Google has confirmed a new warning for its two-billion-plus Chrome users that will come as a surprise to many, albeit it shouldn’t. But because this concerns a critical feature not widely understood, it may very well change how the browser is used.
One of the criticisms that has been levied at Google Chrome concerns how incognito its private “Incognito” mode really is. It’s this issue that was behind the lawsuit and recent settlement announcement, which concerned whether Google continued to track users even after Incognito mode had been selected.
Now Google has prepared a new update to warn that Incognito mode is not as private as many users clearly seem to believe. Given its name and implications, this will likely come as a surprise to the millions selecting private browsing and assuming the best.
This isn’t unique to Chrome, of course. Private browsing is not the catch-all its name might suggest, and this is not well understood anywhere. While this protected browsing erases traces of your online activity on the device you’re using, it doesn’t protect you in the same way from the sites you visit online.
By visiting websites, you still leave yourself open to the trackers buried within. And it’s important to take other measures, such as blocking whatever tracking you can, being careful as to where you login or leave details, and it you’re really concerned about your browsing being linked to you or your IP address, using a VPN.
Now, Google has updated the notification it provides its own users about Incognito mode, at least in a pre-release version as discovered by MSPowerUser. Google will warn users that while the privacy mode will protect users from others using the same machine, it won’t change how data is collected and used by the websites those users visit and the services they use, including Google.
The new warning clarifies that while “others who use this device won’t see your activity, so you can browse more privately, this won’t change how data is collected by websites you visit and the services they use, including Google.”
Google confirmed the new warning in a statement: “We’re pleased to resolve this case which we’ve long disputed, and provide even more information to users about Incognito mode. Incognito mode in Chrome will continue to give people the choice to browse the Internet without their activity being saved to their browser or device.”
This is a welcome change and Google should be lauded for the transparency, even if it was prompted by the lawsuit, settlement and consequent ramifications. The same explanation of what Incognito mode does and doesn’t do is available here.
The warning is not yet in the current release version of Chrome, but will likely hit soon. It provides a more transparent description of what Incognito mode is and what it isn’t, but it also will present a contrast to other browsers that have put the default blocking of user tracking front and center in their proposition.
Apple confirms that Safari’s private browsing, for example, “won’t remember the pages you visit, your search history, or your AutoFill information. Private Browsing also blocks known trackers, removes tracking used to identify individual users from URLs, and adds protections against advanced fingerprinting techniques.”
Firefox presents similar assurances on tracking. “Private Browsing does not save your browsing information, such as history and cookies, and leaves no trace after you end the session. By default, when you browse in private windows, you’re shielded from third-party cookies and content trackers… Enhanced Tracking Protection prevents hidden trackers from collecting your data across multiple sites.”
If Chrome’s success tells us anything, though, it’s that users are much more laissez faire on website tracking that the more security and privacy minded might assume. And Google should be applauded for starting to kill the nasty little cookies hidden behind Chrome’s webpages, even if it took much longer to do so than planned.
If this is a sign of things to come—increasing transparency for fear of lawsuits or just because it seems the right thing to do given the push for transparency driven by the likes of Apple’s Privacy Labels and App Tracking Transparency—then all good. And we’ve seen Android also sharpen its game on privacy and tracking in recent updates.
The hope is that this will provide more open choices for users, just as those moves by Apple have done in the app world. And that includes the still hidden tracking that takes place in embedded browsers accessed via apps, like Facebook and Instagram, which are not subject to the same restrictions as mainstream browsers.
Clearly we need to wait to see if this Canary pre-release warning makes it out into the world, which we will now within the next few weeks. Meanwhile, if you are using Chrome, my advice would be to enable Incognito mode and select to block third-party tracking as well. That way at least there’s some better level of privacy in place.
In defending the lawsuit, Google had claimed that this tracking context was understood and made clear to users. The court didn’t take the same view. And so we await the settlement proposal due to be presented some time this month.
