[arctux]

Yes, but it's not the default. From the article:

> One could, however, add a second passphrase that is never sent to the server, and encrypt the data using that. Chrome provides this as a non-default option.

The average user doesn't have the expertise to know that they have to configure an additional "master password" to keep Google from mining their data for ads.

[adtac]

>keep Google from mining their data for ads

I just got this morbid idea of Google mining storing passwords to recommend LastPass/1Password in ads based on your password strength.

[mygo]

Hmm I wonder if LastPass/1Password advertises on websites listed on haveibeenpwned

[auslander]

1Password is promoted by the HIBP itself, a.k.a Troy Hunt. I would not use it.

[tprnz]

That is true, defaults are important. Firefox users know that because they have to disable the advertisements that appear in the Firefox new tab page by default.

https://prod-cdn.sumo.mozilla.net/uploads/gallery/images/201...

[arctux]

I strongly dislike that they've done that. In their partial defense, the selection of recommended articles based on your browsing history is done on device.

[mintplant]

In fact this was one of the primary motivations behind Sponsored Tiles in Firefox, to prove the viability of a privacy-preserving monetization model for the web.

[mnutt]

It's interesting that while some could certainly characterize all of that screenshot's "Recommended by Pocket" stories as advertisements, recently they've started showing actual Sponsored Stories advertisements in that spot as well.

[mintplant]

I'm downvoting this as the same off-topic whataboutism that comes up any time this topic is discussed on HN (and the fact that you felt the need to create a throwaway account to post it makes me think you knew what you were doing here).

[Holybed]

I'm not sure account age is so relevant. I create new accounts all the time (several times per month) even though I stand behind what I write. It takes 15 seconds so hardly a big effort. I've noticed that it's possible to extract a lot of info from people's posts, in many cases deanonymizing them if you go through enough history and correlate with other sites. Maybe he is a bit privacy concerned.