
Maxthon browser is a spyware - ksdev
https://zaufanatrzeciastrona.pl/post/bardzo-sie-zdziwie-jesli-to-wyjdzie-na-jaw-czyli-wyrzuccie-maxthona/
======
ksdev
English report:
[https://exatel.pl/advisory/maxthonreporten.pdf](https://exatel.pl/advisory/maxthonreporten.pdf)

TL;DR: It doesn't matter if you agree to join "User Experience Improvement
Program" in Maxthon or not - the browser regularly sends this data to Beijing
servers:

    
    
      - Windows service pack version,
      - screen resolution,
      - Maxthon version,
      - CPU freq,
      - Maxthon path,
      - adblock info,
      - startup site address,
    

and the most important:

    
    
      - ADDRESS OF EVERY VISITED SITE - full history, with every query entered in google,
      - every ~5 reports - FULL LIST OF INSTALLED SOFTWARE (with exact versions).

~~~
ksdev
The biggest Polish software news site removed Maxthon from its database:
[http://www.dobreprogramy.pl/Maxthon-to-spyware.-Polscy-
badac...](http://www.dobreprogramy.pl/Maxthon-to-spyware.-Polscy-badacze-
przechwycili-utajniona-komunikacje-z-Chinami,News,74766.html)

------
zeta0134
Holy crap. That is just a ton of information being sent up there. (Also, as
solely an English speaker, I'm very impressed with Google Translate's ability
to parse this article out into a readable form.)

I mean to their credit, the NSA is not in Beijing. I dunno though, this seems
a lot worse. What a mess. This is part of the reason I won't buy Lenovo
computers anymore. The Maxthon browser is installed by default, along with all
sorts of other junkware and god knows what any of it actually does.

------
JohnTHaller
Does anyone know if this has been independently confirmed by anyone else? If
it gets confirmed, we'll be pulling it from PortableApps.com as well.
Discussion/tracker:
[http://portableapps.com/node/54786](http://portableapps.com/node/54786)

------
enedil
Although I'm a pole, I'd appreciate if this link was posted with translation.

~~~
deallocator
Care to give a TLDR of the article? I'm afraid my Polish isn't great

~~~
pavel_lishin
Chrome's auto-translation was good enough that it was very readable; you can
try Google translate.

ksdev also wrote a succinct TLDR here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12095127](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12095127)

