Google has just released its new privacy tools to help users hide their digital footprint online. In an attempt to maintain their user traffic, Google is now offering a bunch of new changes relating to Google maps, Password saves, and YouTube.
Storing Passwords, while convenient, is one of the main reasons people get hacked and their data becomes breached according to Google. In addition to that, an estimated 59% of people reuse or recycle old passwords, creating an increased risk of a data breach. In attempt to combat these bad practices, Google is now recommending its users to change their passwords and advising them to make definitive changes once they create one using Chrome.
Along with this heightened awareness towards stronger passwords, Google is now deleting past searches from its Google Assist extension on Chrome and Google Home devices. Google Assist, Google’s voice-functioned helper, similar to Alexa, will now automatically delete questions it was asked the week prior in an attempt to make users feel more secure when using it.
One thing that Google offers in their Chrome browser is an “incognito mode”, a mode that does not record your search history and does not track the websites you visit. Due to the success of this mode, Google has made a version for YouTube and Google Maps. Plans of releasing this for Android and IOS are also in the works to bring this mode to the applications.
While all of this seems nice, I think the reasoning behind these added functions is very interesting. I get the impression that Google only did this to make sure its users continue to use Google products instead of actually wanting to limit the data tracking. According to the article, a heightened awareness of tracking appeared when Apple updated its IOS and notifications appeared on a user’s iPhone. While I appreciate to idea, I still question if the incognito mode actually stops tracking all together. I think this trend of technology companies releasing modes that ban tracking is only going to become stronger as data becomes a more popular topic.
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I find this interesting because privacy is a huge issue users are facing. I always found incognito mode interesting because I can search definitions of words, knowing that Google won’t keep track of the words I do and don’t know. It’s kinda nice to know that there’s a wave of privacy starting in tech worlds.
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