Ghostery and NoScript-like add-ons frequently phone home
So what would the author prefer? That security sensitive software doesn't check for updates? WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG.<p>Somewhat later there is this remark:
<i>Why are these add-ons?  Why are they not designed-in and built-in to the browser?</i><p>Well, this <i>is</i> actually built-into Firefox Nightly. It's called Tracking Protection...and it updates its lists using the exact same SafeBrowsing the original author whines about.<p>It's hard to take these people seriously, which is bad, because privacy is a serious problem. Not worthy to be left over to whiners that offer no solutions.