[ DuckDuckGo Privacy Weekly ] For Apr 1, 2021

• Why You Shouldn't Use Google Chrome After New Privacy Disclosure [forbes.com]
  The amount of data harvested by Google Chrome is a threat to your privacy. Our Founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg weighs in: "Google doesn’t care about protecting user privacy… they care about protecting their surveillance business model."
• Google and the Age of Privacy Theater [wired.com]
  Privacy theater, privacy washing – call it what you like, Google's planned privacy sandbox (as they call it) "does very little to change the underlying dynamics of an industry built on surveillance-based behavioral advertising," says Gilad Edelman.
• Stay Safe Online During Tax Time (PDF) [staysafeonline.org]
  Security and privacy are not one in the same, but good security practices help keep your data private. This tip sheet for staying safe online this US tax season urges:
  • Use strong passwords + 2FA (two-factor authentication)
  • Keep software up-to-date
  • Be wary of public WiFi
• Slouching Towards Dystopia: the Rise of Surveillance Capitalism and the Death of Privacy [newstatesman.com]
  "…internet users watched governments do nothing about tech power for two decades. Surveillance capitalism was enabled because its practitioners operated in a lawless environment. It appropriated people’s data as a free resource and asserted its right to do so…"
• Student Privacy [eff.org]
  K-12 students and parents: Here's a guide from EFF to learn about companies collecting students’ data and the risks to student privacy. Sensitive personal information should lie in the hands of parents and trusted school officials, not companies.

Our thoughts

• Most Browser Tracking Protection Doesn't Actually Stop Tracking by Default, but We Can Help [spreadprivacy.com]
  Major browsers are upping their privacy promises (a good thing), but unfortunately this does not mean they actually stop Google and Facebook tracking. Browser privacy tech that just restricts trackers after they load (e.g., no third-party cookies) is like using an umbrella in a hurricane: You’re still gonna get wet! Preventing trackers from loading, like the DuckDuckGo app and extension do, actually protects you from being tracked, and also results in about twice-as-fast page loads.

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