Google is currently in the process of testing a new privacy feature in Chrome
As reported by BleepingComputer, this new feature is called IP Protection and, once activated, will allow users to mask their IP addresses using a proxy server The reason behind this is that IP addresses are often used for cross-site tracking, as when Facebook and other social networks collect browsing data across multiple websites
If you are familiar with the best VPN services, you will be given a completely new IP address each time you connect to the VPN, which can be used to prevent cross-site tracking However, as with many of the best streaming services, there are some sites whose sites and content cannot be accessed even with a VPN enabled
However, with Google's new IP protection feature in Chrome, you can protect your privacy without running into the same obstacles as a VPN Likewise, this feature is completely free, and you don't have to pay for it like you do with ExpressVPN or NordVPN subscriptions
IP addresses may be used to track you, but they also play a major role with respect to traffic routing, fraud prevention, and other important network tasks
For this reason, Google's IP Protection feature for Chrome routes third-party traffic from certain third-party sites through a proxy server, making your IP address invisible to those domains online It is also worth noting that when this feature is deployed to Chrome users, it will be on an opt-in basis
In a post to GitHub, the Chrome team explained that IP Protection is intended to improve user privacy by protecting IP addresses used as a vector for tracking
Google plans to roll out Chrome's IP Protection feature in several phases In the first phase, the search giant will test the feature using its own proxy servers, making it available only to users logging into Chrome with US-based IP addresses In the future, however, Google plans to adopt a two-hop proxy system in which IP addresses go through two separate proxy servers to further protect user privacy
However, in this two-hop proxy system, the first proxy will be managed by Google and the second proxy will be operated by an external content delivery network (CDN) This prevents both proxy servers from seeing both the client's IP address and online destination
Another interesting feature of Chrome's IP protection is that Google assigns IP addresses to these proxy connections based on the user's location However, instead of an approximate location, the user's "coarse" location is used For example, I am writing this article in Houston, Texas, but with IP protection enabled, my IP address might show me as being in Sugar Land or Katy
Google's IP Protection for Chrome can certainly help improve your online privacy, but there are several other steps you can take right now to do so
First, reduce the amount of information you share on social media and other sites This includes skipping "optional" information, such as when a site asks for a phone number or middle name Similarly, it may be a good idea to start using a discarded email address instead of your actual email address when signing up for online promotions and other giveaways
With regard to protecting your privacy, you also want to make sure that you are using strong, complex passwords for each online account If this is difficult, you can always use the best password managers that create and store strong passwords
I want to limit the number of apps I install to protect my smartphone and all sensitive information contained therein On my computer, I want to remove browser extensions that I don't use often
While VPNs are certainly a useful tool, they can slow down the Internet and make navigation to some sites difficult We hope that Google's Chrome's IP protection feature will protect your privacy in a similar way without noticeable slowdowns It is still in the testing phase, so we will have to wait and see Check back when this feature becomes generally available, as we plan to try it out in action
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