I'm mostly using the Chrome browser. Like that would be a surprise. ;)
For me, I'm getting enough benefit from the big brother browser for me
to use it for now. I'm not overly excited about the level of
big-brotherish aspects of it, but I put up with it because of the
quality-of-life aspects it brings. It's a trade-off that I'm willing
to accept right now.
One thing that Google has been very good about is being respectful of
your privacy settings.
As to other tracking aspects of your browsing experience, I'll say
that it really doesn't matter much what browser you use because there
are many means for tracking users. It's possible for a website to
determine where the visitor is coming from, not just down to the city,
but even to the house if WiFi is present. No cookies required. This is
one of the unintended consequences of the Google Street Level Camera
Cars. Not only are the cars photographing, but also sniffing (war
driving) the WiFi spectrum. Ever wonder how your iPad is able to
figure out where it's at???
Anyway, between the websites and the ISPs themselves, you're pretty
well hosed when it comes to privacy. It's really nothing new, though.
50 years ago telephones could be tapped and calls traced. Just because
the mode of communication or type of communication changes doesn't
mean that you have any different level of privacy now than then.
Back to the quality-of-life aspects. As mentioned before, I use four
different computers, an iPad and an Android smartphone. The only way
to keep from going insane is to have a common linked interface between
them all and some form of "cloud" storage. Google provides that. I've
almost entirely stopped using thumb-drives to transfer files from
computers. Another benefit is that I can create/edit/print documents
from any of my computing devices seamlessly.
But for that convenience, I know I have to "pay" something. Google is
pretty clear that they are an advertising company. As somebody who
spent 12 years in the broadcast industry, I can appreciate that and
support it.
AG Schnozz
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