San Francisco, California – Google Chrome will soon be implementing a major update to its extension system, transitioning from Manifest V2 to Manifest V3. This shift has raised concerns among users and developers, as Manifest V3 is perceived to be more limited and restrictive compared to its predecessor. The controversy surrounding Manifest V3 stems from its purported goal of enhancing security, privacy, performance, and trustworthiness within the extension ecosystem.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has been vocal in its criticism of Manifest V3, labeling it as deceitful and threatening. The EFF argues that the new system will curtail the capabilities of web extensions, particularly those designed to monitor, modify, and compute alongside users’ browsing activities. In contrast, Google asserts that Manifest V3 will bolster the overall integrity and functionality of extensions.
Mozilla Firefox’s Add-ons operations manager, Philipp Kewisch, has expressed reservations about Google’s justification for implementing Manifest V3. Kewisch highlighted that while Manifest V3 aims to enhance security, malicious add-ons can still exploit loopholes to gather user data. Despite these concerns, Firefox plans to support Manifest V3 to ensure cross-browser compatibility for extensions.
One contentious aspect of Manifest V3 is its impact on content filtering, essential for ad blockers and anti-tracking extensions. Critics argue that Google’s decision to limit content filtering contradicts its stated objectives of improving security and privacy. This move comes under scrutiny as Google, a major player in the online advertising industry, continues to integrate ad-related features directly into Chrome.
In response to feedback from the extension community, Google has made some concessions regarding Manifest V3. Specifically, Google has increased the number of filtering rulesets allowed by the new system to accommodate ad blockers. However, significant changes include restrictions on the ability of filtering extensions to update rulesets independently. Moving forward, filtering updates will require submission to the Chrome extension store for security review, potentially resulting in delays for users relying on ad blockers.
As the rollout of Manifest V3 progresses, users can expect to see warning banners on Chrome beta versions for any Manifest V2 extensions installed. V2 extensions will also lose their featured status on the Chrome extension store. Gradually, these extensions will be disabled, prompting users to either find alternative extensions or consider switching to browsers like Firefox. Despite Google’s efforts to enhance the extension system, concerns persist over the potential limitations and implications of Manifest V3 on user experience and privacy protection.