JERUSALEM, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Google has removed the Israeli owned browser extension "Stylish" from its Chrome web store on Sunday because of privacy violations and private data collection.
Mozilla, as well, has removed the extension from its Firefox browser store.
Stylish is owned by SimilarWeb, an Israeli digital market intelligence company, based in the coastal city of Tel Aviv.
The extension, downloaded by 2 million users, allows redesigning and modifying elements on the web pages browsed.
SimilarWeb has recently been accused of infringing the privacy of its users by its extension.
The main criticizer was U.S. software engineer, Robert Heaton, who wrote in his blog that the extension has become a "real spyware disguised as a browser add-on," and that it "steals the user's entire browsing history."
Heaton's post has hit the headlines of technology sites in the United States, prompting Google and Firefox to remove Stylish from their browser add-on stores.
However, users who have already downloaded the extension can continue to use it as usual.
