Говно Opera

[Anonymous]

http://spywareitdaiuyfo2sqb5vsg7mek5cjabdr73luhnda57t2hyuzg7yyd.onion/

A web browser made by Opera Software, using the Blink engine. Has some
interesting features like mouse gestures, a built-in ad blocker and
VPN. It is the sixth most popular browser. But how does it look like in
terms of privacy?

Spyware Level: EXTREMELY HIGH

Opera makes 55 unsolicited requests upon its first run. By default, it
spies on all your browsing history. Works closely with advertisers and
trackers. Is integrated with Facebook, one of the biggest privacy
violators in the world. Has Google as the default search engine. Closed
source.

Geolocation

The first request Opera makes is the geolocation request: which
includes your country and the precise timestamp.

Homepage request

If this is the first time you run Opera, it makes this request: which
will redirect you to their homepage. Then, that homepage will make a
bunch of other requests, including to google analytics, facebook (if
you're logged in, they now know who you are), and even yandex.ru. The
yandex request will set a uniquely identifying cookie.

Cxense analytics

Later, it will make a few requests to cxense.com. What is Cxense?

We are Cxense. We help hundreds of leading publishers and marketers
across the globe transform their raw data into their most valuable
resource. Built on the premise of 1:1 analytics and communication;
allowing you to both gain unprecedented insight about your individual
customers, and to action this insight real-time in all your marketing
and sales channels.

This request seems to include a unique ID

Search engines

Opera will also download a list of search engines, which you cannot
delete, only add new ones (at least from the GUI). Apparently, there
are some convoluted methods of deleting the search engines, but I
haven't confirmed them. Of course, the default search engine is the
anti-privacy Google.

OCSP querying

Opera will query OCSP servers (ocsp.comodoca.com) to check if SSL
certificates expired.

Malware / Phishing protection

Anytime you visit a website, Opera will make a request like this: to
check if it is malicious. So it is literally spying on your whole
browsing history. Fortunately, this can be turned off.

Other requests

Other requests include ones to googletagmanager, google ads specific
for your country, more requests to yandex (these include your screen
size, encoding, and the page you came from), more geolocation, etc.
Together, Opera made 55 unsolicited requests in my first run of it.
Analyzing them all would probably take a book.

Facebook integration

Opera has a Facebook chat button on the sidebar, and Facebook is one of
the most anti-privacy organizations out there.

Opera's "Partners"

Opera has a list of "partners" -- those are the websites that are in
the Speed Dial by default. If you click on one of them from there, they
will know you visited from Opera's Speed Dial. Those requests also
include unique user IDs. What happens if you close Opera and run it
again? The websites in the Speed Dial will change to the ones from your
country! And the same rule about them knowing where you came from
applies.

Opera is closed source

And it will stay that way. From their FAQ (the message used to be there
in 2017, they must have deleted it somewhere in 2018):

Opera has no current plans to open source its browser.

Therefore, some other spyware might be hiding in there.
--
"Восстание - это доблесть раба". Ф. Ницше