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issue102:culte_de_chrome

Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !


Privacy is no longer private per world governments and business corporations. However TAILS is one option to maintain online privacy, unless you have a Chromebook. The “counter-measures” the Chrome OS needs to ensure your internet privacy are: Browser Extensions, and VPN Apps. All of these items are found in the Chrome Web Store that you can install. The apps and extensions also work on the Chromium browser.

The Extensions in my Chrome browser are: Privacy Badger, Ghostery, and HTTPS Everywhere. Privacy Badger and HTTPS Everywhere were developed by Electronic Frontier Foundation. This foundation’s goal is to protect your digital rights and online anonymity. Ghostery is a proprietary freeware software developed by Evidon Incorporated. The VPN in my Chrome Browser is Zenmate. I will review these items in fuller detail. You will find the enabled extensions and VPN in the upper right-hand corner of the Chrome Browser.

As defined by Wikipedia, a virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network, such as the Internet. It enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network, and thus are benefiting from the functionality, security and management policies of the private network. A VPN is created by establishing a virtual point-to-point connection through the use of dedicated connections, virtual tunneling protocols, or traffic encryption.

There are many VPN providers in the Chrome Store that offer this service for free or on a monthly paid subscription. My first choice was the Tunnelbear Extension. However I quickly disliked this extension. It provided only 500MB of free service, and it has a difficult graphic user interface. I then moved on to use Zenmate. Zenmate operates out of the United Kingdom.

Zenmate offers a free VPN app for the Chrome OS. You also have an option for a monthly subscription. Zenmate has a seamless interface. It is very easy to activate or deactivate the VPN. When the shield in the upper right corner is grey, Zenmate is off. Additionally, the free Zenmate offers various locations for the end address. Zenmate does a great job.

I would like to credit Grant Brunner at extremetech.com for the three extensions mentioned earlier. Privacy Badger blocks online trackers that monitor your online browsing habits. It thwarts future snooping attempts. You open the extension and can choose which trackers can be active in the Chrome Browser.

The HTTPS Everywhere extension forces websites to use the Secure Socket Layers (SSL) encryption between the web server and the Chrome browser. SSL helps keep your privacy private on a daily basis. You can connect to websites that lack SSL encryption, however any person can review your connection between the browser and the web server.

Ghostery blocks HTTP requests and redirects using cookie blocking and cookie protection. It has a simple interface – similar to Privacy Badger and HTTPS Everywhere. Ghostery reports all tracking sites in the web browser within a purple box that populates in the lower right corner of the browser.

Yet Ghostery is criticized. The company will take the tracking reports and sell them to online advertisers while keeping your identity anonymous. The company calls this practice Ghostrank, and this is how it supports itself financially.

There is some overlap in the online privacy from these extensions. Yet each extension works in a different fashion. Due to the complexity of online intrusions, this varied defense is useful. However, there are times when an extension or VPN will prevent a website from being displayed.

There are other limitations to this setup. I have yet to find all of the issues using the VPN and extensions arrangement in my browser. However I feel a bit more confident in my privacy when online. It is far from being anonymous when using TAILS; perhaps in time TOR can be brought to the Chrome OS.

Next month Chrome Cult will look into encryption tools for a Chromebook.

issue102/culte_de_chrome.1446400756.txt.gz · Dernière modification : 2015/11/01 18:59 de auntiee