It could be done on the browser level (maybe it’s something browsers like LibreWolf do), however, it would break sites that require the fingerprints to be the same for “security reasons” which may or may not be a legitimate claim.

You could say “well, I’m not going to use that particular website then”, but the problem is that there are less and less websites that don’t require these technologies to function properly.

In case you are willing to use the beta version of the app: if I remember correctly it’s available in beta.

I’m no expert either, but I think the section mentioned above allows Nebula and the advertising companies to do a lot more than just collecting info about whether you visited the sign-up page or not.

To me it looks like they do just that:

Interest-Based Advertising. We may work with third-party advertising companies and social media companies to help us advertise our business and to display ads for our products and services. These companies may use cookies and similar technologies to collect information about you (including the online activity information and device information described above in the section called “Personal Information Automatically Collected”) over time across our Services and other websites and services or your interaction with our emails, and use that information to serve ads that they think will interest you. In addition, some of these companies may use hashed customer lists that we share with them to deliver ads to you and to similar users on their platforms.

One can only undefined

I completely agree, I guess what they call “privacy win” is that this feature can now work without storing data on Google (highlighted by me):

Based on Google’s email, it seems the company will allow Gemini to access messages, WhatsApp, and control device system settings without requiring that you enable the Gemini Apps Activity setting for your account. This setting saves your Gemini history to your Google account, potentially allowing for better personalization.

Previously, if you had this setting disabled for your Google account, you weren’t able to use the Messages, Phone, Utilities, or WhatsApp extensions in Gemini (via 9to5Google). Once this change rolls out to your account, you will be able to access these features without having to save your Gemini history on Google’s servers.

When they say

potentially allowing for better personalization

they sound like the companies trying to sell you these features without mentioning the privacy implications of said features. :/

I blocked Microsoft in WhatsApp and they reverted back to sending SMS messages. However, this won’t help if you (like me) I refuse to install Microsoft apps on your phone.

👍

I think it depends on which community (instance) you’re trying to post. Some instances are blocking VPNs, e.g. lemmy.world. I assume you’ve already tried but try switching to a different VPN server.

Lemmy. world blocks VPNs - https://lemmy.world/post/12979118

It’s not a backdoor, it just enabled Firefox’s remote debugging tool by default

Just? I’m sorry but that’s just a terrible mistake to make, especially for a browser that people use to surf the world wild web. I don’t know if you’ve ever used a remote debugger (I do), but depending on the debugger, it can be a very powerful tool, you can do a lot of things with it. I don’t think calling it a backdoor is a massive exaggeration. I don’t doubt the developer’s good intention, but this issue shouldn’t be dismissed as an insignificant issue.

To add insult to the injury, it didn’t even prompt the user for it.

Zen is as secure as firefox is.

Unless you tweak the default Firefox settings in the code base, e.g. https://github.com/zen-browser/desktop/blob/dev/src/browser/app/profile/zen-browser.js#L258 (allow unsigned extensions by default).

I agree, it also has some serious security issues: https://github.com/zen-browser/desktop/pull/927

The developer’s comment reveals that it has been there since the inception of the project. And there are even more privacy / security issues mentioned in the comments.

Unfortunately Zen browser gets a big fat no from me. 🫤

Thanks for your suggestion regarding single words. I’ve tried dict.cc it with “baffling”, “egregious” but no translations were found… :)

I’ve also just tried translating sentences with DeepL and the results were OK, so it looks like you’re right, it’s more for translating text instead of just words.

Now, what’s even more interesting is that when translating “moron” on the webpage using a mobile browser, it shows “moron” as an alternative, but when using a desktop browser it doesn’t. If I translate “confused”, I get different suggestions for alternatives… 🤨

Screenshots: Mobile - https://postimg.cc/rRpMgzZf and Desktop - https://postimg.cc/CzXSHhG4

Hungarian. I’ve just tested it again, but I’m still not happy with the results.

Also, it always seems to suggest the word you’re translating in the “Alternatives” section for some reason. So, for instance, if I translate “moron” or “baffling”, DeepL thinks “moron” and “baffling” are valid alternatives. They’re not, these are neither Hungarian words nor English ones that a Hungarian would use.

But for quality, nuance, and privacy, DeepL is unmatched.

As much as I’d like this to be true, I have to disagree. Perhaps the quality of the translation depends on the language you translate from / to, but the results I got for my native language ranged from not very good to absolute rubbish.

What’s even more frustrating is that there’s no (easy) way for me to report such bad results so the developers could fix them. :/

Exactly. Also, there was a post a few days ago about google secretly installing an app on Android phones, something to do with automatically blurring nsfw images in messages. Who knows what else it is capable of, or if there’s software on our phones that won’t show up anywhere (list of apps, running processes, etc.).

Interesting times…

I agree with using open source software, but the source code of said chat apps is just one part of the equation.

AFAIK cryptography implementation relies on the operating system / firmware the app is running on (they tend to be closed source). Most implementations rely on random generators provided be the operating system. Doesn’t really matter how good the encryption implementation is in the chat app if the software it relies on is compromised - see book I recommended above (The hacker and the state).

I suspect it’s the latter one. The book titled “The Hacker and the State” goes into detail about how it can be done (or may have been done in the past). A fascinating read for anyone interested in the subject.

Obsidian asks for the permission upon first launch, but if you don’t give it access it won’t work at all (it’s a required permission for the app).

you can use an android firewall to block Internet access from the app

True, however, AFAIK if your phone is not rooted, you can’t have a firewall and VPN running at the same time (the firewalls I’ve seen must be configured as VPN).

not the privileges that obsidian has

Also true, although Obsidian has access to that shared storage, and therefore, Obsidian being closed source, you have no way of knowing what they do with the files other apps create in that storage directory. I’m not saying they are acting maliciously, but I don’t like this approach (software vulnerabilities, supply chain attacks, etc.). The devs recognized the issue in another thread, but there’s no solution to the problem as of yet.

I’d love to use this setup, however, the Obsidian Android app requires a kind of file access that is concerning:

Obsdian uses a shared location “/Documents” so that other apps can access the files (e.g. third party sync services) or add stuff.

https://forum.obsidian.md/t/fr-make-obsidian-work-on-android-without-asking-for-storage-permissions/19360

It’s a no-go for me. :/