What is Steam Inventory Helper and is It Safe?
In this article, we examine a tool called Steam Inventory Helper, describe its use, and answer a question related to its security.
Steam Inventory Helper is one of the tools quite commonly used by Steam users. In this article, we describe what it is, and also check whether we are truly safe using it.
Steam Inventory Helper - what is it?
Steam Inventory Helper is a free web browser plugin that helps you manage your inventory and transactions on Steam. It enables the users to easily sell items from their inventory, provides quick access to information about its contents and value, and also allows for price comparison of items or transaction automation.
Steam Inventory Helper - is it safe?
- We have known for a long time that there is a reasonable suspicion that Steam Inventory Helper is not a completely safe tool. Suffice it to say that on Reddit you can come across threads discussing this issue that were created back in 2016.
- The issue primarily comes down to the necessity of allowing the described tool to "read and change all (...) data on all websites" visited by the user.
What exactly does Steam Inventory Helper do with this data? This question was asked by one Reddit user, who decided to conduct his own "investigation". As it follows:
- The plugin "monitors when you enter a website and where you came from, when you leave, when you click on something when you move the mouse." Additionally, the extension checks the links you click on, sending summaries of your HTTP requests to its "own server". However, this tool does not monitor the content we enter.
While the lecture of user reviews gives the impression that most of them have decided to remove this tool, it seems that not everyone has been so careful... or they simply are not yet aware of the potential dangers of granting any tool such permissions.
Suffice it to say that Steam Inventory Helper is used by over a million users in the Chrome web store and an average rating out of nearly 11 thousand at the level of... 4.2/5.
So is it worth using Steam Inventory Helper? Well, if we prioritize convenience over our privacy, then we can use this tool at our own risk. Otherwise, it's better to stay away.
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Author: Christian Pieniazek
Started working with Gamepressure.com in August 2016. Although the Game Encyclopedia has been his pride and joy from the beginning, he also writes for the Newsroom and the Editorial section. Gained professional experience through a now-defunct service, in which he worked for almost three years. Graduated in Cultural Studies at the AGH University of Krakow. Runs his own business, jogs, cycles, loves mountain hiking, is a fan of nu metal, is interested in space, and of course, enjoys playing games. Feels best in action games with an open world and RPGs, although won't turn down good racing or shooting games.
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