Beware-Half of Google Chrome extensions are collecting your personal data

Incogni, a data risk management company has found that half of the Google Chrome extensions are installed to collect the personal data of users when permission is granted. Incogni carried out a study that analyzed 1,237 chrome extensions in Chrome Web Store and found some terrifying information. Nearly half (48.7%) of the extensions were found to potentially expose users’ personally identifiable information (PII), distribute malware and adware, and record passwords and financial information.

Incogni also tried to measure the risk impacts of the permission given to google chrome extensions during installation and found that 1 in 4 which is almost 27% of extensions collect data.

Shockingly writing extensions including  Grammarly and Compose AI, extracts most of the data ie; almost  80% of them caught at least one data point at a time.

So when it comes to writing extensions, one needs to be extra vigilant and should take necessary measures to augment their browsers and caution when installing the new ones.

Most of the users cannot even understand the risk associated with these extensions when granting them permissions so it is advised that one should install extensions from trusted developers only. But it should be noted here that even programs with high user ratings do not advise guaranteed protection. So the only thing left is to be vigilant and practice common sense when it comes to granting and reviewing permissions.

while telling about it, Aleksandras Valentij, Information Security Officer at Surfshark said:

“why would an ad blocker need audio capture access or access to your file system? If you have doubts, simply don’t use that particular add-on. There are plenty of alternatives for each add-on out there.”

Also Read: Google Chrome is the most unsafe browser in 2022 with 303 vulnerabilities: Report