Martin Brinkmann

martin photo

Martin Brinkmann is a journalist from Germany who founded Ghacks Technology News back in 2005. Martin started his career as a tech support representative at a large German financial corporation which he used to finance his college education in English, Information Technology and History.


He quit college and his job when Ghacks began to attract a large enough readership. He made the decision to become a full time blogger and webmaster, and has not looked back since.


Martin is interested in all things tech. His primary focus is on desktop operating systems, web browsers, Internet services, and privacy related topics.


He published the book The Complete Windows 10 Privacy Guide: Windows 10 Fall Creators Update version in 2017. Martin writes a weekly column for fellow tech site Betanews as well.


You can reach Martin on Facebook or on Twitter. Please use the contact form at the bottom of the page to contact the author directly.


Martin has been quoted or mentioned in many major online and print publications, including Forbes, Lifehacker.com, ComputerWorld, LinkedIn, Reddit, Betanews.com, Bleeping Computer, TechCrunch, PC World, Tom's Hardware, Slashdot, Hacker News, The Register, and more.


Martin's articles on Ghacks

Mullvad VPN completes migration to disk-less VPN infrastructure

VPN provider Mullvad announced today that it has completed the migration to a disk-less VPN infrastructure.  The migration to servers that operate fully in RAM strengthens user privacy further and it also […]

Firefox 119 will launch with an important address bar change

Mozilla plans to change the information that its open source Firefox web browser displays in the address bar. Once the change lands, Firefox won't display https:// in the browser's address bar anymore, […]

paint layers

Windows' Paint App is getting layer and transparency support

Microsoft introduced support for removing backgrounds from images loaded in the default Windows image editor Paint. Today, the company has pushed out another feature to testers; this time, it is layer and […]

Thunderbird developers plan to revive Firefox Send

Sending large files via email is still a major problem on today's Internet. Most email providers cap the size of emails. Attempts to send emails that are too large are met with […]

Meta Voicebox

Ask Meta to delete or block your personal data from third-party sources for AI training

All major and many smaller companies are betting big on AI. This generative AI needs large data sets, which gives companies with large user bases an Edge over those that don't. Many […]

Chrome is getting Tracking Protection, but don't get your hopes up

Google is in the process of switching on its euphemistically named Privacy Sandbox in Chrome, which, depending on who you ask, is either a step in the right direction, or, the first […]

How to disable Windows Copilot in Windows

The next feature update for Windows 11 is just around the corner, and with it comes Windows Copilot. In this guide, we explain how you can turn off Windows Copilot entirely. Most […]

Microsoft is testing another AI writing feature in Edge

Microsoft continues to integrate and test AI features into its products. One of the latest products to gain yet another AI test is the company's Edge browser. In testing for at least […]

Microsoft special event

Here is what you can expect from the Windows 11 version 23H2 update

Microsoft plans to release Windows 11 version 23H2, the new feature update for its Windows 11 operating system soon. As usual, Microsoft is not revealing the release date of the update, but […]

Microsoft Edge 117 launches with Favorites Recovery and feature removals

Microsoft has released Microsoft Edge 117 to the Stable channel today. The new version of Microsoft Edge is a security update, but Microsoft has not yet revealed any information on the patched […]

Brave Browser 1.58 launches with YouTube adblocking improvements

Brave Software has released a new version of Brave Browser Stable. Brave 1.58 is the latest stable version of the browser and it is available for all supported desktop operating systems already. […]

Google increases Chromebook support to 10 years

Device support by the manufacturer or third-parties is an important factor when it comes to deciding which device to buy. Many Android smartphones, for example, have had weak support periods, but the […]

Microsoft is working on an offline mode for OneDrive

Users of Microsoft's cloud storage and syncing service OneDrive may soon use some of the service's functionality in a browser while offline. Most OneDrive users associate the service with the cloud. While […]

The latest Windows 11 build is all about File Explorer (including performance)

Microsoft published a new Windows 11 Insider build today that is focusing on improving File Explorer, the default file manager on Windows. Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 23545 for the Dev Channel […]

Chrome 117 is here: security update, new design, price tracking and more

Google has released Google Chrome 117 for all supported platforms today. The new update for the web browser comes just a day after an emergency security update that fixed a critical security […]

Mozilla patches critical WebP security issue in Firefox and Thunderbird

Mozilla has released security updates for all supported versions of its Firefox web browser as well as for the email client Thunderbird. The updates address a critical security issue in WebP that […]

The Windows September 2023 security updates are now available

Microsoft published security updates for Windows and also other company products today on the September 2023 Patch Day. Security updates are available for all supported client and server versions of Windows and […]

Fixing OneDrive's "Your account is currently unavailable" error message

The other day, I was informed through a notification in Windows 11 that I was no longer signed-in to the linked OneDrive account. Opening the OneDrive website to check the account status […]

