Zoho's new Ulaa browser takes on Google Chrome and FireFox

Ulaa is presently free for all and its desktop version is available for download.

Software-as-a-Service firm Zoho Corporation on May 4 launched Ulaa, a web browser built specifically to secure personal data with pre-built capabilities that universally block tracking and website surveillance.

“Not many browsers on the market today are built to protect user privacy. They were created to protect the respective company's ad-based business models and surveillance companies that complement them, which runs counter to protecting users. This conflict between user's preferences and browser's business models means end users lose," said Sridhar Vembu, CEO and Cofounder of Zoho Corporation in a media statement.

Google Chrome currently leads the web browser market with a 63.45 percent market share as of April 2023, followed by Apple's Safari (20.48 percent), Microsoft Edge (4.97 percent) and Mozilla Firefox (2.76 percent), as per latest data from web analytics firm Statcounter.

“With Ulaa, users don't have to compromise their privacy to browse the web, which unfortunately has become a surveillance minefield,” Vembu added.

Ulaa is presently free for all and its desktop version is available for download. The iOS and Android versions are currently in beta and are available for download for users.

According to Zoho, existing browsers use time trackers or idle monitors that feed data back to the software provider and the companies that pay them for user data.

“Ulaa doesn't track or share user data with any third parties. DNS Prefetching is prohibited in Ulaa, so data cannot be cached, nor can motion sensors to track mouse movement and clicks,” the statement said, adding that Ad and data tracking blockers in Ulaa prevent unauthorised push notifications, pop-ups, and time tracking.

Typically, browser IDs can be used to track users even after they have signed out of the browser. Therefore, Ulaa has a multi-ID model, which is frequently refreshed, making it impossible to correlate a signed-in user to a browsing session.

Yet another feature that Ulaa presents is its Dynamic Mode Switching which lets users toggle between five unique user profile modes with each mode completely isolated from others, offering protected browsing experiences unique to the specific mode.

The company also said that all Chrome browser extensions are compatible with Ulaa, and can be directly installed from the Chrome Webstore.

Zoho also announced the launch of 13 generative AI Zoho application extensions and integrations, powered by ChatGPT.

"The fusion of ChatGPT's generative AI with our homegrown AI features will provide users with a more intuitive, efficient, and secure experience, reflecting Zoho's deep R&D-first culture," said Ramprakash Ramamoorthy, Director, AI Research, Zoho Corporation.

Generative AI is the latest step along the company's innovation roadmap, blending third-party intelligence with Zia, Zoho's AI engine, which runs on Zoho's secure cloud. Leveraging Zoho's decade-long investment in AI, this integration model greatly improves customer experience, adds considerable value, and protects user privacy better, the company’s statement said.

However in April, CEO Vembu said that the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly the recently developed conversational AI platforms ChatGPT and GPT4, is posing a threat to the workforce, particularly programmers.

In fact, Vembu had submitted a proposal to the central government, along with Rajiv Kumar, former Niti Aayog vice chairman, and Sharad Sharma, co-founder of iSPIRT Foundation, which aims to establish an AI policy that prioritises openness and transparency.

"As Zoho progresses, the company intends to take generative AI technology in-house, ensuring its 90 million global users benefit from intelligent experiences as well as Zoho's leading value and privacy standards," the company said in the statement.