this post was submitted on 20 Aug 2025
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FreeVPN.One, a verified Chrome extension with over 100k installs on the Chrome Web Store, is taking screenshots of sites users visit.

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[–] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 45 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Am I the only one that sees this shit and thinks:

We are entering an age of very, very inefficient software, which is like a new layer to enshitification.

[–] Zorque@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Bruh, we entered that age like a decade ago. It's just a lot more commonplace now.

[–] PattyMcB@lemmy.world 24 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Inefficient? That's downright intrusive and misleading, at best

[–] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 12 points 5 hours ago

Fully agree, but also on a macro economic level, we are gonna waste sooo much resources not even for the profit motive, just because they don’t want to make quality software

[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 16 points 5 hours ago (1 children)
  1. People who value their privacy (or "have something to hide") have a need of a service that provides anonymity
  2. This turns said service in the ideal place to start any and all surveillance because your subjects have already self-selected for being "interesting" (especially if you intend to go after low hanging fruit)
  3. Therefore I must conclude that people using VPNs and TOR, no matter how legitimate their reasons, are in fact advertising that they have something to hide which current status quo is very interested in knowing...
[–] 1rre@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

With China, UK and afaik US (at least some states) attitude to regulation, a VPN is turning more into a necessity to browse the open internet rather than a tool for people who value privacy though

I've been trying to plan a hiking trip and the number of sites, even those without any nsfw or user generated content, that just geoblock the UK because it's not worth dealing with their government's shit is impressive

[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 11 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

And this is why I am so obnoxious any time someone says "I found this plugin to block fandom wikis" or "I have this plugin to fix youtube embeds".

Code is only as safe as the people you trust to review it. And no, being open source doesn't matter in that regard. Yes, it theoretically increases the number of eyes on but how many of those eyes who ACTUALLY look at the code are doing it with every release AND understand how to spot a vulnerability or a... whatever this is.

Same with VPNs. NEVER trust a VPN. And sure as fuck never use a free one for anything remotely sensitive. Understand what your risk of exposure is and that, at the best of times, you are trusting a company to be telling the truth that they aren't keeping a log of every single thing you nutted to.

And before someone says "That is why I do everything over tor!": Maybe also understand the concept of digital fingerprints and WHY it is that Google is able to know someone is pregnant even before they are late.

Understand the risks and consequences of every action you take and act accordingly. And understand that there really is no one size fits all solution.

[–] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 3 hours ago

And sure as fuck never use a free one for anything remotely sensitive.

I think ProtonVPN might might be an exception here. They're pretty trustworthy as far as I know, and have some free servers.

But my go-to is Mullvad, mainly for the flat pricing. I hate how most only have good prices if you buy a full year or so.

[–] toiletobserver@lemmy.world 5 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Chrome Vpn = virulent prying nuisance

[–] felbane@lemmy.world 5 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

Chrome = virulent nonsense at this point

When they changed the behavior of the android version to only allow either google password manager or a third party manager (not both, as it was before), they lost my interest completely (and they were already on the cliff's edge because of the adblocker bullshit).

Exported all of my gpass passwords and switched fully to vaultwarden and Firefox mobile.

The internet is steadily regressing.