Privacy

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How do you evaluate a browser extension for privacy/security? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago by ladybugs@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.world

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Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm not a tech/IT person and am very early in my privacy journey.

I was going to install a web clipper browser extension that works with a notes app I'm trying out, but the installation page says it isn't actively monitored for security by the organization behind my browser. The extension requires access to your data for all websites. However, the page also says that they don't share data with any third party and don't have access to this data themselves. What level of privacy risk am I taking on with this extension?

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[–] artyom@piefed.social 4 points 1 day ago

Checking if it's open source is step #1. If it's not, there's really no way to verify if it's private because there's no way to know what it's doing. Another thing you can do is analyze the web traffic with something like Wireshark. Theoretically a web clipper shouldn't need to access any remote servers.