Chrome 70 allows users to opt out of controversial auto sign-in feature

By Michael Archambault Published September 26, 2018

Google Chrome 70 Security Functions — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Users who downloaded the latest edition of Google’s Chrome web browser may have found a bit of unexpected activity taking place without their consent. The introduction of Chrome 69 brought with it a feature that would automatically sign users into the web browser if they attempted to sign into any other Google services such as Gmail or YouTube. After much backlash, the company announced that Chrome 70 will allow users to disable the feature in the future.

Cryptographer and John Hopkins University professor Matthew Green sparked concern with the new auto-login feature that Google introduced with Chrome 69, stating that it could be an invasion of personal privacy and security. Green’s complaint noted that the possible move could help to relay browser tracking information back to Google without any need of explicit consent.

Recommended Videos

Additionally, concerns brought up concerning whether or not Chrome would automatically start uploading personal preferences, bookmarks, and passwords to the cloud. Google stepped forward with a statement, noting that while the new feature auto-logs users into the Chrome platform, an additional step is needed for the synchronize feature to begin uploading.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Again, we appreciate the feedback. Here are some updates we have planned for Chrome 70: https://t.co/xpW8RyFiTn https://t.co/4HLCjeGfPY

— Parisa Tabriz (@laparisa) September 26, 2018

However, in the end, the pressure was too intense for the Mountain View, California-based company and it decided to announce the ability to disable the feature in an upcoming release. Chrome 70 will include a toggle switch under its privacy and security settings that allow users to opt out of allowing the browser to sign you in when using other Google Services automatically.

Concern is still prevalent as users who are unaware of the automatic feature may still find their data being uploaded to Chrome’s servers without any knowledge. Google says that the function has been put in place to enhance the overall browsing experience, but their actions still manage to throw doubt as the company’s primary source of income is its ad platform.

A collection of other features have also been announced for Chrome 70, including an enhanced indicator making it easier for users to discern whether or not their data is being synced to the cloud, and a clear cookie function that removes any authorization cookies from your machine after signing out of the browser.

Topics

Michael Archambault

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Michael Archambault is a technology writer and digital marketer located in Long Island, New York. For the past decade…

Computing

Google just settled a $5B privacy suit involving Chrome browser

Google has agreed to settle a $5 billion lawsuit brought by claimants who accused the web giant of privacy invasion by tracking their online activities despite being in “incognito mode” when using the company’s Chrome browser.

After lawyers announced on Thursday that they’d reached a preliminary agreement, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers put a scheduled trial for the case in California on hold, Reuters reported.

Computing

Chrome is still a RAM killer, but this new feature would be a huge help

Google Chrome icon in mac dock.

Google’s Chrome browser is infamous for consuming a lot of RAM. While recent updates have attempted to solve this problem from a technical side, a new feature may put more of the management in the hands of the user.
With the latest beta version of Chrome Canary, users can now simply hover their mouse cursor over a tab to gain access to real-time memory usage of that specific tab.
Up until now, you had to dig into the Chrome Task Manager to see how much memory each tab is consuming. But as reported by Windows Central, the new feature would give you quick and direct access to this important information. The prototype feature was first posted on X (formerly Twitter) by user Leopeva64 and showed the tab RAM usage.

Of course, it only gives a small overview and doesn’t offer the same detailed information (such as running processes, tabs, and extensions0 as the built-in task manager.
Practically speaking, having a small indicator on the top is going to make the process of clearing unwanted tabs a lot easier. The new feature is also said to inform users about whether Chrome's Memory saver feature has actively frozen a tab to save memory similar to Microsoft Edge's Sleeping tabs feature. Of course, this feature only works when a certain tab is inactive for a long period of time.
Google is said to be testing this feature, but if you are using version 117 on the Stable Channel, you may get access to it. To enable the memory usage feature, head to Chrome://flags and search for Show memory usage in hovercards. Select the dropdown and enable it. A quick restart may also be required.
Recently, we saw Google testing on a feature that helps organize tabs in a more efficient way. Using the Organize Tabs features, the browser attempts to reorder your tabs into groups of similar pages. It even lets you rename these groups, and create tab groups automatically once it has categorized your tabs.

Computing

This Google Chrome feature may save you from malware

Google Chrome app on s8 screen.

There are probably hundreds of thousands of Google Chrome extensions out there, and with so many options to choose from, it can be hard to know whether the plugin you want to install is hiding malware nasties.

That could become a thing of the past, though, as Google is testing a feature that will warn you if an extension you installed has been removed from its Chrome Web Store.