “Goodnight”, named after a nearby town.

Continue reading...

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/02/google-ai-datacenter

#ai(artificialintelligence) #climatecrisis #google #datacenter #carbondioxide

This is alarming but not surprising:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/the-wiretap/2026/03/24/google-cookies-help-cops-identify-anonymous-users/
TLDR If you access multiple Google accounts from the same device, and the cops know about one of the accounts and ask Google the right questions, Google will tell the cops about the other accounts.
The general lesson here is one we already know: if you have any sort of account you don't want linked to you, you can't ever access it from a device or network connection you use other accounts on.
Caveat usor.
#infosec #OpSec #Google

I did like the headline, but the article makes for an interesting read as well, even if as a short piece it ignores much of the role the BBC plays as part of the British (read London) State

https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/30/bbc_opinion

#BBC #Google #BeginningOfTheEnd

Google facilitates switch from ChatGPT & Co. to Gemini with new import function

From one AI chatbot to another: Google's new function for transferring memories and chat histories aims to encourage users to switch to Gemini.

https://www.heise.de/en/news/Google-facilitates-switch-from-ChatGPT-Co-to-Gemini-with-new-import-function-11229031.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege&utm_source=mastodon

#Apps #ChatGPT #Google #GoogleGemini #IT #KünstlicheIntelligenz #news

I don't much like #WebMail, and I like #Google even less, but I gotta say that #Gmail's new Subscription manager is a game-changer.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#sub

Gmail is no longer my primary email provider (thankfully), and I'm more than happy to pay out of my own pocket for email hosted by a reputable company, but I still have work email and my personal "junk drawer" email accounts hosted by the "don't be evil, lol" company. ;)

Here’s hoping. The band aid that banning teenagers from Social media needs to be replaced by a proper fix for the problems engineered, cynically by Meta and others.

Needless to say, our ‘governments’ will not be quick to act.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/ng-interactive/2026/mar/28/week-that-brought-big-tech-to-heel-meta-youtube-google-instagram-facebook

#Meta #Google #X #Harm #EngineeredHarm #Cynical #Profits #Harm #MentalHealth

"Meet Matt Brittin: ex-Googler and, if reports are to be believed, the BBC’s next director general. An executive search yielded an apparent shortlist of four women – who between them had decades of experience in broadcasting, news, and public service journalism – and one man, who didn’t"

#BBC #Google #Journalism #Entertainment #UKPolitics #AI

Will Google’s AI hype man kill the BBC?
https://www.thenerve.news/p/matt-brittin-google-bbc-director-general-ai-death-journalism-guardian-anna-bateson

Our report details how we can improve the online environment by empowering users.

Pursuing online safety in ways that preserve and even strengthen the dominance of Big Tech is a self-defeating mission.

We need to break these monopolies and push for competition through interoperability.

Read now ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/publications/making-platforms-accountable-empowering-users-and-creating-safety/

#onlinesafety #BreakBigTech #bigtech #socialmedia #meta #google #adtech #interoperability #ukpolitics #ukpol

The UK Government should take note. Age ID checks for Internet access won't solve online harms.

It does nothing to tackle their structural causes: advertising-driven business models built on surveillance, profiling and maximising engagement.

All it does is threaten privacy. We must #BreakBigTech.

#onlinesafety #bigtech #socialmedia #meta #google #ageverification #ukpolitics #ukpol

ORG calls on the UK Government to:

✅️ Uphold data protection law to tackle targeted advertising that fuel the attention economy and feed online hate.

✅️ Compel social media companies to be transparent about algorithms and give users control over them.

✅️ Introduce social media switching rights similar to banking and mobile phones, so we can change platforms without losing networks.

#onlinesafety #BreakBigTech #bigtech #socialmedia #meta #google #adtech #interoperability #ukpolitics #ukpol

Social media giants have pushed engagement-driven designs to keep us on their platforms, so they can harvest our data for advertising revenues.

The landmark verdict against Meta and Google is a crucial step in acknowledging that Big Tech's harmful business models are creating toxic online spaces.

Read more ⬇️

https://www.openrightsgroup.org/press-releases/after-the-la-court-verdict-the-uk-must-disrupt-surveillance-capitalism-business-models/

#onlinesafety #BreakBigTech #bigtech #socialmedia #meta #google

The UK government is stuck treating the symptoms, not the root cause of online harms.

