Google Chrome Tests New IP Protection Feature; Details Here

Oct. 25, 2023

Google IP Protection: IP Address & Identity Masking

First spotted byBleeping Computer, the new potential feature for Google Chrome is called “IP Protection.” The feature aims to protect users’ online privacy byobfuscating their real IPaddress. The feature will do that by dynamically routing third-party traffic through Google’sproxy serverswhile hiding the IP addresses from the original domains. This will essentially make you invisible to the websites you visit and ensure that the users won’t give out their actual IP address while browsing through the Internet.

Currently, the IP masking process will work through a single dedicated proxy. However, In the future, Google is also looking towards using atwo-hop proxysystemthat should enhance the security of your real IP even further.

Google has also confirmed that the long-term solution will be to evolve the ecosystem for better privacy. The company has stated that it will collaborate with internet service providers, various third parties, and destination sites to work on the privacy proxies. IP Protection for Google Chrome will initially be anopt-in featureand will roll out in aphased mannerin time.

Despite all that, Google has stated this is not afoolproofsolution. The IP protection feature on Google Chrome does have certain demerits. A big one of them is the strength of the company servers themselves. If the proxy server gets hacked itself, it puts all the IP address information inside it at work. Furthermore, it could be used tomask fraudulent activities or DDoS attacksdone against websites.

There are a lot of reasons why one might need to mask their IP address, and Google’s ownGithub repolists some of them. For instance, the information users give repeatedly “can be combined over time to create a unique, persistent user profile and track a user’s activity across the web.” This can considered as athreat to privacyto many users.

There is also the consideration of yourgeolocationwhich when tracked regularly lets advertisers build a custom profile on users and cater their ads to you. However, with the IP protection feature enabled, Google aims to give websites a moreobscurelocation instead. For example, your country location would likely be given to the website rather than your exact one.

As the company mentions in its repo, Google was already phasing out third-party cookies and limiting fingerprinting. If implemented correctly, the IP Protection feature in Google Chrome will help limit other methods of cross-site tracking that go beyond third-party cookies.

It is great to see Google innovating upon the privacy features of its ever-so-popular Chrome browser. What do you think about the new IP protection feature coming to Google Chrome? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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