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I have an extension in Chrome, called Daxab ultimate, that I use, because on certain adult sites it lets me stream the video in 1080p and without the extension its 720p.

So, if I turn on the extension, that is, if I enable the extension only while I am on the site, and the rest of the time, I manually go into chrome extension settings and disable it there, will it still be "active" and possibly checking my browser history?

And its not just about Daxab, it is in general. When you click DISABLE in the extension settings, how does Google sandbox it exactly? Meaning, I have not uninstalled it, its simply disabled from functioning and doing its job.

So, do you security experts think that its effectively sandboxed or hibernated?

Patrick Mevzek
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Gigiisbae
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  • You do not seem to trust that extension a lot anyway. If you have doubts, you should just refrain using it at all, and even uninstall it. You seem to be afraid for the extension to read your browsing history (and maybe fearing this is exfiltrated somewhere?). But if it has this permission, it can use it anytime, when it runs. Enabling it on one site and not another will still make it able to read all your browsing history... – Patrick Mevzek Aug 08 '19 at 17:31
  • Yeah i dont particularly "trust" it, because i am blind to whats really going on in the background. But its not just this extension, its ALL extensions. How do we really KNOW what they are doing in the background without being a tech wiz. This is why, i use the extension when i need it, and then manually disable it in chrome options when my work is done. – Gigiisbae Aug 10 '19 at 06:59

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When you disable an extension, Chrome doesn't execute its code anymore.

It's still here, on your disk, but Chrome knows it's not active, so it won't load or execute anything.

Benoit Esnard
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  • Ah ha, ok. So let me try to visualize this as a layman. You say "chrome doesnt execute its code". So, its prevented from "waking up" and integrating itself into my browser.I mean its installed and integrated, but its not RUNNING IN REAL TIME? So as far as the extension "knows", chrome is not started, right? My fear is simple, i dont want the extension to do its thing, UNLESS I ENABLE THE DISABLED EXTENSION. I dont want it to know and log my browsing history when its disabled. Now, disabled is not the same as uninstalled. But its as close to "non-existent on my browser" as it can get, right? – Gigiisbae Aug 08 '19 at 13:57
  • Basically, yes: the extension is sleeping, and enabling it wakes it up. It can't do anything while sleeping. – Benoit Esnard Aug 08 '19 at 14:12
  • Yeah, i was worried it was loading even when its manually turned off in chrome extensions. I was binge watching a playlist of zombie movies these past couple of days lol. – Gigiisbae Aug 10 '19 at 07:00