Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
pcworld.com/article/3092299/my-most-useful-chrome-extension-was-stealing-my-data-for-years.html
Just because I've been covering technology for 15 years doesn't mean I know everything. For example, I didn't know that one of my favorite Chrome extensions was selling my data and injecting affiliate links into my traffic, Honey-style. And it was doing it for over a year before Google took it down.
The extension in question was Save Image As Type, and it was popular with a lot of my fellow web writers, who don't like using Google's WebP extension type. Apparently it was sold or otherwise procured by a bad actor in late 2024 or early 2025, and it's been injecting affiliate links into the traffic of a million or so users. Strangely Microsoft was on the ball a lot faster, getting it off Edge about a year ago.
This sort of thing is getting a lot more common, a popular extension gets acquired by a new owner and then used for nefarious purposes with a stealth update. There's a way to keep yourself at least a little safer without having to check every single time on your own — another extension that watches the Chrome Web Store for changes in developer names. You can find a link to it over on PCWorld.
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pcworld.com/article/3092299/my-most-useful-chrome-extension-was-stealing-my-data-for-years.html
Just because I've been covering technology for 15 years doesn't mean I know everything. For example, I didn't know that one of my favorite Chrome extensions was selling my data and injecting affiliate links into my traffic, Honey-style. And it was doing it for over a year before Google took it down.
The extension in question was Save Image As Type, and it was popular with a lot of my fellow web writers, who don't like using Google's WebP extension type. Apparently it was sold or otherwise procured by a bad actor in late 2024 or early 2025, and it's been injecting affiliate links into the traffic of a million or so users. Strangely Microsoft was on the ball a lot faster, getting it off Edge about a year ago.
This sort of thing is getting a lot more common, a popular extension gets acquired by a new owner and then used for nefarious purposes with a stealth update. There's a way to keep yourself at least a little safer without having to check every single time on your own — another extension that watches the Chrome Web Store for changes in developer names. You can find a link to it over on PCWorld.
=============
Read PCWorld!
Website: pcworld.com
Newsletters: pcworld.com/newsletters/signup
=============
This video is NOT sponsored. Some links may contain affiliate links, which means if you buy something PCWorld may receive a small commission.
