GNOME Web (Epiphany) 48.5 — the first minute without a single click
How we tested: a clean Debian 13 in a disposable container; source — package epiphany-browser 48.5-0+deb13u1 from the Debian repository. Run as a regular user on a virtual screen, 60 seconds, nothing clicked. 16.10.2026. Every network request and every file written was recorded; the code was not decompiled. The container was deleted afterwards.
Package SHA-256: 841d2acd64074dd38ac27636d92a8458c8e008947fb6075f47f108671fe354ad
Summary
| What we checked | Result |
|---|---|
| Built-in telemetry, crash reporting, analytics, ad SDKs | none |
| Network requests in the first minute | 1 server name |
| Known trackers among the servers | none |
| Files written in the first minute | 125 |
| The program ran the whole time | yes — process alive at the end |
What is built in
786 files (16 MB) were checked.
No code of known telemetry, crash reporting, analytics or ad SDKs was found.
Addresses of known trackers in the program’s files — addresses in code, not requests:
| Tracker | Addresses | Mentions |
|---|---|---|
www.google.com, google.com, www.google.ee, suggestqueries.google.com | 163 | |
| Microsoft Bing Ads | www.bing.com | 41 |
Where it connected
| Server | How | From second | Times | Known tracker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
easylist-downloads.adblockplus.org | connection | 3.0 | 1 | — |
A DNS lookup is not yet a connection: the program looked up the server’s address. But the lookup itself is visible to the ISP and the DNS server.
What it wrote to disk
Folders the program wrote files to during the minute:
| Folder | Files |
|---|---|
~/.cache/mesa_shader_cache_db | 102 |
~/.local/share | 12 |
~/.cache/epiphany | 8 |
~/.config/enchant | 2 |
~/.cache/dconf | 1 |
How to read this card
- This is the first minute after launch with no action at all: what the program does on its own. Normal use may involve more requests.
- A “built-in SDK” means the library’s code was found. It does not prove data transfer, and an address in the code is not a request.
- The review was made automatically using a single method. You can check any program yourself here.