"Alexander Hanff contends that Claude Desktop's actions make it 'spyware' and amount to a violation of European privacy law, specifically breaching Article 5(3) of Directive 2002/58/EC."
"Hanff describes the undisclosed file installation as a 'dark pattern' and a direct breach of privacy laws, highlighting the scale of the violation in a vendor perceived as safety-conscious."
"The file installed by Claude Desktop, com.anthropic.claude_browser_extension.json, pre-authorizes Chrome extensions to run a local executable, allowing automated access to browsers."
Claude Desktop for macOS modifies other applications without user consent, violating European privacy laws. Privacy consultant Alexander Hanff labels it as spyware, citing breaches of the ePrivacy Directive. He discovered unauthorized file installations while debugging another app. The installed file, a Native Messaging manifest, pre-authorizes Chrome extensions to run a local executable, enabling Claude Desktop's AI model to access browsers for automated operations. This practice raises significant privacy concerns and questions about the vendor's commitment to safety.
Read at Theregister
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]