Google Chrome will get weekly security updates

Update Chrome ASAP! Critical security issue exploited in the wild

Google released an emergency security update for its Chrome web browser that addresses a critical security issue that is exploited in the wild. Chrome users are encouraged to update the stable version […]

KC Softwares, maker of SUMO and other apps, is shutting down

It is always a sad day when a respected and, at least somewhat, popular software developer or development company is shutting down the business. KC Softwares was first mentioned here on this […]

Microsoft begins deprecation of classic troubleshooting tools in Windows 11

Microsoft announced the deprecation of classic Windows troubleshooting tools and the Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool in February 2023. Back then, the company did not provide details, only that it would deprecate the […]

Chrome's new Real-Time Protection feature explained

Google announced this week that it is introducing real-time Safe Browsing checks in Chrome for default configurations. Safe Browsing is a protective feature that supports two modes in Chrome: the default option […]

Privacy

Vivaldi says no to Google Topics in its browser

Google's euphemistically named Privacy Sandbox or Ad Privacy feature is a topic of hot debate. While it is true that it is changing tracking on the Internet fundamentally by getting rid of […]

Notepad++ 8.5.7 fixes 4 security issues

The developer of the open source plain text editor Notepad++ has released the security update Notepad++ 8.5.7 to the public. The latest update addresses four security issues in the client and introduces […]

Thunderbird 102 to 115 upgrades are now enabled

Thunderbird 115 is the latest major version of the open source email client. Users of the application, who wanted to upgrade to the new version, had to download and install Thunderbird 115 […]

safe browsing

Google enables real time checks in Chrome's Safe Browsing security feature

Google announced a range of new features and changes for its Chrome web browser to celebrate the browser's 15th birthday. Among the changes are a bit of fresh paint for the browser's […]

Microsoft offers an explanation for the hack of its cloud

Bugs and coincidences seem to have allowed Chinese-based hacking group Storm-0558 to steal a private MSA key from Microsoft and gain access to the accounts of organizations, including American government agencies. The […]

Microsoft ends printer driver installations and updates via Windows Update

Windows users who connect a printer to a PC may notice one of two things: the printer is detected automatically and usable right away, or it is not. It is then necessary […]

YouTube wants to show you less but longer ads

Google is changing how it serves advertisement to YouTube viewers who watch the streaming service on TV. Many smart TVs come with YouTube's app installed by default or an option to install […]

Critical security vulnerabilities in ASUS routers -- update immediately

Three ASUS Wi-Fi routers are vulnerable to three critically rated remote code execution vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious actors to take over the devices. The affected wireless routers are the […]

Google patches 4 high-rated security issues in latest Chrome 116 update

Google released a security update for Google Chrome 116 for desktop operating systems and for Android today. The update addresses 4 high-rated security issues in the web browser. The update is published […]

Meta Blocks News in Canada

Meta is removing Facebook's dedicated News section in several European countries

Facebook parent company Meta announced today that it is removing the dedicated news section on Facebook for users in several European countries. In An Update on Facebook News in Europe, the company […]

OneDrive: photos in albums count twice against a user's storage quota

Microsoft is informing OneDrive customers currently about a planned change that may have a significant impact on storage quotas. From October 16, 2023 on, photos uploaded to OneDrive may count twice against […]

indows 11 file explorer speed up

Windows' File Explorer opens folders slowly? This trick may speed things up

Microsoft has changed File Explorer, the default file management tool in Windows, significantly with the release of Windows 11 and the first feature update for Windows 11. The upcoming 2023 update for […]

Windows 11 21H2 is reaching end of support and devices will be upgraded automatically

Microsoft's Windows 11 version 21H2 operating system is reaching end of support on October 10, 2023. The Windows 11 version will receive a last batch of security updates on the day before […]

youtube

YouTube showing ads with uBlock Origin enabled? Here is a fix!

The only sane way for watching videos on YouTube who don't pay the exorbitant price for YouTube Premium is to use a content blocker. One of the main reasons for that is […]

Microsoft is removing WordPad from Windows

When it comes to opening text documents on Windows devices, users have the choice between the plain text editor Notepad and WordPad, a text editor that supports rich text format features. Many […]

Meta may launch ad-free versions of Facebook and Instagram in the EU

A New York Times report suggests that Meta is considering a fundamental business model shift. The company may launch special versions of Facebook and Instagram in countries of the European Unition that […]

Windows 11 Development: overview of the August 2023 changes

The month of August 2023 was a busy one for Windows 11 Insiders. Microsoft released a lot of builds in this month. Highlights include more customization options regarding Edge, Bing Search and […]

Is Google scanning and removing Saved user links?

For some time now, Google users have had the option to save links as collections using Google Saved. The feature, which is not linked to the Bookmarks feature, can be compared to […]