Online privacy for Chrome and other browsers

Google has recently implemented a gigantic scam to harvest personal information and monetize it. The chances are recent and touted by Google as for privacy, even thought it is for loss of privacy. The Register writes:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has urged folks to switch off several Privacy Sandbox settings in Google Chrome to mask their online habits, or to consider switching to Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari.

Chrome's Privacy Sandbox is neither private – preventing one from being observed – nor a sandbox – an environment in which code can be executed in isolation. Rather it's a suite of advertising, analytics, anti-spam, and anti-tracking technologies. The goal for some of these is to replace third-party cookies.

Third-party cookies, because they harm privacy by permitting people to be tracked online, are scheduled to be phased out next year in Chrome. But the online advertising industry isn't entirely sold on Google's replacement technology, and it may be that antitrust cases or other regulatory pressure will lead websites away from Privacy Sandbox and toward industry-backed ad tech like IAB's Seller Defined Audiences.

Google says its Privacy Sandbox has five major goals: fighting spam and fraud on the web; showing relevant ads and content; measuring digital ads; strengthening cross-site privacy boundaries; and limiting covert tracking.

"Topics is a response to pushback against Google’s proposed Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), which we called 'a terrible idea' because it gave Google even more control over advertising in its browser while not truly protecting user privacy," said Thorin Klosowski, EFF security and privacy activist, in a web essay.

Mozilla and Apple have rejected Topics in Firefox and Safari respectively due to privacy concerns. And earlier this year, the Technical Architecture Group (TAG) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the web's technical body, panned Topics for being opaque and diminishing user control.

"Google referring to any of this as 'privacy' is deceiving," said the foundation's Klosowski.

"Even if it's better than third-party cookies, the Privacy Sandbox is still tracking, it's just done by one company instead of dozens. Instead of waffling between different tracking methods, even with mild improvements, we should work towards a world without behavioral ads."

Klosowski explains that for those who won't give up Chrome there's a way to opt out of Topics, of ad retargeting, and of giving advertisers storage space in your browser for ad performance data. Doing so requires navigating through Chrome's three-dot icon to the ad privacy settings page: (⋮) > Settings > Privacy & Security > Ad Privacy. Or copy this URL chrome://settings/adPrivacy into the address bar and press enter.

Once there, he advises disabling Ad topics, Site-suggested ads, and Ad measurement.  

The EFF also makes Privacy Badger, a browser extension for blocking tracking scripts that was just recently updated to remove tracking links. 

A related story discusses the EFF's Privacy Badger:

We released a new version of Privacy Badger that updates how we fight “link tracking” across a number of Google products. With this update Privacy Badger removes tracking from links in Google Docs, Gmail, Google Maps, and Google Images results. Privacy Badger now also removes tracking from links added after scrolling through Google Search results.

Link tracking is a creepy surveillance tactic that allows a company to follow you whenever you click on a link to leave its website. As we wrote in our original announcement of Google link tracking protection, Google uses different techniques in different browsers. The techniques also vary across Google products. One common link tracking approach surreptitiously redirects the outgoing request through the tracker’s own servers. There is virtually no benefit 1 for you when this happens. The added complexity mostly just helps Google learn more about your browsing.

It's been a few years since our original release of Google link tracking protection. Things have changed in the meantime. For example, Google Search now dynamically adds results as you scroll the page ("infinite scroll" has mostly replaced distinct pages of results). Google Hangouts no longer exists! This made it a good time for us to update Privacy Badger’s first party tracking protections.

Privacy Badger is downloadable here. The commentary at that site: 

Privacy Badger automatically learns to block invisible trackers. Instead of keeping lists of what to block, Privacy Badger automatically discovers trackers based on their behavior. Privacy Badger sends the Global Privacy Control signal to opt you out of data sharing and selling, and the Do Not Track signal to tell companies not to track you. If trackers ignore your wishes, Privacy Badger will learn to block them. 

 Besides automatic tracker blocking, Privacy Badger replaces potentially useful trackers (video players, comments widgets, etc.) with click-to-activate placeholders, and removes outgoing link click tracking on Facebook and Google, with more privacy protections on the way. To learn more, see our FAQ at https://privacybadger.org/#faq

An interesting water desalination advance

The boffins at MIT have come up with a desalination device that runs on sunlight and the laws physics. No electricity is required, so this thing operates completely off the grid.  They have designed a box a square meter in size (~10.8 sq ft) that can produce 5 liters of drinkable water per hour from seawater. The system can operate for several years without maintenance. The price for the water is less than the average US price for tap water. The system should be scalable to very large sizes.

A tilted ten-stage prototype floating in a salt water container -- the

tilt is needed to passively create water circulation which

prevents salt from accumulating and clogging the system

MIT News writes:

In a paper appearing today in the journal Joule, the team outlines the design for a new solar desalination system that takes in saltwater and heats it with natural sunlight.

