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Google causes outrage by deleting and forcefully uninstalling extension.

RuecanOnRails
By RuecanOnRails
in Tech News
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Posted

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2608xq/chrome_just_removed_kryptokit/

 

http://www.reddit.com/r/google/comments/260dbu/hey_google_doing_a_mass_force_uninstall_of/

 

 

Kryptokit is a fairly well known in browser Bitcoin wallet for Chrome.
 

An instant Bitcoin wallet and secure instant messaging system that runs right in your browser. KryptoKit is the easiest and fastest Bitcoin wallet to setup and make Bitcoin payments online."

 

Earlier today it was forcefully removed from the Google play store for an alleged undisclosed TOS violation. Though any attempt by the developers to get details has been stonewalled.

The shocking part is not that it may have been flagged, removed from the store, or had a warning; Rather the actions taken by Google went as far as to forcefully uninstall from end users computers and devices.

 

 

Here's a couple of the comments from the two reddit threads which sum up the situation fairly well.

 

Is there any way to complain to Google directly about this? This is a fucking outrage, and could be construed as literally destroying people's money.

 

Does this also mean Google controls Chrome remotely? The application ones installed runs locally not at Google servers. So at least Google has to ask for permission. This is unsettling.

 

Fuck you google, you became evil

edit: even Microsoft or Apple would never dare to do this. Uninstall a program from MY FUCKING COMPUTER with MY FUCKING MONEY!!! I am figuring out now how to get back FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS, which I kept there because I trusted the creators of Kryptokit

How to get back your money

 

 

 

It will be interesting to see how this develops, as of recently the extension has returned for the time being.

The take away may be not to trust Google with your data, privacy, or online services. I have been growing more cautious about Google for some time now, alternate solutions might be worth looking into.

 

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Users cannot, and will not securely manage key material. Most users can't and the ones that can, wont.

Ask me about Bitcoin, Litecoin, Crypto-Currencies, and/or Mining them.

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Oh shit. Google, you have some explaining to do.

█ Motherboard: MSI Z97S Krait Edition █ CPU: Intel i7-4790K █ GPU: Nvidia Geforce GTX 780Ti █ RAM: 8GB AVEXIR DDR3 1600  █ Storage: 120GB Kingston HyperX SSD + 1TB Seagate Barracuda HDD █


█ Monitor: 21.5" 1080p 60Hz █ PSU: 700w █ Case: Fractal Define R4 █       ...LTT Dark Theme master race.


Project MiniConsole


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Posted

since when is reddit a reputable news source?  

Grammar and spelling is not indicative of intelligence/knowledge.  Not having the same opinion does not always mean lack of understanding.  

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there are idiots who keep their wallets in browser extensions ?

can you be any more dumber ......

If your grave doesn't say "rest in peace" on it You are automatically drafted into the skeleton war.

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since when is reddit a reputable news source?  

I guarantee you that if there is a news article being written, these Reddit threads will be the source.

 

Do you not know what a "source" is? Or is it because "Reddit"?

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I guarantee you that if there is a news article being written, these Reddit threads will be the source.

 

Do you not know what a "source" is? Or is it because "Reddit"?

I said reputable.

Grammar and spelling is not indicative of intelligence/knowledge.  Not having the same opinion does not always mean lack of understanding.  

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I said reputable.

 

I'd trust reddit, twitter, and social media individual and open reporting over any bought and paid mass media conglomerate you find "reputable"

 

Try this article if you don't like the reddit links.

http://www.coindesk.com/secure-wallet-extension-kryptokit-disappears-chrome-browsers/

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Users cannot, and will not securely manage key material. Most users can't and the ones that can, wont.

Ask me about Bitcoin, Litecoin, Crypto-Currencies, and/or Mining them.

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Are you saying first party sources aren't reputable?

 

no. I'm asking if reddit as forum is reputable.  Most reputable news services will actually try to substantiate claims before telling the world they are a fact. Does reddit do this or is it like twitter/facebook where anyone can say anything.

 

 

I'd trust reddit, twitter, and social media individual and open reporting over any bought and paid mass media conglomerate you find "reputable"

 

Try this article if you don't like the reddit links.

http://www.coindesk.com/secure-wallet-extension-kryptokit-disappears-chrome-browsers/

 

Cheers.

 

EDIT: interesting that that article says google has responded but not told us what they said other than they re-instated the app.

Grammar and spelling is not indicative of intelligence/knowledge.  Not having the same opinion does not always mean lack of understanding.  

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Google didn't become evil, they were always evil.

The stone cannot know why the chisel cleaves it; the iron cannot know why the fire scorches it. When thy life is cleft and scorched, when death and despair leap at thee, beat not thy breast and curse thy evil fate, but thank the Builder for the trials that shape thee.
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there are idiots who keep their wallets in browser extensions ?

can you be any more dumber ......

