Debunking misinformation about Opera’s browsers
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rekz last edited by
Reddit saying Opera VPN can be read by Chinese govt and that it's security protection can be byapssed by China govt. I'm suspect of those claims, but also surprised this article completely missed the chinese ownership discussion / concerns.
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by
@rekz Who owns Opera is not really relevant.
What is relevant is that Opera is a Norwegian company and follow European laws on privacy and data protection.
If one (still) believe that "China is bad, spy on you and steal your data" even with the information above, nothing that Opera says will change it. -
A Former User last edited by A Former User
@rekz I‘d say, if there were something about it, Opera would have been banned in Europe or the US. I suppose that every website you visit is more of a threat than this particular piece of software.
There‘s no way denying, that Opera has to earn money, too. So they like other companies try to gain some data from you for advertising reasons. Opera is a advertising company as well.
You can of course opt out from most of their services like cashback or shopping center and they are very open about it. Every major browser tries to monetize and has to.
And there‘s an important reason, too. As I understand it, browsers have become very complex these days. And you need a lot of workpower to keep them secure. So if don‘t want to rely on a hobbyist project, you need a company or an organization that‘s big enough to keep pace. And that is the reason, too, that there‘s no other browser engine than Chromium (Google), Gecko (Mozilla) and Webkit (Apple).
Opera is, compared to Google or Apple, a rather minor player. Others are even smaller and are even more dependent on the bigger ones, although they declare, they‘re not. But without Google there wouldn‘t be neither Brave nor Vivaldi, and almost certainly no Opera. And Google‘s money also keeps the light on at Mozilla. -
Tyler67877 last edited by
@opera-comments-bot said in Debunking misinformation about Opera’s browsers:
At Opera, we take the privacy and security of our users very seriously. Even so, we have recently noticed some articles that spread misinformation about our browser, labeling it as “spyware”. In this post, we aim to debunk these misconceptions and reaffirm our commitment to user privacy and security.
Describe the security measures Opera has in place to protect users from online threats like malware and phishing.
Mention any partnerships with cybersecurity organizations. -
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Mark877 last edited by
@tyler67877 said in Debunking misinformation about Opera’s browsers:
At Opera, we take the privacy and security of our users very seriously. Even so, we have recently noticed some articles that spread misinformation about our browser, labeling it as “spyware”. In this post, we aim to debunk these misconceptions and reaffirm our commitment to user privacy and security.
It's great to see Opera stepping up to address these rumors. Privacy and security are hot topics these days, so it's crucial to clear the air. I've been an Opera user for a while now, and I've always felt secure using it. It's awesome that you're taking the time to set the record straight and reassure users.
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Zebsound1 last edited by leocg
2 Questions.
- Do you send any data to the chinese part of Opera?
- Do they have the rights to see any data from European customers?
Because we all know the Law in China. The CCP is allowed to see the userdata of every company in china! Thats a fact
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A Former User last edited by
@zebsound1 I‘m sure if they were doing it, it would have been laid open to the public by someone.
I‘d just take them by their privacy policy. You are ok with it, then use it. If not, just leave it. There are alternatives at hand.
But spreading rumor and misinformation doesn’t help, IMHO. -
A Former User last edited by
The more people are telling: Stop using Opera, because it’s spyware, the more I find pleasure in using it.
The louder they have to shout, the less they actually have to say.
Google, Edge or Safari, they all have their stengths and shortcomings, as they relate to some of the big companies. Hardly anyone does call them spyware whatsoever. Firefox might be an alternative for someone looking for a more private experience .
But people calling Opera spyware only to promote some tiny project that only does promote itself as private, is ridiculos. They don‘t even have the ressources to keep their peoject safe. They are totally relying on Google, that they despise, to do the hard job for them. Remember: without Google there wouldn‘t be anything like Brave or Vivaldi, as they don‘t have enough people or money to maintain the source code. Same goes for all these Firefox forks, maintained by one or two people. It‘s quite annoying that these projects are called browsers, as they are only variations of browsers.
Opera in my mind is the only OS independent Chromium variant, which isn’t only a fork but offers really something different and has more than hobbyist ressources.
As long as there‘s no proof, for Opera doing something shady, I‘ll be using Opera gladly.
But I‘m glad, you‘re addressing these allegations. -
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