Do you have any idea of the kind of influence the big 4 tech giants – Amazon, Google, Microsoft & Facebook – wield on your Web browsing? A Chrome extension called Big Tech Detective now helps you track just that. Be prepared to be shocked.
What Is Big Tech Detective?
Big Tech Detective is a browser extension for Google Chrome & Firefox that allows users to “see” the unprecedented influence wielded by the big 4 tech companies on the Internet in general. The extension “blocks” any Website with even the slightest connection to the giants, & offers a pop up detailing the extent of this influence in neat percentage form.
Websites that use Web services such as Google Fonts, Google Analytics, Amazon Web Services or Microsoft’s Azure will not make the grade, & when you include advertising servers into the mix, there are pitifully few websites that don’t get a huge red warning sticker from Big Tech Detective.
Why Was It Developed?
Backed by The Economic Security Project, Big Tech Detective was developed to let surfers know that the Net is in the hands of a few giant companies. They control it to such an extent that browsing becomes literally impossible if services from these giants are blocked. In fact, you’d be lucky to find even a single website that would pass the grade.
Who’s Behind It & How Does It Work?
Developed by Alden Rivendale Jones, Dhruv Mehrotra & Emily Lin from the Anti-Monopoly Fund at The Economic Security Project, the extension connects to an external database, which holds records of all the IP addresses associated to any of the big 4. The tool does not store any personal data on their users; it simply shows a warning sign to give insight into big tech’s monopoly. Actually, the browser does not block the Site, it just overlays it with a big red sticker.
Users can toggle a switch on the tool’s interface to exclude any of the big 4, if they choose to.
How Do You Get It?
Big Tech Detective isn’t on the Chrome Store, so you need to “sideload” it by following the instructions on their Website.
Image credit: Big Tech Detective
