I'd take it for granted that google is sucking up every bit they can get from you.
and they did this, even if you told them not to track you.
Not that I know they're doing that, just that they definitely can get the gist of what and how you're doing with their tracking algorithms.
https://www.theverge.com/2017/6/23/15862492/google-gmail-adv...
They’re an ad-tech company. Calculating conversion rates is part of their business.
If so… wow.
This is not a thought experiment for me. I have actually approached the web this way for many years now. Using a single program for 100% of web use has become unthinkable.
If Vim and Emacs were released as new projects today, most of HN would roll their eyes and complain that neither is "opinionated" or "minimal" enough to rely on for serious work, and let's not even get started on the lack of built-in GPU accelerated text rendering...
The aboove is from another submission's comment thread currently on HN front page.^1 Not everything can be done satisfactorily within the browser. Other (smaller) programs are useful. In the later case, the programs are not supported by online advertising.
Edit to add: yes, I realise that Orion wouldn't be your "main" browser, with just the casual usage I envisage, but it could be interesting - and maybe, if it eventually takes off and earns a rep for privacy/security, you (and/or I) might feel sufficiently informed to make the switch. I guess I feel that the browser space lacks choice/variety atm.
If a single byte of unwanted information ever leaves Orion (and this is easily detectable with any network proxy), that would spell the end of Orion's credibility.
Surely there is a case to be made for a web browser that caters to a need for focused reading, where a quick context switch to logged-in sessions wouldn't be something you would appreciate having.
At that point, you wouldn't need much of the fancy javascript served to you, and can trivially cut down on attack surface with minor sacrifice.
In what way are Google not a trustworthy company in your view?
Expecting that they'll be looking into what I'm doing is exactly what leads me to consider them untrustworthy so I'm just curious what else you're thinking of.
Google "snowden nsa revelations" see all the companies sucking up all your data, the NSA and google and all the tech commpanies have removed everyones privacy. It's called "total information awareness".
That's only the tip of the iceberg.
Google analytics is ubiquitous and you're tracked to your bones especially if you're logged into your Google account and while they don't read your Gmail email content, they put you in the social graph according to any email address or URL in your email and they have better idea about your past more than you do.
I still use Google search as there aren't better alternatives but I never use Gmail nor Chrome as I have plenty of alternatives for those.
Depends on what you mean by "read". Google (and MS, and likely others) certainly parse the content. For example pulling out times for upcoming flights you've booked without you needing to click into the email.
Obviously I have no way to know if they actually do anything else internally with the result of parsing. I have to assume that they do though.