Slimjet is a clone of the SlimBrowser web browser from FlashPeak that uses the Chromium as a base.
Spyware Level: EXTREMELY HIGH
Slimjet's website claims that it is very committed to user privacy, and that it blocks Google tracking, unlike Google Chrome[1]. However, this claim is not true. Slimjet is constantly sending information to google and connecting to google services. Slimjet claims to be concerned about privacy but ultimately retains just about all of the spyware features found in Google Chrome, as well as additional spyware added on by FlashPoint. In this way, Slimjet manages to implement all of the spyware that is found in browsers like Google Chrome, except instead of one company having this information, it's split up among several companies...
Phoning Home
Even though on its site, FlashPeak claims that: 'Slimjet doesn't send any usage data back to Google like Chrome.'[1] the moment I turn it on with MITMproxy running, I am greeted with this:
FlashPeak Slimjet. FlashPeak Slimjet is a web browser built upon the open-source Chromium project. But unlike Chrome, FlashPeak does not send any usage data back to the developer. It also has a built-in ad-blocker, which works without any add-ons. Anti-tracking technology is used to protect your identity from websites and hackers. Enter your password if prompted, once you have finished you can open Slimjet after install by clicking Start Menu Internet Flash Peak Slimjet; Slimjet Web Browser Review. FlashPeak Slimjet adding more options and settings in Slimjet to make the browser more flexible and customizable.
So, this claim just isn't true at all. It's still got a lot of Google's spyware in it, if it's still connecting to so many Google services. What's kind of surprising is that it didn't seem to connect to any servers explicitly operated by FlashPeak when I was testing it. Even though, it claims to collect information about its users for internal usage.[2] So, it must be phoning home as well as sending information to Google. Maybe it sends information through some kind of Google web service?
Default Search Engine is Spyware
The default search engine is Bing, which sells your information to advertisers. If that isn't enough, it's 'served from fpseek.com' which means that not only are you exposing your information to Bing, this is also being logged by fpseek, which has its own privacy policy[3]. Whenever you search something using the default search engine, requests are sent to both Bing and fpseek.
So, not only are you sharing everything with Microsoft, now there is another company looking at all of your searches. This is a uniquely bad default search engine because of how much information it leaks out. Fpseek itself is a company that seems to be tracking how users interact with advertisements and it says that it uses information it collects about its users to:
'...maintain and improve the quality and operation of the Software & Services, including, monitoring viewability of and interaction with advertisements, search results and other products and services provided by Company.' [3]
So, it looks like your searches are sent to two advertising companies instead of just one. At the very least when the search engine is changed to an alternative like DuckDuckGo the requests to fpseek stop.
Collecting Information about Users
Slimjet claims to collect 'some anonymous feature usage statistics information', and claims not to record your IP or sell that information to advertisers. However, it is still opt-out spyware.
Using the Microsoft BITS service to upload search history to Google servers
When you start Slimjet, it will begin using the BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) which is designed to use spare bandwidth to transfer updates and other information. These requests are sent between Slimjet and a Google server, with confirmation from Process Monitor and MITMproxy:
Personal information was censored from these images. It's unclear what this is for specifically but this is probably being done to implement the 'CLOUD SYNC OF BOOKMARK & DATA' that is advertised on Slimjet's website. This is probably how they upload all of your search history and bookmarks into their cloud services, which seem to be provided by Google. There are no other features or requests made that would require large amounts of data to be sent to an external server in this way, so by process of elimination this is my theory as to how it's implemented.
Obviously you can tell that any kind of service to sync your search history 'in the cloud' is a privacy nightmare. Now both Google and Slimjet have access to your search history...
Product Introduction
Slimjet is built on top of the Chromium open-source project on which Google Chrome is also based. It enjoys the same speed and reliablity provided by the underlying blink engine as Google Chrome. However, many additional features and options have been added in Slimjet to make it more powerful, intelligent and customizable than Chrome. In addition to that, Slimjet DOES NOT send any usage statistics back to Google's server like Google Chrome, which is a growing concern for many Chrome users due to the ubiquitous presence and reach of the advertising empire.
Slimjet is compatible with all extensions and plugins designed for Google Chrome available from the Chrome web store.
Why integrate all the additional features internally?
Flashpeak Slimjet 64
Some people might wonder why we choose to integrate so many features directly into the browser. Why not let it handled by external plugins and extensions? In the real world, many users who are not computer geeks don't know how to find the right plugins to get their job done. And the quality of third-party plugins is not consistent. Many people get easily frustrated after trying a couple of plugins that don't work so well. And lastly, external plugins are less efficient and takes more disk space compared with internally implemented features. Therefore, we have chosen to implement more essential and handy features internally to make Slimjet more capable and easier to use.
The lack of flexibility with Google Chrome and how we address it
Chrome is famous for its persistence with minimalist-style design. A minimalist design does appeal to a lot of people who just want to surf the internet without even paying attention to the browser itself or thinking about how to use it. However, Chrome's interface is barely customizable and contains too few options. If you are a user who always wants to do things in the most efficient way, you will find Chrome inconvenient and cumbersome to use in many ways. Therefore, we are adding more options and settings in Slimjet to make the browser more flexible and customizable. You can tune the browser appearance to your own personal taste or customize it to maximize your own personal productivity. While we add so many additional options and settings, we add it in a way so that the user interface stays clean and simple. Advanced users can find what they always want while the basic users don't get unnecessary distractions.
We are always open for input and suggestions
Flashpeak Slimjet For Windows 10
Unlike large corporations, we are a small team of developers devoted to making the best web browser for individual users. If you have an idea for a great feature or a handy option, always feel free to let us know.