New version of Chrome has raises privacy concerns


Wired:

Even if you don't know much about the intricacies of Chrome's settings, you probably know that you can log into Chrome with your Google accountâ€"to sync your browsing history and other useful data across devicesâ€"or you can use it without logging in. That choice has always been a Chrome hallmark, emblematic of the balance between Google's business incentive to gobble up all of your data and its stated goal of respecting user privacy.

But in its 10th anniversary release a couple of weeks ago, Chrome started exhibiting a new behavior that alarmed users who purposely stay logged out. If you're logged into a Google service like Gmail, an icon in the upper-right corner of Chrome windows now shows that you're logged into Google's browser as well, regardless of your previous preference.

I noticed this recently. If you're deep in Google's ecosystem this isn't an issue and probably is an improvement. It's also worth noting that the auto-sign-in function doesn't mean your services are necessarily syncing data. Still, your activities are cross-linked between services and the browser, which at least has the potential to reduce the ability for people to control their privacy.