Nothing changes until we break the business model that drives hate and extremism; the harvesting of our data to maximise engagement and fuel advertising.

It's time to #BreakBigTech.

Sign and share our petition ⬇️

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/break-big-tech

#onlinesafety #meta #google #youtube #bigtech #socialmedia #ukpolitics #ukpol

An LA Court's ruling on Meta and Google exposes the real causes of online harms.

Engagement-driven design and data-fuelled advertising business models put people at risk.

Yet the UK government's approach to online safety has focussed on keeping kids out and locking adults in to toxic platforms.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/25/jury-verdict-us-first-social-media-addiction-trial-meta-youtube

#onlinesafety #meta #google #youtube #bigtech #socialmedia #ukpolitics #ukpol #BreakBigTech

Created this after reading conversation in comments below some tech article somewhere. Someone mentioned "surfing the #internet sewer" and I really liked that phrase.

#drawing #comic #krita #web #surveillance #google #SocialMedia #enshittification #privacy #adblocker #ads

Alt...

Drawing of a cartoon style man, wearing silver protective suit with UBlock Origin logo on it, surfing in sewer with green toxic water. There are cookies and fanged monsters looking like Chrome logos floating around him. On the background wall there are red crosses, like for closing websites or errors. There are also industrial cameras, one yellow eye and graffiti with TikTok logo. On the railing on path's edge there is photo camera attached, looking similar to old Instagram logo, and rotting blue bird. There is big text "Google" near water, with both "o" replaced with ends of pipes and small texts around: crossed out "AI", "Buy this, only $2!" and below "scammer!" and "it's con". Above the picture there is description "Surfing The Internet Sewer".

> For example, Google reduced our headline “I used the ‘cheat on everything’ AI tool and it didn’t help me cheat on anything” to just five words: “‘Cheat on everything’ AI tool.” It almost sounds like we’re endorsing a product we do not recommend at all.

https://www.theverge.com/tech/896490/google-replace-news-headlines-in-search-canary-coal-mine-experiment

#news #TechNews #technology #google #search #AI #LLMs #enshittification

#Android is fucking dead.

If you have an Android device, please wipe it and install #PostmarketOS today while you can still unlock the bootloader.

We all know that #Google wants to kill the “unverified/sideloaded” apps (names carefully selected by Google’s professional gaslighters to give a negative connotation to “apps that are not distributed by Google’s own store”).

We all know that the new “verification process” amounts basically to a ransom where you need to give Google your keys and your money if you want to build apps for Android.

It involves developers handing their signing keys to a user-hostile American company (so they will sign your package for you and will also able to decrypt your secrets) and paying them a $25 fee for each app.

Even if you don’t even use the Play Store to distribute your apps.

This is not a price to pay to get the app distributed through them, nor for using any of their services. It’s a price to pay just because they want to control the whole ecosystem end-to-end, and they know that they can get away with that because you’ll keep using their shitty OS even if you’re outraged at them.

We all know that they got a lot of backlash. And after the backlash they reiterated that they “listened to the community” and would have made a process to still allow people to “sideload apps”.

Well, today that process has been finally unveiled. And it sounds even shittier than I thought.

That’s because Google is currently filled with the best professional enshittificators in the world: the job role of these people is not to build new things, nor to listen to customers and build what they want. No, their job is specifically to find the sweet spot where they can make things as shitty as possible, add as much friction and user frustration as possible to prevent them from doing a certain thing, while still being able to tell regulators “well, it’s not that shitty, you see? We still give users an option - buried under 10 layers of dark patterns”.

In order to install apps external to the Play Store you will have to:

• Activate the developer settings (the usual “tap the build number 7 times to show the hidden menu” thing)

• In the developer settings, enable “Allow Unverified Padckages”

• Confirm that you are not being coerced (seriously, how much malware did they actually see installed by people being coerced or tricked to download and install random APK files?)

• Restart your device

• Wait 24 hours

• Return to the unverified packages settings

• Scroll past 3-4 additional warnings whose sole purpose is to scare you off

• Select either “Allow temporarily“ (7 days) or “Allow indefinitely“ (and I’ve got a hunch that the Allow indefinitely option will probably be gradually phased out)

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/google-details-new-24-hour-process-to-sideload-unverified-android-apps/

🚨 Less than 168 days remain before Android becomes a locked down platform!

