Windows 10: Google Improving Security and Privacy for Extensions in Google Chrome

Brink · Jun 13, 2019

No, Chrome isn’t killing ad blockers -- we’re making them safer

Posted by Devlin Cronin, Chrome Extensions Team

The Chrome Extensions ecosystem has seen incredible advancement, adoption, and growth since its launch over ten years ago. Extensions are a great way for users to customize their experience in Chrome and on the web. As this system grows and expands in both reach and power, user safety and protection remains a core focus of the Chromium project.

In October, we announced a number of changes to improve the security, privacy, and performance of Chrome extensions. These changes include increased user options to control extension permissions, changes to the review process and readability requirements, and requiring two-step verification for developers. In addition, we’ve helped curb abuse through restricting inline installation on websites, preventing the use of deceptive installation practices, and limiting the data collected by extensions. We’ve also made changes to the teams themselves — over the last year, we’ve increased the size of the engineering teams that work on extension abuse by over 300% and the number of reviewers by over 400%.

These and other changes have driven down the rate of malicious installations by 89% since early 2018. Today, we block approximately 1,800 malicious uploads a month, preventing them from ever reaching the store. While the Chrome team is proud of these improvements, the review process alone can't catch all abuse. In order to provide better protection to our users, we need to make changes to the platform as well. This is the suite of changes we’re calling Manifest V3.

This effort is motivated by a desire to keep users safe and to give them more visibility and control over the data they’re sharing with extensions. One way we are doing this is by helping users be deliberate in granting access to sensitive data - such as emails, photos, and access to social media accounts. As we make these changes we want to continue to support extensions in empowering users and enhancing their browsing experience.

To help with this balance, we’re reimagining the way a number of powerful APIs work. Instead of a user granting each extension access to all of their sensitive data, we are creating ways for developers to request access to only the data they need to accomplish the same functionality. One example of this is the introduction of the Declarative Net Request API, which is replacing parts of the Web Request API.

At a high level, this change means that an extension does not need access to all a user’s sensitive data in order to block content. With the current Web Request API, users grant permission for Chrome to pass all information about a network request - which can include things like emails, photos, or other private information - to the extension. In contrast, the Declarative Net Request API allows extensions to block content without requiring the user to grant access to any sensitive information. Additionally, because we are able to cut substantial overhead in the browser, the Declarative Net Request API can have significant, system-level performance benefits over Web Request.

This has been a controversial change since the Web Request API is used by many popular extensions, including ad blockers. We are not preventing the development of ad blockers or stopping users from blocking ads. Instead, we want to help developers, including content blockers, write extensions in a way that protects users’ privacy.

You can read more about the Declarative Net Request API and how it compares to the Web Request API here.

We understand that these changes will require developers to update the way in which their extensions operate. However, we think it is the right choice to enable users to limit the sensitive data they share with third-parties while giving them the ability to curate their own browsing experience. We are continuing to iterate on many aspects of the Manifest V3 design, and are working with the developer community to find solutions that both solve the use cases extensions have today and keep our users safe and in control.
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Source: Google Online Security Blog: Improving Security and Privacy for Extensions Users

:)

BravoMan21 · Jun 13, 2019

Google chrome extension

Hello Matthew,

The Skype extension for Google Chrome allows you to use certain functionality of Skype while browsing the web with Google Chrome. With the Skype extension enabled, you can quickly access Skype for Web and Share on Skype through your browser as an example.

For more information regarding the Skype extension for Google Chrome, please visit:

https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA34612/what-i...

I hope this helps, let us know if you require any further assistance. Thank you.

Xylee Del · Jun 13, 2019

problem uninstalling google chrome

Hi,

Since you already uninstalled Google Chrome using the Programs and Features, Google notifications may still be running in the background processes. We suggest that you follow these steps on how to end the Google Chrome process:

On your keyboard, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete.

Select Task Manager.

Under Processes, locate Google Notifications or Google Chrome.

Right click on them and select End Task.

Double check under Programs and Features if Google Chrome is completely gone.

Let us know if these steps worked.

Acelyn Alc · Jun 13, 2019

Google chrome doesn't react

Thank you for that information.

Since you were able to use Google Chrome without any issues using a different Internet connection, there is a possibility that Google Chrome is not responding when connecting to your Internet connection.

For us to isolate and resolve this issue, we suggest that you follow the steps below and see if it helps:

Step 1:
Reset Chrome settings to default.

Disclaimer: The Reset Google chrome Settings feature might reset security settings or privacy settings that you added to the list of Trusted Sites. We recommend that you note these sites before you use the Reset google chrome Settings
feature. Resetting Google Chrome isn't reversible, and all previous settings are lost after reset.

Step 2: If you are able to open google chrome follow the steps from this

article to back up the bookmark.

Try to export the bookmark from google chrome.

Step 3: Reset Windows Update Components.

These are services that Windows Update needs to make sure it's working effectively.

If the issue still persists, don't hesitate to inform us and we'll be happy to further assist you.

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