Google Enhances Chrome’s Privacy by Closing Long-Standing Vulnerability

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Google Addresses Long-Standing Privacy Concern in Chrome

Google is finally addressing a significant privacy vulnerability in its Chrome browser that has persisted for years. With the release of version 136, a technique used to identify websites previously visited by users will no longer be feasible. This update is scheduled to be available to all users on April 23.

The root of this issue was a CSS property known as :visited, which differentiated visited links by displaying them in a different color, such as purple. While this feature was intended to enhance user experience, some websites exploited this visual cue to deduce which sites users had visited, thereby breaching privacy.

To mitigate this security risk, Google is now restricting the visibility of link visit statuses to the originating site. Hence, if a link is clicked on Site A, it will not display in purple when seen on Site B, effectively barring different sites from accessing browsing history. Additionally, controls over iframes embedded within the browser have been tightened.

Despite these changes, websites will still be able to show visits to their own internal pages. This ensures that privacy is safeguarded without compromising the user experience. This vulnerability, first highlighted in 2022, had been a concern for about 23 years. With the latest Chrome version, this issue will finally be resolved. Users of the beta versions are already protected.