According to recent reports,
Google downloads audio listeners to those PCs that run Chrome and transmit
personal audio data back to the company. This means that they violate your
privacy by means of listening to all conversations that go on in those rooms
where Google Chrome runs. This is done without your personal awareness of the
fact.
When you start Chromium or Google
Chrome, you can notice strange status info, which says that both the microphone
and the audio capture options are allowed. This means that Google downloads a
black box code, which turns on the microphone, every time you start Chromium or
Chrome. This is how they can listen to your private conversations.
Let us compare Google Chrome with
GNU/Linux now to understand the situation. When you download and install
GNU/Linux versions, such as Debian or Ubuntu, there are no black boxes that are
installed onto your computer automatically. This is because the developers have
analyzed all lines of human-readable source codes before building the operating
system into computer-executable binary codes. As a result, the final product is
built by means of using numerous source code “upstreams”, which do not require
any black box installation.
Google Chrome, in its turn, was
developed in a different way, thus making it possible to automatically download
and install black box codes onto computers. Although, it is impossible to
detect the purpose of the black box, the reports make it clear that it helps
activate the microphone as soon as you start Chromium or Chrome. This means
that your computer transmits all conversations going on in the room to a
private company without your awareness of the fact. This is definitely the violation of your
privacy.
Google has responded to the
report by the official statement consisting of 3 parts. In the first part, they acknowledged that they
downloaded and installed the black box to users’ computers, but they did not
activate it. They underlined that they would never abuse the trust of millions
of users across the globe by activating the audio transmitting function without
their knowledge or consent.
In the second
part of their official statement, Google pointed out that although Chromium
bypassed the entire source code auditing process by means of downloading the
pre-built black box code onto users’ computers, they did not use that option to
violate their clients’ privacy. Finally, the third part of the statement said that Google had deliberately
hidden the listening module from their users, but only because they considered
it a part of the overall Google Chrome experience.
Does this statement sound
excusable? Definitely, not! So, if you continue using Chromium or Google
Chrome, you can be 100% sure you download a black box from the company each
time you start it and you cannot do anything to prevent that!
Experts underline that it also
makes sense to enhance the safety of other devices you use every day. If you have a webcam, use a hard shield or a
shutter to close it when the camera is not in use. If you need a microphone,
use a physical switch, which breaks the electrical connection instead of using
a software on/off microphone switch. It is you who are responsible for your
personal safety and no one else is allowed to violate it!
