Google Chrome: easier to manage privacy and security

Google Chrome updates with several news related to the management of privacy and of safety. In particular, the Mountain View company has tried to make the controls simpler and more accessible so that users don't have to "go crazy" in the management of such important elements.

Specifically at this time the company has focused on Google Chrome for desktop with users who will find more intuitive labels and visual elements. The news will be released over the next few weeks.

The new Google Chrome controls

It starts from the management of cookie, with the user who can choose whether to block those of third parties in both incognito and normal browsing. It can also block all cookies from some sites or for all sites.

In Google Chrome for desktop in Site Settings now there are two different sections. This allows users to simply find the most important permissions at the level of privacy is safety. In fact, there are those dedicated to accessing the location, the camera or microphone and notifications. In addition, the user can find out what the most recent authorization activities have been.

What was previously called "People" now it's called "You and Google" where the controls dedicated to synchronization are enclosed. This allows the user to decide what to share with Google (and the settings will be extended to all synchronized devices).

Another small change concerns the "Clear browsing data" which has been moved higher in the Privacy and Security section. This allows users to find it more simply considering that it is one of the most used functions.

Security check is now easier

Another novelty concerns the security control in the settings. It is an automated system to know if the settings of your browser are correct or if it is possible to improve further.

Security control lets you know if password saved are compromised and, if so, will help the user solve the problem. It will also warn the user if Safe Browsing is disabled, warn the user in case there are extensions considered harmful and check even if the user has the latest version of Google Chrome (which should be the safest).

Once you have ended a session using the incognito browsing cookies will be deleted every time. By default, third-party cookies are also blocked. There will then be a clearly visible control on the New Tab page. The user can still allow third-party cookies for some sites (of his choice): the latter functionality will be available gradually for everyone, starting with the desktop and Android versions.

The extensions of Google Chrome they will be enclosed in a new section (puzzle icon) in the toolbar. This allows you to make more order but also to have access to the information to which extensions have access.

Smarter Safe Browsing

Here comes the advanced Safe Browsing protection which will allow users to protect themselves from threats such as phishing is malware. With this functionality the pages will be scanned first and as well as the downloads. Everything will then be synchronized with other Google services (such as Gmail or Drive) trying to prevent attacks, even those currently unknown. In the future there will be clearer warnings that will make it clear what the threat is.

Another novelty concerns the launch of Secure DNS. This feature takes advantage of the called protocol DNS-over-HTTPS which takes advantage of encryption for the part of DNS Lookup which should ensure greater protection from phishing. If the internet provider supports it, Google Chrome will use this function automatically. The user can still choose their own secure DNS or deactivate the functionality (in Advanced Security).