theverge | The Economic Security Project is trying to make a point about big tech monopolies by releasing a browser plugin that will block any sites that reach out to IP addresses owned by Google, Facebook, Microsoft, or Amazon. The extension is called Big Tech Detective, and after using the internet with it for a day (or, more accurately, trying and failing to use), I’d say it drives home the point that it’s almost impossible to avoid these companies on the modern web, even if you try.
Currently, the app has to be side-loaded onto Chrome, and the Economic Security Project expects that will remain the case. It’s also available to side-load onto Firefox. By default, it just keeps track of how many requests are sent, and to which companies. If you configure the extension to actually block websites, you’ll see a big red popup if the website you’re visiting sends a request to any of the four. That popup will also include a list of all the requests so you can get an idea of what’s being asked for.
It’s worth keeping in mind that just because a site
reaches out to one or more of the big four tech companies, it doesn’t
mean that it’s necessarily snooping or doing something nefarious. Many
websites use fonts from Google Fonts, or host their sites using Amazon
Web Services or Microsoft Azure. That said, there are pages that connect
to those IP addresses because they use trackers provided by one of the
big four companies. The examples I’m about to list were selected because
they’re common sites, not necessarily because they should be shamed. Fist tap Dale.
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