Outrage: Adobe Flash Installs Chrome During Security Update

Dear Adobe,

So far I was only mildly annoyed by having to click on a check box to confirm the T&Cs during Adobe Flash player security updates that seem to happen now on a more or less bi-weekly basis. Why is that necessary, everyone else seems to be able to do security updates quite nicely in the background? Anyway, it has just become a lot worse:

This morning while rushing through the latest Adobe Flash fix the installer suddenly proclaimed that Google's Chrome browser is being installed. WHAT!!!!!????? Why, where, when!? Running the same security update on another computer in the same manual way (after a Firefox security update) I noticed that the Adobe security fix web page contains a check box already checked by default which says that Google Chrome is going to be installed unless the box is un-ticked.

Adobe, why do you have to resort to these kind of things for the extra buck? Most companies are humble about their security issues and install updates in the background without fuss. You on the other hand make it a cumbersome, and now, even a worrisome event. I understand you need to make money. However, is it ethical to install 3rd party software by default during a security fix installation? Please think this through and also talk to your friends at Oracle that keep trying to install some sort of toolbar in my browsers during Java security updates unless you catch it before it starts. Reminds me of a post of Andrew Grill who's also fed up of such practices.

Comments

[Vincent]

Interesting info. That might be because Apple doesn't like Flash...

Question : do we have the choice? Can we avoid Adobe Flash reader?

[Santosh]

I observed that Flash sometimes installs McAfee security protection or whatever it is. Its kind of annoying to go the programs and manually uninstall it if we dont uncheck the box!