Lauren's Blog: Separating the Chrome Browser From Google Could Be
Terrible for Billions of Users
https://lauren.vortex.com/2025/08/19/separating-google-chrome-terrible-idea
Calls for Google's Chrome Browser to be separated from Google could
potentially result in a privacy and security disaster for literally
billions of people around this planet.
An AI firm just offered 34.5 billion dollars (about twice what that
company is theoretically worth) for Google's Chrome browser, and then
almost immediately another AI firm offered a full 35 billion -- what's
500 million dollars among friends, right?
Of course, there's no obvious indication that Google has any interest
in selling off Chrome at this time. Another factor is that there's
speculation that the judge in an antitrust case that Google lost might
order that Google divest itself of Chrome as part of a penalty, though
that case is very likely to be appealed and go through considerably
more litigation so we don't really know where that case will end up.
But the question you gotta ask yourself is WHY these firms would be
willing to pay so much for Chrome. Yes, Chrome has about three and a
half billion users who consider it to be their primary browser, and
around a two-thirds global market share among the various browsers
that users can choose from. And you're still talking about paying
about $10 per user to get up to a $35 billion dollar offer. But the
thing is, Chrome is effectively open source. These firms could
essentially get the browser sources for free. The Google Chrome
browser is based on the Chromium open source project, and that's the
origin not only for the Chrome browser but also various other
browsers. In fact, Microsoft's Windows Edge browser, that they're
constantly trying to manipulate Windows users into switching to from
other browsers, is itself based on the Chromium project.
So again, why are these AI firms willing to pay such an enormous sum
for Chrome? And the answer is, they probably don't really care about
Chrome per se, they care about those three and half billion users who
use Chrome and could be dragged with Chrome over into these other
firms' "AI First" philosophies, perhaps along with their browser
histories and all the other data associated with routine Web use. So
it's not the browser they lust after, it's the people who use the
browser.
Now, as we've noted frequently, Google itself is going "full speed
ahead" into AI whether users want it not -- and mostly it seems they
don't want it. But that said, Google still has an excellent history of
protecting and securing user data and privacy, related to their Chrome
browser's use and other associated applications. This includes many
routine Google and other services and for example the Chromebooks that
are so popular in education and industry.
The thought of any of that data being handed over to some external
entity or entities outside Google is of great concern to many
observers in the security and privacy fields. What will happen if
those 3.5 billion Chrome users are sucked into those other firms' AI
fever dreams that again many -- polls say by FAR most -- users don't
want to have anything to do with at all!
Yes, many people are critical of Google. But there's an old saying
that the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know. And
yes, I myself have been quite critical of various of Google's policy
decisions, especially related to their Large Language Model generative
AI push of late. But I've had, and still have, a great deal of respect
and trust in terms of how the regular employees inside Google -- the
Googlers many of whom I've known -- work to protect our data and our
related privacy.
The upshot of all this is that billions of people conduct their
Internet usage through the Chrome browser, and it's difficult to see
how handing that browser -- and those users -- over to another firm
doesn't stand a high probability of creating new privacy and security
risks for those users who already have enough Internet problems to
worry about.
L
- - -
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
[email protected] (https://www.vortex.com/lauren)
Lauren's Blog: https://lauren.vortex.com
Mastodon: https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/@lauren
Signal: By request on need to know basis
Founder: Network Neutrality Squad: https://www.nnsquad.org
PRIVACY Forum: https://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility
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