Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by octosphere 2587 days ago
> Does this mean that adblocking (and other safety-related) extensions will suddenly stop working on private windows, unless the user knows it has to go to the settings and enable them again?

Looks like it, although if you don't know how to configure your extensions, then why even use them in the first place?

Chrome has been doing this for a while now. You have to check the 'Allow in incognito' button for the extension to work in private mode.

2 comments

> Looks like it, although if you don't know how to configure your extensions, then why even use them in the first place?

Because uBlock Origins et al. are incredibly useful for your average internet user who know fuck all about configuring extensions but benefit far more from it? What is this unnecessary elitism?

Sane defaults are really important for people who don't know anything about the internet, much less privacy or security (see any number of examples of ad networks delivering malware). Adblocking not working in private mode isn't a sane default. The vast majority of people have no idea what any of this means or how to do any of this. Doesn't mean they're any less deserving of protection.

> Sane defaults are really important for people who don't know anything about the internet

That's fair. I apologize for sounding elitist. I guess you could say I am a bit biased here because although sane defaults are ultimately worth shipping, there exists the tinkerer types who love nothing more than configuring and customizing their addons.

> Adblocking not working in private mode isn't a sane default

Perhaps you are right about AD-blocking addons. You typically want them in normal browsing mode and private mode, but it's the mountain of other addons which spy on users that users have to worry about. I don't have to worry because I inspect the code of addons before installing (more elitism in practice). I have spotted a few in the wild that covertly send your browsing history and other details to a remote server (Yes, I reported them).

They are being protected. Protected from malicious plugins sniffing their private browser activity.
Previously installed extensions before this update will not be disabled automatically, only new ones