Google will soon start testing a new ‘IP protection’ feature for Chrome users, offering them greater control over their privacy. The tech giant the upcoming feature prevents websites from tracking users by hiding their IP address using proxy servers owned by Google.
To give you a quick recap, IP address is a unique numerical identifier that can be used to track a user’s geographical location and is used by advertisers to track a user’s browsing habits, see which websites they visit and provide personalized ads.
According to Google, the IP protection feature will be rolled out in multiple stages, with Phase 0 redirecting domains owned by Google (like Gmail) to a single proxy server. The company says the first phase will allow them to test its infrastructure and only a handful of users residing in the US will be enrolled.
Google also said that the upcoming IP protection feature will be available for users who have logged in to Chrome. To prevent misuse the tech giant will be implementing an authentication server that will set a quota for every user.
In the following phases, Google will start using a 2-hop proxy system, which essentially redirects a website’s request to a Google server that will again be redirected to an external CDN like Cloudflare.
While the IP protection feature might enhance user privacy, the tech giant has clarified that it is not a foolproof system. If a hacker is able to gain access to Google’s proxy server, they will be able to analyse all traffic passing through the network and even redirect users to malicious websites.
Since most of Google’s revenue comes from tracking users across the internet and offering them personalized ads, it will be interesting to see how the company strikes a balance between user privacy and revenue generation.
Google’s idea of privacy is to capture all your activity through Google’s VPN so nobody but Google’s advertisers can see it.
Looks like a great business plan to me.
Edit: Firefox is a great option for more privacy.
Librewolf is a hardened fork of Firefox, but not for everyone. Although I am very happy with it personally.
Mullvad also has a browser.
Which is great except that it constantly breaks websites.
Yeah, that’s going to happen. The features that make website useful are the same features used to track everything. It’s a sliding scale from usability to privacy. The further you go in one direction the less you get from the other.
Which should tell you something.
Which is…?
That all sites constantly try to harvest your data as much as they can, so much that when you use a browser that inactivates all or most of those features it will render those sites unusable.
Of course there are also sites that just break for another reason, but that should be a minority. My opinion, no source, in case you ask.