Show HN: The Extensions Scraping Your AI Chats (amibeingpwned.com)

Recent investigations revealed that eight popular Chrome extensions, collectively boasting over 7 million installs, are scraping user AI chat data without clear disclosure. Many of these extensions are affiliated with data brokers and analytics firms and carry "Featured" and "Verified" badges from Google, which raises significant concerns about user privacy. The scraping process involves reading user prompts and responses during their interaction with AI chat platforms, transmitting this data to remote servers for potentially nefarious purposes, such as training models or targeted advertising. The findings underline a troubling trend within the AI/ML community regarding user consent and data privacy. While some extensions explicitly state their data collection practices, others employ misleading policies or obfuscate their true activities, making it difficult for users to understand the risks associated with their use. Extensions like Stylish and SimilarWeb were confirmed to exfiltrate both URLs and AI chats, showcasing major gaps in transparency and ethical practices. This scrutiny emphasizes the need for enhanced regulatory oversight and user awareness around browser extensions and their real implications on data security and privacy. The situation calls for users to audit their installed extensions actively and remain skeptical of permissions associated with seemingly benign applications.