Google started quietly logging you into Chrome with latest update, reports say | Cyber Security
Chrome browser has been secretly signing people in since the latest update, users say.
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Google reportedly tweaked how its Chrome sign-in process works with its latest redesign, by logging users into the browser when they access a Google site.
The Chrome account system, known as Sync, links your Google account to the browser and allows you to upload your history, passwords, bookmarks, and other data to Google’s servers.
Sync’s been part of the browser for years, but a Chrome sign-in was previously separate from a logged-in Google account. This changed with the most recent update, our sister site ZDNet reports, citing multiple users.
“Sync is not turned on unless you later turn it on”, wrote Chrome engineer Adrienne Porter Felt on Twitter, clarifying the change and explaining that the feature required an additional step to activate.
Sync is not turned on unless you later turn it on.
— Adrienne Porter Felt (@__apf__) September 22, 2018
The automatic Chrome sign-in was a result of browser sharing, which could result in data leaking between users’ Google accounts, she noted.
In spite of this explanation, ZDNet reports that people aren’t happy about the change because they can’t choose not to log into Chrome — which is the most popular web browser and accounts for 59 percent of website usage, according to analytics firm StatCounter — and because Google didn’t make the change clear.
Google didn’t have any comment on the change.
First published at 3:01 a.m. PT.
Updated at 3:40 a.m. PT: Adds that Google had no comment.
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