

"Google Alarm" Firefox addon alerts you when you're sending data to Google - jamiew
http://fffff.at/google-alarm
Browser extension visually &#38; audibly warns you when a page contains tracking bugs like Google Analytics, AdSense, YouTube embeds, etc.
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ScotterC
Wouldn't it make more sense if the alarm was for when you're not sending data
to the Google?

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mechanical_fish
If we make the alarm sound like a vuvuzela it'll be like the World Cup all
over again.

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throw_away
sudo /usr/sbin/tcpdump -i en1 -l host google.com or host google-analytics.com
2>/dev/null | perl -ne 'if (time - $lasttime > 1) { `say zzzzzzzz`; print
"spoke to google at ", scalar localtime, "\n"; } $lasttime = time;'

~~~
dedward
Excellent - but the "zzzzzz" part comes out like "zee zee zee zee zee zee
zee".... at least on osx....

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throw_away
ya. that's the best I could do. I couldn't find a vuvuzela audio file on the
internet that wasn't surrounded by a bunch of flaming hoops, else, I would
have had it open that URL.

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Groxx
From a comment:

> _Didn’t show any alerts when I hit google.co.uk_

Which probably means it's just looking for links to "google.com" in the page.
In which case I'd doubt it'd catch connections _in_ flash files, and it
probably false-positives if you have blockers in place. (edit: checked the JS
file, that's exactly what it does. Looks for URLs of: google, gmail.com,
youtube.com, blogspot.com)

~~~
Groxx
late-edit:

Correction, they search all elements for these domains / files:

    
    
      google
      gmail.com
      youtube.com
      blogspot.com
      google-analytics.com/urchin.js
      google-analytics.com/ga.js
      googlesyndication.com
      show_ads.js
      doubleclick.net
      youtube.com/v/
      

And finally a ++ if you're using Chrome. Fairly sure that's all of them, I
finally opened the file in a proper editor.

And, importantly, it appears they're searching for that _text_ , not
attributes, so this post will probably set off the alarms.

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pbiggar
If this is true (and I have no reason to doubt you), then the extension is so
inaccurate as to be useless. In Firefox at least, there are hooks to do
everything you need to do a real implementation.

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Groxx
Just installed the Chrome version, and ran it on that comment's page. Results:

    
    
      Google Analytics
      Google AdSense
      Youtube Embed
      Google Chrome
    

And the Firefox plugin's results are coming once I get it downloaded & install
the plugin. I'll edit here, and probably blog about it due to its inaccuracy
(stupidity should be exposed!!!).

edit: Firefox's results mirror it exactly, minus the Chrome one of course.
Plugin review result: utterly worthless.

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niekmaas
Considering the amount of websites that use Google Analytics this will result
in an almost constant sound. At least the websites I browse often.

But it's an interesting project to make people aware of the amount of data
they send to Google. I just dont think that people that do not know this will
install a plugin like this.. Or use FireFox at all.

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rquirk
I'm just glad that analytics is on its own domain. Google could easily have
placed it at google.com/analytics and it would be much trickier to block. As
it is, an entry in hosts or blacklist it in NoScript is all you need.

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jrockway
Adblock Plus does a better job of blocking than those mechanisms, however, and
it could handle google.com/analytics just as easily as google-analytics.com.

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nhebb
I'd be embarrassed too if someone caught me visiting Perez Hilton. I'm
thinking Google should keep an eye on those people.

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skizm
Bug? I can not click on links in the upper right hand corner of a website
while it is enabled. I went to amazon and tried to click "My Account" in the
upper right and it was as if there was something invisible not allowing me to
click links up there. Several disable/enables of the plugin later and it seems
like that is the problem.

Anyone else experience this?

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nhnifong
Just a list of all the things I can think of the at will trigger that alarm.

Google analytics, Embedded Youtube videos, Adsense, Any of Google's websites,
Typing in the search box.

The chrome extension is even funnier. That would probably never be silent.

EDIT: Turns out typing in the search box doesn't set it off

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jim_h
I use 'ad block', 'noscript' (not allow google analytics) and 'cs lite' (block
cookies). Also 'better privacy' to clear my flash files.

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yikulju
if you're afraid of Google I made a Chrome extension for you. (it tells you
whether or not you're logged into your Google account)
[https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/kehceocjihegfhln...](https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/kehceocjihegfhlnocjbblapepeilbmk)

~~~
ElbertF
If you're afraid of Google why would you use Chrome?

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code_duck
Adding facebook, ms/live/bing and other networks would make more sense than
only being obsessed with google.

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hipsterelitist
Fun toy. I honestly never thought about how ubiquitous Google Analytics really
was.

Hope you win your emmy!

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gojomo
Great idea -- but overdone to the point where it's only a think piece, not a
utility.

An alternate presentation idea: a toolbar with both indicators for the current
page, _and_ a timeline of recent connections to Google's servers. It would
make a small ring on each new connection -- but more like an IM notification
than an airhorn, and able to be turned off.

The timeline could be logarithmic, with the past to the right, so the last 5
minutes or so of hits to Google AdSense/Analytics/CDN/etc. is in high-
resolution over about 1/3 the width of the screen, while the next hour takes
the next 1/3, and the last day the last 1/3 -- altogether showing a total of
the background hits to Google servers in the last 24 hours or so. Like so...

[AX__A___X_____XC____AX____X_X__A__XA__X_A__AXC__X__XAAXCA] 121 hits

