Browser Extensions Turned 1M Users Into Bots: How to Check

The story goes: nearly one million browsers have been secretly turned into website scraping bots through browser extensions, but the story is a bit trickier than that! In this video, I break down the Ars Technica report on the Mellowtel Library and the potential privacy and security vulnerabilities it introduced. This incident highlights broader issues with extension stores, digital hygiene, and the challenge of sustainable developer monetization in the privacy-focused world we're trying to build. Techlore empowers individuals with practical digital privacy knowledge, security tools, and advocacy resources. Discover how to protect your online data and regain control of your digital identity. Take back control of your online history with Redact.dev, the tool that lets you automate the deletion of your posts and messages across major platforms, all while archiving your data locally. Use Code TECHLORE10 for a discount: https://redact.dev/techlore 📱 RESOURCES IN VIDEO: • https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/07/browser-extensions-turn-nearly-1-million-browsers-into-website-scraping-bots/ • https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vT1XgBs25gRlg5e3nYCAff967WMtZZTO-TB3rR9zszaJpTpCVFg8j7FkBxnHb3tw3aHGjKBGSxYyLgV/pubhtml • https://secureannex.com/blog/mellow-drama/ • https://www.mellowtel.com/blog/responding-to-ars-technica-and-mellow-drama-article 🔎 RELATED VIDEOS: • https://youtu.be/lRJjsw-NXKo • https://youtu.be/MT90t7P1_qM 📺 RELATED CHANNELS: • Surveillance Report: https://www.youtube.com/@surveillancereport • Techlore Clips: https://www.youtube.com/@techloreclips • Surveillance Report Clips: https://www.youtube.com/@surveillanceclips • Henry's Personal Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@henry-fisher 🔐 TECHLORE RESOURCES: • Techlore Homepage: https://techlore.tech • Go Incognito Course: https://techlore.tech/goincognito • Techlore Forum: https://discuss.techlore.tech • Exclusive Signal Group: https://discuss.techlore.tech/t/signal-usernames-are-here-join-our-signal-group-techlore/7640 • Recommended Privacy Tools: https://techlore.tech/resources 🧡 KEEP TECHLORE INDEPENDENT: • Become a Techlorian: https://discuss.techlore.tech/s • Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/techlore • YouTube Memberships: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs6KfncB4OV6Vug4o_bzijg/join • Affiliate Links: https://techlore.tech/affiliates • All Support Methods: https://techlore.tech/support This content couldn't be freely available without our Techlorians, huge thanks to: BRIGHTSIDE, Clark, Ente, Larry, Richard, Afonso, JohnnyO, kevin, love your content, x, 3c3c1d, Alexandre, Nadio, NotSure, Philip, Seth, Stephen, Steven 🌐 FIND TECHLORE ELSEWHERE: • PeerTube: https://techlore.tv • Mastodon: https://social.lol/@techlore • Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/techlore.tech • Twitter: https://twitter.com/TechloreInc • LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/techloreinc • Telegram Channel: https://t.me/techlorefeed ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro 00:25 Which extensions were impacted? 01:35 Intro to Mellowtel library 02:09 How Mellowtel Works 03:20 The problems 04:45 Sponsor: redact.dev 06:00 Digital Minimalism 06:30 Rationale behind keeping things minimal 07:00 Recommended Action Steps! 09:08 Broader Implications and why this matters. 10:30 Important Ethical questions 12:00 Final Words #BrowserSecurity #ExtensionSafety #DigitalPrivacy