1 Million Browsers Turned Into Bots - Is Yours One of Them?
The story goes: nearly one million browsers have been secretly turned into website scraping bots through browser extensions, but the story is a bit trickier than that! In this video, I break down the Ars Technica report on the Mellowtel Library and the potential privacy and security vulnerabilities it introduced. This incident highlights broader issues with extension stores, digital hygiene, and the challenge of sustainable developer monetization in the privacy-focused world we're trying to build. Techlore empowers individuals with practical digital privacy knowledge, security tools, and advocacy resources. Discover how to protect your online data and regain control of your digital identity.Take back control of your online history with Redact.dev, the tool that lets you automate the deletion of your posts and messages across major platforms, all while archiving your data locally. Use Code TECHLORE10 for a discount: https://redact.dev/techlore
📱 RESOURCES IN VIDEO:
• https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/07/browser-extensions-turn-nearly-1-million-browsers-into-website-scraping-bots/
• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT1XgBs25gRlg5e3nYCAff967WMtZZTO-TB3rR9zszaJpTpCVFg8j7FkBxnHb3tw3aHGjKBGSxYyLgV/pubhtml
• https://secureannex.com/blog/mellow-drama/
• https://www.mellowtel.com/blog/responding-to-ars-technica-and-mellow-drama-article
🔎 RELATED VIDEOS:
• https://youtu.be/lRJjsw-NXKo
• https://youtu.be/MT90t7P1_qM
📺 RELATED CHANNELS:
• Surveillance Report: https://www.youtube.com/@surveillancereport
• Techlore Clips: https://www.youtube.com/@techloreclips
• Surveillance Report Clips: https://www.youtube.com/@surveillanceclips
• Henry's Personal Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@henry-fisher
🔐 TECHLORE RESOURCES:
• Techlore Homepage: https://techlore.tech
• Go Incognito Course: https://techlore.tech/goincognito
• Techlore Forum: https://discuss.techlore.tech
• Exclusive Signal Group: https://discuss.techlore.tech/t/signal-usernames-are-here-join-our-signal-group-techlore/7640
• Recommended Privacy Tools: https://techlore.tech/resources
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⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Intro
00:25 - Which extensions were impacted?
01:35 - Intro to Mellowtel library
02:09 - How Mellowtel Works
04:06 - The problems
05:29 - Sponsor: redact.dev
06:46 - Digital Minimalism
07:17 - Rationale behind keeping things minimal
07:46 - Recommended Action Steps!
09:53 - Broader Implications and why this matters.
11:18 - Important Ethical questions
12:45 - Final Words
#BrowserSecurity #ExtensionSafety #DigitalPrivacy Receive SMS online on sms24.me
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