Which is why it's better to believe people until you have a clear reason not to, in case they are genuine.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity

It's not that important whether these reports are genuine or not. The important point is that many people are not surprised by these reports. Google has long failed people's trust in them.

Long time Firefox user and HNer here.

I've at least been "captchaed" in Firefox. While being logged in with my Gmail account from 2005.

I've been "captchaed" with Chrome, so I'm not sure the anecdotes amount to much.

That's interesting and useful to know and I decide to believe you.

BTW: Yes, I absolutely noticed that you said this above:

> ...and the beauty of the Internet is that there's really no way to be sure people are being genuine...

My point is, unless the claims of the others are outrageous or we have something very specific to point at, I don't think voicing these kind of thoughts do much good.

tbf, that is the beauty of people in general and not the Internet