Not sure if my browser extensions are safe. How do you check?

I added a few extensions for convenience. Now I'm worried about permissions.

4 comments

4 Comments

Last year I added a weather widget that needed access to all my tabs. Figured it was just for local forecasts, but then my homepage got hijacked by discount cruise ads. Had to scrub my whole browser history and change passwords. Now I'm paranoid and read every permission list like it's a spy novel. Still not sure if that coupon finder is selling my data, but the 10% off is tempting.

brianm663mo ago

Yeah, that's smart. I always check the reviews and developer details first. If something asks for way too much access, that's usually a red flag.

murray.cora2mo ago

Actually, checking reviews first can backfire. A lot of fake extensions buy five star ratings to look legit. I start with the permissions list, like @irisowens should have. If it wants to read data on all websites right away, I close the tab no matter how many good reviews it has. That's the real red flag, not just "too much" access. The developer details are usually useless unless it's a big company you already know. Why do we trust reviews more than the actual things we're letting the software do?

irisowens3mo ago

Ugh, I should be the last person giving advice. My browser looks like a digital hoarder's garage. Coupon finder, tab organizer, five different 'dark mode' helpers. They probably know my social security number by now. I only check after getting weird ads for things I just talked about. Real detective work over here.