Incognito mode is a life savior, especially if you have cheeky browsing behaviour. However, did you know websites can also tell if you’re running in incognito mode? This is not just about adult websites; it extends to news websites with metered paywalls too.
The loophole, as Google states, will be fixed by the end of the month. To news sites with metered paywalls, this will have a significant side effect, because some users can leverage the new opportunity to circumvent set paywalls. Google has acknowledged the issue, but they have to continue with their plans to protect user privacy.
Besides the company has urged that the websites not impose a radical change, instead suggesting the sites to come up with other mechanisms to deal with the issue.
According to Google, Chrome’s FileSystem API is usually disabled on incognito mode, a feature that websites have leveraged by checking the availability of the feature. If FileSystem API is off, the sites will recognize a private session is running, and in return, the user will be offered a different experience.
The patch will be launched as from July 30th when Chrome 76 is scheduled to be officially launched. Google has also promised to work on any other remedies in the future to seal “means of Incognito Mode detection.”
Being tracked on the internet is not a new thing. As a matter of fact, a recent study revealed porn site visitors have “fundamentally misleading sense of privacy” because Google and even Facebook’s tracking software’s are often embedded in those websites. And no, incognito mode doesn’t save you from this mess! The study was conducted on 22,484 porn sites, and it was revealed that 93% of these sites leaked data to third party sites.
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