🚨 LinkedIn runs a silent browser scan on every Chrome user who visits the site.
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LinkedIn runs a silent browser scan on every Chrome user who visits the site. 6,222 extensions. ~405 million users affected. No consent, no disclosure, no mention in their privacy policy. The scan identifies your sales tools, VPN, ad blocker, job search extensions, and extensions tied to religion, politics, and disability.
The full technical breakdown, legal analysis, and searchable database of every scanned extension:
LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer
Microsoft is running one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history. Every time any of LinkedIn’s one billion users visits linkedin.com, hidden code searches their computer for installed software, collects the results, and transmits them to LinkedIn’s servers and to third-party companies including an American-Israeli cybersecurity firm. The user is never asked. Never told. LinkedIn’s privacy policy does not mention it. Because LinkedIn knows each user’s real name, employer, and job title, it is not searching anonymous visitors. It is searching identified people at identified companies. Millions of companies. Every day. All over the world.
BrowserGate (browsergate.eu)
@downey yet another reason to ditch Chrome...
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LinkedIn runs a silent browser scan on every Chrome user who visits the site. 6,222 extensions. ~405 million users affected. No consent, no disclosure, no mention in their privacy policy. The scan identifies your sales tools, VPN, ad blocker, job search extensions, and extensions tied to religion, politics, and disability.
The full technical breakdown, legal analysis, and searchable database of every scanned extension:
LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer
Microsoft is running one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history. Every time any of LinkedIn’s one billion users visits linkedin.com, hidden code searches their computer for installed software, collects the results, and transmits them to LinkedIn’s servers and to third-party companies including an American-Israeli cybersecurity firm. The user is never asked. Never told. LinkedIn’s privacy policy does not mention it. Because LinkedIn knows each user’s real name, employer, and job title, it is not searching anonymous visitors. It is searching identified people at identified companies. Millions of companies. Every day. All over the world.
BrowserGate (browsergate.eu)
@downey sales tool? when you use it on a corp computer?
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@downey @dcbikeguy Super interesting! I’m inclined to think that there are probably sensible/benign motivations for this, but it still feels super gross.
@b_cavello @downey @dcbikeguy benign motivations? lolwut
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@Captain_Jack_Sparrow @downey the government likes it
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LinkedIn runs a silent browser scan on every Chrome user who visits the site. 6,222 extensions. ~405 million users affected. No consent, no disclosure, no mention in their privacy policy. The scan identifies your sales tools, VPN, ad blocker, job search extensions, and extensions tied to religion, politics, and disability.
The full technical breakdown, legal analysis, and searchable database of every scanned extension:
LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer
Microsoft is running one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history. Every time any of LinkedIn’s one billion users visits linkedin.com, hidden code searches their computer for installed software, collects the results, and transmits them to LinkedIn’s servers and to third-party companies including an American-Israeli cybersecurity firm. The user is never asked. Never told. LinkedIn’s privacy policy does not mention it. Because LinkedIn knows each user’s real name, employer, and job title, it is not searching anonymous visitors. It is searching identified people at identified companies. Millions of companies. Every day. All over the world.
BrowserGate (browsergate.eu)
@downey I see this more as a technical issue from Chrome? Why it didn't work on Firefox? How many webs were doing that since 2017, or will do it from now on.
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LinkedIn runs a silent browser scan on every Chrome user who visits the site. 6,222 extensions. ~405 million users affected. No consent, no disclosure, no mention in their privacy policy. The scan identifies your sales tools, VPN, ad blocker, job search extensions, and extensions tied to religion, politics, and disability.
The full technical breakdown, legal analysis, and searchable database of every scanned extension:
LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer
Microsoft is running one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history. Every time any of LinkedIn’s one billion users visits linkedin.com, hidden code searches their computer for installed software, collects the results, and transmits them to LinkedIn’s servers and to third-party companies including an American-Israeli cybersecurity firm. The user is never asked. Never told. LinkedIn’s privacy policy does not mention it. Because LinkedIn knows each user’s real name, employer, and job title, it is not searching anonymous visitors. It is searching identified people at identified companies. Millions of companies. Every day. All over the world.
BrowserGate (browsergate.eu)
@downey @wordshaper maybe Chrome is part of the problem too.
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LinkedIn runs a silent browser scan on every Chrome user who visits the site. 6,222 extensions. ~405 million users affected. No consent, no disclosure, no mention in their privacy policy. The scan identifies your sales tools, VPN, ad blocker, job search extensions, and extensions tied to religion, politics, and disability.
The full technical breakdown, legal analysis, and searchable database of every scanned extension:
LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer
Microsoft is running one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history. Every time any of LinkedIn’s one billion users visits linkedin.com, hidden code searches their computer for installed software, collects the results, and transmits them to LinkedIn’s servers and to third-party companies including an American-Israeli cybersecurity firm. The user is never asked. Never told. LinkedIn’s privacy policy does not mention it. Because LinkedIn knows each user’s real name, employer, and job title, it is not searching anonymous visitors. It is searching identified people at identified companies. Millions of companies. Every day. All over the world.
BrowserGate (browsergate.eu)
@downey I was locked out a year ago for no reason (probably VPN use) and was asked to go through Persona to verify. Never. Privacy Hell squared right there. So now I can’t even delete my account! Tried all communication channels but nope… locked out. So now my albeit minimal data floats in the evil æther. #LinkedIn #BrowserGate #Privacy
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LinkedIn runs a silent browser scan on every Chrome user who visits the site. 6,222 extensions. ~405 million users affected. No consent, no disclosure, no mention in their privacy policy. The scan identifies your sales tools, VPN, ad blocker, job search extensions, and extensions tied to religion, politics, and disability.
The full technical breakdown, legal analysis, and searchable database of every scanned extension:
LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer
Microsoft is running one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history. Every time any of LinkedIn’s one billion users visits linkedin.com, hidden code searches their computer for installed software, collects the results, and transmits them to LinkedIn’s servers and to third-party companies including an American-Israeli cybersecurity firm. The user is never asked. Never told. LinkedIn’s privacy policy does not mention it. Because LinkedIn knows each user’s real name, employer, and job title, it is not searching anonymous visitors. It is searching identified people at identified companies. Millions of companies. Every day. All over the world.
BrowserGate (browsergate.eu)
@downey@floss.social I always think about the individual coders that write stuff like this. It’s easy to blame a faceless company but individual people (for now) code this stuff knowing full well what they’re writing.
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LinkedIn runs a silent browser scan on every Chrome user who visits the site. 6,222 extensions. ~405 million users affected. No consent, no disclosure, no mention in their privacy policy. The scan identifies your sales tools, VPN, ad blocker, job search extensions, and extensions tied to religion, politics, and disability.
The full technical breakdown, legal analysis, and searchable database of every scanned extension:
LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer
Microsoft is running one of the largest corporate espionage operations in modern history. Every time any of LinkedIn’s one billion users visits linkedin.com, hidden code searches their computer for installed software, collects the results, and transmits them to LinkedIn’s servers and to third-party companies including an American-Israeli cybersecurity firm. The user is never asked. Never told. LinkedIn’s privacy policy does not mention it. Because LinkedIn knows each user’s real name, employer, and job title, it is not searching anonymous visitors. It is searching identified people at identified companies. Millions of companies. Every day. All over the world.
BrowserGate (browsergate.eu)
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they probably have to sign secrecy agreements, but yeah, they should blow the whistle somehow.