Google Gave Users A Reason To Quit Chrome
Google Chrome is now running a process inside it which make may users uncomfortable. SOPA IMAGES/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES
Google Gave Users A Reason To Quit Chrome
Google Chrome’s seamless updates have long been a big part of its appeal. But perhaps not anymore. With the latest version of Chrome already installed on hundreds of millions of computers and smartphones around the world, a significant warning has been issued that you might not like what it has running inside.
Picked up by The Register, Chrome 80 (check your version by going to Settings > About Chrome) contains a new browser capability called ScrollToTextFragment. This is deep linking technology tied to website text, but multiple sources have revealed it is a potentially invasive privacy nightmare.
GORDON KELLY
02/22 Update: while Google is currently under pressure for new privacy concerns within Chrome 80, the company has now issued its own warning about Microsoft’s new Chromium-based Edge browser. Google warns that, while technically compatible, installing Chrome extensions on Edge causes security vulnerabilities. To stress this point, Google is issuing a popup to every Edge user who visits the Chrome web store stating that it “recommends switching to Chrome to use extensions securely.” To date there have been no reports of security compromises using Edge with Chrome extensions, including from Microsoft itself. So whether there is a genuine risk or this is a scare tactic from Google as it ties to protect its market position from Microsoft’s ambitious new browser, remains to be seen. Either way, you should stay alert.
To understand why requires a brief guide to how Scroll To Text Fragment works. The simple version is it allows Google to index websites and share links down to a single word of text and its position on the page. It does this by creating its own anchors to text (using the format: #:~:text=[prefix-,]textStart[,textEnd][,-suffix]) and it doesn’t require the permission of the web page author to do so. Google gives the harmless example:
