Ken's Weblog

People should not fear their governments; governments should fear their people.

Tag: browser

  • Wrong approach

    Browser add-on blocks Google Analytics. Google has released an add-on for Web browsers that blocks information from being sent to its Analytics service. [MacCentral]

    This is rather pointless, as Tor blocks Google Analytics, and any other form of spying on the Internet. Anyone who wants their browsing to be private is using it, which means that the people complaining about Google Analytics tracking their activity are only announcing their own ignorance or stupidity (or both).

    Browsing the web without Tor and complaining about privacy is like standing on a crowded sidewalk and then complaining that people can see you.

  • Uninformative browser warnings

    Security Certificate Warnings Don’t Work. angry tapir writes “In a laboratory experiment, researchers found that between 55 percent and 100 percent of participants ignored certificate security warnings, depending on which browser they were using (different browsers use different language to warn their users). The researchers first conducted an online survey of more than 400 Web surfers, to learn what they thought about certificate warnings. They then brought 100 people into a lab and studied how they surf the Web. They found that people often had a mixed-up understanding of certificate warnings. For example, many thought they could ignore the messages when visiting a site they trust, but that they should be more wary at less-trustworthy sites.”

    Read more of this story at Slashdot.

    [Slashdot]

    Every time I’ve encountered a certificate warning it’s been for a perfectly valid but self-issued certificate. If the people in the experiment have had similar experiences, it’s not surprising they would have gotten into the habit of ignoring the warnings.