 

You're missing the point entirely, it's not about the Bitcoin wallet, or safe storage methods. It's about the actions google took that resulted in automatic wide spread removal of user installed files and extensions.

 

On a side note, Kryptokit is a convenient tool for secure messaging, identity authentication, signature verification, and a Bitcoin wallet. Of course it's never recommended to keep large sums of money in any wallet of that nature, similar to a phone or online wallet. It merely acts as an easy and convenient way to keep a small value in Bitcoin at your fingertips for online shopping. Additionally the private keys are stored securely using a deterministic brainwallet style seed allowing easy backup and recovery.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Users cannot, and will not securely manage key material. Most users can't and the ones that can, wont.

Ask me about Bitcoin, Litecoin, Crypto-Currencies, and/or Mining them.

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no. I'm asking if reddit as forum is reputable.  Most reputable news services will actually try to substantiate claims before telling the world they are a fact. Does reddit do this or is it like twitter/facebook where anyone can say anything.

 

 

 

Cheers.

 

EDIT: interesting that that article says google has responded but not told us what they said other than they re-instated the app.

 

 

Are you unfamiliar with Reddit? While some subs may be full of immature children throwing feces at each other and complaining about everything; There are many which are highly reputable and consist of community and industry leaders. In the case of this post, the developers were posting in the reddit thread along with everyone else helping and trying to resolve issues.

 

It took 30 minutes from Googles take down, to an official response and help from the developers on reddit.

 

While I agree some things on reddit are utter trash, this is not one of them.

 

 

All attempts to find the answer from google to why it was removed have been stonewalled with generic replies, or dodging the question all together. One thing to keep in mind, it was not a low level decision to forcefully mass uninstall from compute, it takes someone higher up with a lot of pull to have access to that kind of kill switch.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Users cannot, and will not securely manage key material. Most users can't and the ones that can, wont.

Ask me about Bitcoin, Litecoin, Crypto-Currencies, and/or Mining them.

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Are you unfamiliar with Reddit?

yes,  last couple of times I have been on reddit the threads where filled with self important 3 year olds spouting more rubbish than can be found at a new york land fill.  That is why I asked. :)

Grammar and spelling is not indicative of intelligence/knowledge.  Not having the same opinion does not always mean lack of understanding.  

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I find it worrying how Google can even uninstall extensions on your own computer. If they can do that what else can they do. Install malicious software perhaps.

 (\__/)

 (='.'=)

(")_(")  GTX 1070 5820K 500GB Samsung EVO SSD 1TB WD Green 16GB of RAM Corsair 540 Air Black EVGA Supernova 750W Gold  Logitech G502 Fiio E10 Wharfedale Diamond 220 Yamaha A-S501 Lian Li Fan Controller NHD-15 KBTalking Keyboard

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And this means that they all lost any Bitcoin stored on their phones, unless they were saved to the cloud. This is not cool Google.

COMIC SANS

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so more reasons to get out of chrome? if opera had its freaking bookmarks tools working -__-

this is one of the greatest thing that has happened to me recently, and it happened on this forum, those involved have my eternal gratitude http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/198850-update-alex-got-his-moto-g2-lets-get-a-moto-g-for-alexgoeshigh-unofficial/ :')

i use to have the second best link in the world here, but it died ;_; its a 404 now but it will always be here

 

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Are you saying first party sources aren't reputable?

 

A source has to vertified. Has this first party source been vertified?

•  i7 4770k @ 4.5ghz • Noctua NHL12 •  Asrock Z87 Extreme 4 •  ASUS GTX 780 DCII 1156/6300 •

•  Kingston HyperX 16GB  •  Samsung 840 SSD 120GB [boot] + 2x Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM •

•  Fractal Design Define R4  •  Corsair AX860 80+ Platinum •  Logitech Wireless Y-RK49  •  Logitech X-530  •

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Obligatory:

 

iM7Re7TKQO9Zv.gif

"M. Aronnax." replied the Canadian, "your arguments are rotten at the foundation. You speak in the future, 'We shall be there! we shall be here!' I speak in the present, 'We are here, and we must profit by it.'"

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It might have been a bad move by google, but I will still withhold judgement until a statement by google is released.  After all, what happens if their extension had been compromised/contained a virus (whether intentional or unintentional, because I have known at least 2 students who were submitting viruses to the prof without realizing their computer was infected and corrupting their projects).

 

To be honest, I am on the fence about remote wiping of extensions.  It can be very beneficial if applications that are designed to be nasty appear. It isn't like Apple doesn't have the ability to do it either, they can remotely disable/uninstall apps.  Amazon's kindle can remotely remove books from your phone (they got in trouble for it because in their sweep of removing a book they ensared a kids book report because it was named the same thing...no links but the article was when Kindle was in it's early days).

 

So I will wait until an statement from Google

0b10111010 10101101 11110000 00001101

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