What are Muatri Ads? We're they in Opera?

[Healing-Cross]

Healing-Cross last edited by leocg

I ran Claude AI for some questions about Opera‘s privacy and security, and they gave me a hint about the so-called „Muatri Ads“.

I asked: Can you show me sources for the Muatri components in Opera?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

And Claude responded:
„ Sure, here are some sources that reported on and analyzed the Opera Muatri component sending data to China:

1. Certunion Analysis Report (January 2020):
   https://certunion.com/en/news/opera-muatri/

This is the original report from Certunion that discovered Opera was shipping the Muatri adware component that was sending user data like URLs, location data, mobile headers etc. to servers in China and Singapore.

2. BleepingComputer Article (January 2020):
   https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/opera-caught-adding-sendgrid-marketing-trackers-to-browsers/

This covers the Certunion findings, with details on how the Muatri component was essentially a "subscription traffic monetization" adware sending sensitive data without user consent.

3. ZDNet Article (January 2020):
   https://www.zdnet.com/article/opera-muatri-tracker-scandal-brings-browser-privacy-into-question/

ZDNet's analysis highlighting how the Muatri revelations contradicted Opera's privacy-focused marketing and raised questions about data flows to China.

4. Opera's Response (January 2020):
   https://blogs.opera.com/desktop/2020/01/opera-cares-about-privacy-and-does-not-compromise-it/

Opera's blog post acknowledging the Muatri issue, claiming it was for A/B testing, and stating they would make it easier to uninstall the component.

The sources provide technical details on the data being sent by Muatri, as well as analysis around the privacy implications for Opera users given the connections to Chinese entities.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​“

I‘ve never heard about something like this. And all the links run into the void.
I searched in Ecosia and Google and didn’t find any hint? Is there still something about it?

[Healing-Cross]

Healing-Cross @Healing-Cross last edited by

@healing-cross

I asked Aria as well:

„What is or was the Muatri component in Opera?“

The Muatri component in Opera was related to A/B testing and caused some controversy in 2020. It was acknowledged in a blog post by Opera, and efforts were made to make it easier to uninstall the component.

[leocg]

leocg Moderator Volunteer @Healing-Cross last edited by

@healing-cross Don'r remember haver heard of anything like that. All those links resulted in a Page Not Found message and don't seem to be reliable sources, except for the Opera Blog.

[sgunhouse]

sgunhouse Moderator Volunteer @Healing-Cross last edited by

@healing-cross As no one has mentioned or questioned it yet ... A/B testing is when they randomly send out a small number of copies of the browser with some different feature for testing purposes. They don't tell you they've done so as it is supposed to be a blind test, though if you look at the version numbers generally the last number will be completely different from normal versions.

So, if it really was some A/B test version, very few users ever had it and it wouldn't be present in any current versions.

[Healing-Cross]

Healing-Cross @sgunhouse last edited by

@sgunhouse @leocg Thank you very much for your explanations. Though I've never heard about this incident and never noticed any report by some privacy advocates, I was wondering how these things could be brought to the forefront by AI, even Opera's own.

[Opera-Security]

Opera-Security Opera last edited by

Hello! This seems to be a case of AI hallucination.

We have investigated, and to our knowledge there has never been a component called Muatri Ads in Opera. In fact, Google doesn't seem to return any results about such a component or company.

There has certainly never been any such report about this, and likewise no press coverage nor a response by Opera - the links themselves seem to be generated by the model and are not real. Opera does not send data to China, whether during A/B testing or otherwise - Opera is subject to the GDPR and compliant with European regulations about data processing.

While this seems strange, it's not uncommon for AI models to invent information, especially if they are prompted in a certain way. That's why we always urge users to double-check information that's provided by AI models.

Hope this helps!

[Healing-Cross]

Healing-Cross @Opera-Security last edited by

@opera-security Thank you for clarification. That was my guess, too. But the links, even as dead links sounded that real!
Unfortunately even Opera‘s AI also supported this case if not with giving any „sources“.
I was suspicious because I couldn’t find any items in Google, Ecosia or DuckDuckGo. And I couldn’t remember any of these self declared „privacy activists“ ever launching any complaint against Opera, which would have been a really useful incident, if it had really happened.
So again, thank you for reaching out!

[Opera-Security]

Opera-Security Opera @Healing-Cross last edited by

@healing-cross No problem, thanks for sharing this through the forums and bringing it to our attention!