The configuration of the device allows water to circulate in swirling eddies, in a manner similar to the much larger “thermohaline” circulation of the ocean. This circulation, combined with the sun’s heat, drives water to evaporate, leaving salt behind. The resulting water vapor can then be condensed and collected as pure, drinkable water. In the meantime, the leftover salt continues to circulate through and out of the device, rather than accumulating and clogging the system. 

The new system has a higher water-production rate and a higher salt-rejection rate than all other passive solar desalination concepts currently being tested.

The researchers estimate that if the system is scaled up to the size of a small suitcase, it could produce about 4 to 6 liters of drinking water per hour and last several years before requiring replacement parts. At this scale and performance, the system could produce drinking water at a rate and price that is cheaper than tap water.  

The small circulations generated in the team’s new system is similar to the “thermohaline” convection in the ocean — a phenomenon that drives the movement of water around the world, based on differences in sea temperature (“thermo”) and salinity (“haline”).

“When seawater is exposed to air, sunlight drives water to evaporate. Once water leaves the surface, salt remains. And the higher the salt concentration, the denser the liquid, and this heavier water wants to flow downward,” Zhang explains. “By mimicking this kilometer-wide phenomena in small box, we can take advantage of this feature to reject salt.”

The research paper is here (behind a paywall). A figure from the paper shows more clearly how the device works. The paper comments:

Using a confined saline layer as an evaporator, we initiate strong thermohaline convection to mitigate salt accumulation and enhance heat transfer. With a ten-stage device, we achieve record-high solar-to-water efficiencies of 322%–121% in the salinity range of 0–20 wt % under one-sun illumination. More importantly, we demonstrate an extreme resistance to salt accumulation with 180-h continuous desalination of 20 wt % concentrated seawater. With high freshwater production and extreme salt endurance, our device significantly reduces the water production cost, paving a pathway toward the practical adoption of passive solar desalination for sustainable water economy.

I believe the following to be true.........

 I would say I have noticed a noticeable decline in political engagements amongst my friends, associates, family over the last few years. So the following doesn't surprise me.............

Cato national survey finds that self‐​censorship is on the rise in the United States. Nearly two-thirds—62%—of Americans say the political climate these days prevents them from saying things they believe because others might find them offensive. The share of Americans who self‐​censor has risen several points since 2017 when 58% of Americans agreed with this statement.

These fears cross partisan lines. Majorities of Democrats (52%), independents (59%) and Republicans (77%) all agree they have political opinions they are afraid to share.

https://www.cato.org/survey-reports/poll-62-americans-say-they-have-political-views-theyre-afraid-share

Granted, the above is from 2020 but I could not find more recent data. I still believe it to be true. People I used to kibitz with on politics don't want to express their views as openly any more, especially in politically mixed company.

Has your experience been the same OR are you surrounded by political debaters?

MORE:

Implications

Taking these results together indicates that a significant majority of Americans with diverse political views and backgrounds self‐​censor their political opinions. This large number from across demographic groups suggests withheld opinions may not simply be radical or fringe perspectives in the process of being socially marginalized. Instead many of these opinions may be shared by a large number of people. Opinions so widely shared are likely shaping how people think about salient policy issues and ultimately impacting how they vote. But if people feel they cannot discuss these important policy matters, such views will not have an opportunity to be scrutinized, understood, or reformed.

Tina again: No, I don't know why

Computer speakers are worthless crap. Put on your head phones and set your equalizer to do this right, or just blow it off.

Barcelona 1990

A church house, gin house

A school house, outhouse

On Highway Number Nineteen

The people keep the city clean

They call it Nutbush

Oh, Nutbush

Call it Nutbush city limits

Nutbush city limits

Twenty-five was the speed limit

Motorcycle not allowed in it

You go t'the store on Fridays

You go to church on Sundays

They call it Nutbush, little old town

Oh, Nutbush

They call it Nutbush city limits

Nutbush city limits

You go t'the field on week days

And have a picnic on Labor Day

You go to town on Saturdays

But go to church ev'ry Sunday

They call it Nutbush

Oh, Nutbush

They call it Nutbush city limits

Nutbush city limits

Oh

No whiskey for sale

You get caught, no bail

Salt pork and molasses

Is all you get in jail

They call it Nutbush (little old place) 

Oh, Nutbush

Nutbush city limits

Nutbush city limits

Yeah, they call it Nutbush city

Nutbush city limits

Little old town in Tennessee

It's called a quiet, little old community

A one-horse town

You have to watch

What you're puttin' down in old Nutbush

They call it Nutbush

Young Tina raw & white hot alive in1973 -- this is the one one I grew up with & it's about as real as music can get short of . . . . something big:

Of course, as usual, that's just my humble opinion.