Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

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trytip
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Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by trytip »

Don't be Part of the FLoC <<< watch FLoC video from trusted linux user
update is important but now BEWARE that Google is one step closer into conglomerating everyone into their "number of the beast"
Starting with Chrome 89 and above there is a new tracking method that will eliminate your freedom and become part of the new world order.
watch the video it is a bit long but the short of it ... if you have any CONTENT in .config/google-chrome/Floc you are now part of Google SHEEP and they will track you and manipulate you and divert you all over the internets especially Youtube even on official government health websites
if you in fact have this folder .config/google-chrome/Floc you CAN DELETE it BEFORE opening your chrome browser. your session will start new but know that you will be tracked on everything you buy or what you search for and what you watch. this FLoC folder is present in version 88 but there is no content being collected (check just in case).
things will only get worse: fortunately i had an old Timeshift /opt/google/chrome version 88 folder which i copied over my current Mint.

source: credit goes to youtube channel Switched to Linux
https://amifloced.org/ <<< check to see if you are floced
Last edited by trytip on Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:13 am, edited 8 times in total.
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by karlchen »

Now, come on, people,

why don't you simply give up on using the "Dark Emporer's" browser?

I mean everybody should have been aware that Google makes money by gathering as many data about internet users as they can.
But the same people, who complain about it, happily use this infamous Google browser.
I do not have to understand this contradiction in itself, do I?

On none of my private machines, Google Chrome has ever been installed, not even for testing purposes.
And Linux Mint does not come with the Google Browser pre-installed. So if its on your machine, you installed it yourself. Uninstall it.

There are other good browsers out there, which are
+ either not based on Google's browser engine. I will not mention Firefox or Pale Moon.
+ or they are Chromium based, but will not hold the modules needed by FLoC.

Cf. e.g.:
No, Google! Vivaldi users will not get FLoC’ed.
Brave reveals why it is disabling Google's FLoC in the browser

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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by Cassandra »

OK, so I am a totally uninformed new Linux user who has just stumbled across this thread.

My desire to avoid all the Corporate Dataminers & Trackers is the reason why I have switched to Linux, so this is important to me.
I do still have a Gmail account, so I installed Chrome in order to use that.

But, upon checking my system's .config folders, I have found that Chrome has FLoCd me :evil: :x
This fact makes Chrome persona non grata on my system.
I have therefore now uninstalled Chrome, but the offending folders are all still there, lurking defiantly on my system.

So, is there a safe & simple way for me to get completely rid of all of the Chrome folders (especially the ones that enable the fershlugginner FLOC tracking) ?

I would be very grateful if somebody would give/point me to instructions for how to completely erase all traces of Chrome from my system.
(Or, if there any other OFs out there, I am now intent upon burning Chrome, but I need a Grown-up to tell me how to do it ;) )

EDIT TO ADD:
I used the GUI to Uninstall 'Chrome' (I right-clicked on it in the list of programs available by Opening the lm menu, then selected 'Uninstall' from the pop-up list).

I also used Terminal to navigate to the .config folder, and then also used the command...

Code: Select all

rm -rf google-chrome
...to rid my system of all the files (including the FloC folder & the unique-identification 'branding' file within it) associated with Google 'Chrome'.

But, in order to get 'Chrome' completely off my system, should I be doing anything else as well?

My thanks in advance for your answers.
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by RollyShed »

Cassandra wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 7:44 pmreason why I have switched to Linux, so this is important to me.
I do still have a Gmail account, so I installed Chrome in order to use that.
Why?

A Gmail account works perfectly in Firefox and I always setup everyone's Gmail, icloud or xtra mail account via Firefox.
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by ajgringo619 »

This folder exists in Brave now (empty though), at least for the moment. Hopefully disabling will be enough.
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by Moonstone Man »

trytip wrote: Sun Apr 18, 2021 5:29 pm things will only get worse:
You could use Microsoft Edge instead.

For me, the salient point in all this is 'who cares?' If you you use a google product, losing your privacy is part of the deal you make, so who cares? I don't, and I don't use google products. Those who do use them bring this all on themselves.
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by Beerislife »

I installed DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials Extensions. Problem solved.
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by Cassandra »

RollyShed wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 10:27 pm
Cassandra wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 7:44 pm I do still have a Gmail account, so I installed Chrome in order to use that.
Why?

A Gmail account works perfectly in Firefox and I always setup everyone's Gmail, icloud or xtra mail account via Firefox.
My thinking was that, when logging in to Gmail, I didn't entirely trust Google to NOT start digging around in/doing things to the settings of my browser in the background. Things that I would not necessarily be aware of.
So I decided to install Chrome in order to use it to access my Gmail account, so that Google could do what they wanted to that browser's settings when I'm accessing my Google account's email 'product'.

But FLoC - which places a uniquely-identifying 'brand' on my computer's system - is a 'deal-breaker' for me. I just hope that Google have not now coupled my IP address with this same FLoC 'brand' on their servers, so that they and their 'carefully-selected partners' (i.e. anybody who pays them) can still monitor/govern what I am allowed to see on the web even though I have deleted the FLoC folder from my system.

I use a Gmail account because I can use it to virus-check any attachments that are inbound to me or outbound from me.
And because I like its 'Labels' function for categorising my emails - even though I recognise that the actual raison d'être of 'Labels' is, clearly, to teach Google's algorithms about how humans categorise communications. i.e. to improve their functionality as automated-surveillance tools.

