It hides users' actual search trails in a cloud of 'ghost' queries, significantly increasing the difficulty of aggregating such data into accurate or identifying user profiles. TrackMeNot runs as a low-priority background process that periodically issues randomized search-queries to popular search engines, e.g., AOL, Yahoo!, Google, and Bing. Many long-time users (TrackMeNot has been listed in the Chrome Store since 2011, as well as the Mozilla store and other app platforms since 2006) contacted us to ask how and why they had received this notification, while others started a thread on Reddit to discuss why the extension had been disabled, and how it could be restored. First, Google notified all current users of the software that the extension “contained malware”. Yet, in spite of the 14-day grace period, Google blocked TMN from the Chrome Store the very next day.īlocking TMN from the Chrome Store had two immediate consequences. The e-mail also warned us that we had two weeks to make the necessary changes to avoid removal of TrackMeNot (TMN) from the store. The alleged reason: it violated several of the Chrome Web Store’s Program Policies, such as providing an inaccurate description of its functionality or requesting permissions that it did not use.
On May 12th, we received an e-mail from Google stating that our TrackMeNot browser extension, which protects users from tracking by search engines, was at risk of being removed from the Chrome Store. Google Falsely Labels TrackMeNot as Malware
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