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Websites Can Detect What Chrome Extensions You've Installed

Posted by timothy on from the incognito-no-more dept.

dsinc writes "A Polish security researcher, Krzysztof Kotowicz, makes an worrisome entry in his blog: with a few lines of Javascript, any web site could list the extensions installed in Chrome (and the other browsers of the Chromium family). Proof of concept is provided here. As there are addons which deal with very personal things like pregnancy or religion, the easiness of access to those very private elements of your life is really troubling." Note: the proof of concept works, so don't click that link if the concept bothers you.

3 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Websites can discriminate against Adblock users by satuon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This can be used in a much more mundane way - a website can check if you have Adblock installed, and it can refuse to display its content to you then unless you uninstall it.

    1. Re:Websites can discriminate against Adblock users by wmbetts · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Why is that a problem? Its your right to refuse to load content on to your computer and it's their right to refuse to show you their content. Kinda like the old antispam saying "my server my rules."

      --
      "Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me". - stolen from Dan C alt.os.linux.slackware
  2. Re:Only a partial list by Dan541 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It lists zero for me because ScriptNo blocks it.

    If I allow scripting it detects LastPass, Ghostery and ScriptNo.

    --
    An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"