I will now have to try to find a de-Googled version of 'Chromium' to use as my single-purpose tool for accessing my Gmail account - but how can I be certain that I have a version of 'Chromium' that is genuinely FLoC-proof? :(
Do any such things even exist? :?:
Last edited by Cassandra on Tue Apr 20, 2021 6:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by Moem »

I use Chromium and my machine is FLoCfree.
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by MurphCID »

I use Chrome since it works on all platforms, and the removed the sync feature from Chromium. Which sucks. I run lots of ad blockers, and script blockers. Firefox lost me a while back.
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by Cassandra »

Well, I have just installed 'Chromium' using the lm 'Software Manager'.

And also the Chromium-ublock-origin package from the same source.

And I then opened Chromium, went in to its Extensions manager, opened the Chrome Store, and added the DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials extension.

I then checked my .config folder.
The folder in .config for chromium does contain a folder called Floc - which is currently empty (thank Cthulhu!).

I am thinking of attmepting to reset the permissions of the .config/chromium/Floc folder so that NOBODY has write-access to it.
i.e. nobody can surreptitiously put a unique-identifier 'brand' in to it - not even me - unless I first edit the folder's permissions again.
BUT:
1- IS doing this a 'good' idea'? Or is it a BAD idea?
2- Might it 'break' anything?
3- Can I - if I so wish - later decide to undo any changes that I make to the Floc folder's permissions?

I would be very grateful for your advice!

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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by AndyMH »

From vivaldi (who won't support FLoC):
The FLoC component in Chrome needs to call Google’s servers to check if it can function since Google is only enabling it in parts of the world that are not covered by Europe’s GDPR. It seems there is still some discussion as to whether FLoC could even be legal under the GDPR regulations. We will continue to follow this closely.
I run chromium (89.0.4389.114) and have a non-empty floc folder and live in the UK?
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by trytip »

i use chrome because i invested quite a lot into trying to best secure it from the beast and to also learn these practices they do. remember that if you use iphone with chrome or android with phone you will also part of the floc. you can use the site to check being floced, but developing maybe hasn't made it this far.

IMPORTANT: the FLoC folder will always regenerate at everytime you open browser. so if you delete it will be back. i am trying to find a way to make this folder READ ONLY.
tip: for those that do use chrome or chrome like browser your fingerprint is a different part of tracking; you can add to your menu entry and not read canvas fingerprint:

Code: Select all

--disable-reading-from-canvas google-chrome-stable
test your fingerprint: https://browserleaks.com/canvas <<< if you have a signature or uniqueness you are also part of the beast. now you may need to disable this if you work or have a site that may not load some extra content. you should see something like this:
Your Fingerprint:
Signature n/a
Uniqueness n/a
i am looking into another browser but alas slimjet is also sneaky with their privacy options as is firefox. so please don't be amazed that users still use chrome. for me i always jump in the fire of course, but i make sure i have protection against the heat. for some reason chromium from mint repositories will not open in mint 19.3, i haven't figured out why.
Last edited by trytip on Tue Apr 20, 2021 9:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by Moem »

Mod note:
One post removed, no politics please!
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by Cassandra »

Cassandra wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 7:26 am Well, I have just installed 'Chromium' using the lm 'Software Manager'.

And also the Chromium-ublock-origin package from the same source.

And I then opened Chromium, went in to its Extensions manager, opened the Chrome Store, and added the DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials extension.

I then checked my .config folder.
The folder in .config for chromium does contain a folder called Floc - which is currently empty (thank Cthulhu!).
Update:
I decided to search for files called floc on my system.
I found the folder in .config/chromium, AND a .js file buried within that folder.

I wanted to check to see whether that .js file was part of the DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials package, so I opened Chromium and visited a couple of pages on the BBC news website.

I then looked in my .config folder again.

Despite my having installed the extensions listed above, I found that the Floc folder within it had been populated again, with a folder called 1.0.6, and with various contents within that folder.

It seems therefore (to me at least) that if you live in the UK and want to NOT be Flocd, you cannot install Chrome OR Chromium :(

Perhaps I ought instead to have tried my earlier idea, and changed the properties of the 'Floc' folder within .config/chromium, so that NOBODY has write-access to it?
If anybody would like to try to do that, I would be curious to know whether or not doing it 'works' (i.e. disables Floc by making it impossible for Chromium/Chrome to place the tracking 'brand' on to one's system)

For now though, I have purged Chromium from my machine.

Innit marvellous? :(
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by cliffcoggin »

I don't understand the attraction of Chromium and Chrome. I gave up all things Microsoft and Google when I moved to Linux on my work computer four years ago, and have not missed them one iota. Firefox with DDG suits me fine, so Google is welcome to install as many trackers in its software as it likes.
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by Portreve »

Many years ago, there was a thing where people were being told to look through their Windows folder for a certain file, and if they found it to delete it because they had become infected. When people did this, they caused their system to no longer boot (iirc) and, of course, it was a hoax.

“OMG! If you see something on your system called 'FLoC', you've been compromised and need to delete / disable / whatever it” smacks of that.

So, with the greatest degree of incredulity I can muster, I'm asking “Are you serious?”
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by rene »

FLOC is definitely real. The fact that every user of Google products should by now have been aware of Google's business model, as I will paraphrase Karlchen, also. If you don't want to be tracked by Google don't use Google products. Very same in fact holds for Microsoft and Apple. If conversely you don't mind said obvious business model and feel it provides also you with value, go right ahead.
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by t42 »

...
You can test if your browser have FloC enabled here:
Am I FLoCed (amifloced.org)
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Re: Google (Chrome): Don't be Part of the FLoC

Post by t42 »

Kadaitcha Man wrote: Mon Apr 19, 2021 10:40 pm You could use Microsoft Edge instead.
:)
...it may be changed too - Microsoft prefers their PARAKEET to Google's FLoC
Last edited by t42 on Tue Apr 20, 2021 5:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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