Hello there,
Recently, having heard of Manifest v3 I've decided to look for a more long-term solution since currently-used-by-me uBlock Origin's fate seems rather uncertain for now.
After some looking, I came across AdGuard, which actually seems pretty good on paper. Almost too good to be true - affordable price, computer-wide ad blocking unaffected by browser APIs...
However, I have a few questions/concerns regarding its security.
And forgive me of the questions here are kinda noobish - I just want to be completely, 100% sure.
Before you ask - yes, I'm fine with buying an ad blocker, especially since I use it primarily as an anti-malvertising software. So, the questions are:
Thank you in advance for your help.
Recently, having heard of Manifest v3 I've decided to look for a more long-term solution since currently-used-by-me uBlock Origin's fate seems rather uncertain for now.
After some looking, I came across AdGuard, which actually seems pretty good on paper. Almost too good to be true - affordable price, computer-wide ad blocking unaffected by browser APIs...
However, I have a few questions/concerns regarding its security.
And forgive me of the questions here are kinda noobish - I just want to be completely, 100% sure.
Before you ask - yes, I'm fine with buying an ad blocker, especially since I use it primarily as an anti-malvertising software. So, the questions are:
- There is some ambiguity about the jurisdiction, I think. Does AdGuard follow the laws of Russia or Cyprus?
- Is my data (browsing history, passwords, e-mails personal files etc.) collected and sent online by the AdGuard application, either to its own servers or to any others whatsoever? The privacy policy basically says that it doesn't, but I just want to be sure.
- In any case, what kind of data does AdGuard have about me, and (if any) why is it needed?
- AdGuard seems to use HTTPS interception for ad filtering. I understand why it's required for it to work, but does my HTTPS data remain encrypted while being sent online, especially AFTER being ad-filtered by AdGuard? If so, how strong and secure is the encryption when compared to an average unintercepted HTTPS?
- Are the HTTPS certificates generated uniquely and locally, or is there one certificate for them all, just like the infamous Superfish?
- Does AdGuard install any drivers/other low-level things? If so, how does it affect security?
- AdGuard free applications (such as browser extensions) are open source. In that case, why is AdGuard Premium closed source, and, in your opinion, does it make it less trustworthy?
- And overall, a quick, simple question to sum up it all: does AdGuard spy on you or is in any other way malicious?
Thank you in advance for your help.