Websites are still able to detect when
visitors are able to use Chrome's incognito (private browsing) mode
despite Google's efforts last year to disrupt the practice. There are
many reasons why website operators prefer to block incognito mode users.
For example, some users employ incognito mode to bypass content
paywalls and various content filters/limits. In addition, the current
incognito (private browsing) modes in most browsers today still ship
with aggressive anti-tracking features that prevent websites from
tracking and completely demonetize their traffic.
It results in a direct financial loss to
websites and the primary reason why scripts that detect incognito mode
have become popular in recent years.
Google decided to take a stand against
such scripts. Chrome 76, released in July 2019, included an update that
prevented websites from using the filesystem API to detect whether a
user was using Chrome's normal browsing mode or its incognito mode.
Prior to Chrome 76, the FileSystem API was not available in incognito
mode only, and website operators only had to query this API to find out
if a user was using incognito mode. With Chrome 76, Google activated the
filesystem API for secret detection windows, rendering the previous
identity script useless. However, this update was not foolproof. Google
has not fully activated the filesystem API but has only set a hard limit
for the amount of storage space that incognito mode Windows can access
120 MB.
After the release of Chrome 76, it took
programmers within a week to find out what's going on, and develop
scripts that could test the file space system to see if a website could
access it, and It can indirectly detect whether the user is using
incognito mode. Two different scripts were released in August 2019, and
one of them made its way to the New York Times website, confirming how
popular these scripts are with many online content publishers.
In August 2019, while answering a
computer question, Google promised to fix the bypass and fixed incognito
mode section. However, nine months later, it is still possible to
detect incognito mode in Chrome, and all other Chromium-based browsers,
such as Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, and Brave, all of which are a core part of
Chrome's codebase. In addition, developers have taken over shared
scripts over the past year and expanded support for non-Chrome browsers,
such as Firefox and Safari, allowing sites across the board to block
users in incognito mode. Currently, there is no time limit for a new
Chrome update to block incognito mode interruptions, however, today,
Google may be more interested than ever in fixing this issue.
On Tuesday, the company has been named
in a class-action lawsuit, where its advertising department has been
accused of secretly tracking users, even as they navigate the web in
incognito mode. Advertisers like Google have a large number of
indicators to track users in both normal and incognito mode. Blocking
incognito mode detection will not prevent advertisers from tracking
users in incognito mode, as both website operators and advertisers will
still see information such as IP addresses and other traffic data.
However, it will help Google earn some good faith with its users, many
of whom care about their privacy and prefer not to be denied service by
websites because they are in incognito mode.
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