Google intends to force all software developers to register with a centralized Google service before their apps can run on the biggest mobile operating system on the planet, regardless of whether those apps are distributed via Google Play.

Find @keepandroidopen’s website at https://keepandroidopen.org for more information about this, why it’s a problem, and how you can make your voice heard.

As supporters of open platforms we have consistently encouraged developers and alternative app stores to refuse to participate in this program, and to spread this message throughout the Android community.

Read our open letter to Google’s leadership: https://keepandroidopen.org/open-letter/

#Android #KeepAndroidOpen #Google #PrivacyGuides #Privacy

I was only using my #Gmail account for my planning work as a volunteer because the person in charge had issues with my former email account. She *ignored all* my notifications about my new @Tutanota account and kept sending emails to Gmail. I also sent her this link: https://tuta.com/blog/degoogle-list
No reaction.

I’ve just pulled the plug, deleted Gmail. Now I’m curious to see what happens. Some people have to learn it the hard way.

#EuropeanAlternatives #dataSafety #Google #deGoogle

https://archive.is/JZpbA

#X #Google #Meta #Amazon #Netflix #BigTech #Oligarchy

Alt...

The richest man owns X. The second and third richest men control Google. The fourth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The fifth richest man owns The Washington Post. And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros. See the problem here?

This technology, which is used to confuse drones and missiles, is now inadvertently disrupting the GPS trackers that we use every day — from civilian planes to tracking a shipment to #Google #Maps.

"A Reddit researcher just exposed how Meta funneled over $2 billion through shadowy nonprofits to push #AgeVerification laws that would force #Apple and #Google to build #surveillance infrastructure into every device—while conveniently exempting #Meta’s own platforms from the same requirements."

#Politics #Privacy

https://www.gadgetreview.com/reddit-user-uncovers-who-is-behind-metas-2b-lobbying-for-invasive-age-verification-tech

"The Ensh*ttificator"

This video is truly a masterpiece. Definitely worth your time; only 4 minutes long and perfect to be shared with friends and family.

Video: https://vimeo.com/1168468796

"Digital products and services keep getting worse. In the new report Breaking Free: Pathways to a fair technological future, the Norwegian Consumer Council has delved into enshittification and how to resist it. The report shows how this phenomenon affects both consumers and society at large, but that it is possible to turn the tide."

The report: https://www.forbrukerradet.no/breakingfree

#enshittification #dataprotection #cybersecurity #technology #EU #norway #privacy #google #Microsoft #apple #windows #Android #ios #artificialintelligence @privacy @techlore @privacyguides

What could possibly go wrong?

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/16/google-scraps-ai-search-feature-that-crowdsourced-amateur-medical-advice

#Google #AI #Cockup

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260218-i-hacked-chatgpt-and-googles-ai-and-it-only-took-20-minutes

#AI #Disinformation #War #BigTech #FarRight #OpenAI #Google

Alt...

Marijn Markus AI Lead | Managing Data Scientist | Public Speaker #BBC tech reporter spent 20 minutes writing a fake blog post, claiming he’s the world’s #1 hot dog-eating journalist. Even invented a fake championship to back it up. Within 24 hours, watch #ChatGPT and #Google repeat it as fact. He manipulated two of the world’s most powerful #AI systems with a BS single page. Users trust AI answers more than websites, because it feels like the answer comes directly from the tech company itself. Not from a random page somewhere on the #internet. In the early 2000s, people learned how to game Google. In 2026, people are learning how to game AI retrieval systems. If one blog post can convince an AI that a journalist is the world’s top competitive hot-dog eater, imagine what a coordinated #strategy by a company or foreign adversary can do for a product, a company, or a political narrative. These tactics will be used to push falsehoods far more than truth. Welcome to the #Disinformation Age.  BBC Headline: I hacked ChatGPT and Google’s AI – and it only took 20 minutes Thomas Germain

I think my Pixel 6 is on its last legs. The memory corrupted today. I was able to reflash Android onto it but I wonder when it will happen again. Previously, it went two days without turning on on a full battery.

#Pixel6 #Google

Google will finally release Chrome for ARM64 Linux devices https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/03/google-will-finally-release-chrome-for-arm64-linux-devices/

#Linux #Arm #Google #Chrome