Google Chrome is the world’s most extensively used web browser, serving more than two-thirds of the total desktop users worldwide. With the scale at which we rely on the internet today, it is instinctual to feel that our data is being used — or worse, misused — by big corporations like Google. Thankfully, Google Chrome allows you to change settings, offering users control over the data it gathers and to what extent, but these controls are often too technical or cumbersome for average users to monitor themselves. To alleviate this, Google is now adding a Privacy Guide, which offers visual step-by-step instructions to help users understand the benefits and the impact of each of the settings in Chrome’s Privacy and security center.
The new Privacy Guide is being implemented on Chrome 100 and is expected to roll out to all users in the coming weeks. When the users first open the Privacy and security settings in Chrome following the update, they will see a new card that helps them navigate through the Privacy Guide. If users do not have sufficient time to go through the entire Privacy Guide at once, Chrome will save their progress and allow them to resume the next time they open it.
Explaining benefits and impacts of Chrome’s Privacy Guide
The Privacy Guide, Google says, has been built at the GSEC or the Google Safety Engineering Center. In the blog, Chrome Product Manager Audrey An adds the guided tour will help users learn the benefits of the privacy features in Chrome. But more importantly, it will help them unravel the potential “implications” and “trade-offs” when they are turned off. The Privacy Guide will take users through the pros and cons of settings such as cookies, history synchronization across devices, Safe Browsing, and the “Make searching and browsing better” option that sends Google a list of all the websites you ever visit.
While the Privacy Guide is currently only making its way to Chrome Desktop, we can expect it to be added to other Google products, including Chrome for mobile and the privacy dashboard in the Google app, though there’s currently no timeline for those product updates.
