Google Chrome is rolling out a new option on Android (and already available on iOS) to protect private browsing tabs opened on the browser by authentication via fingerprint.
On Google Chrome, as on other web browsers, private browsing — also called incognito mode — is a well-known feature. It allows you to visit websites without this activity showing up in the history or generating other browsing data.
Without making a joke on this subject, we can think of people wishing to consult products on merchant sites without this affecting the advertisements they might see online. Or run a Google search on a particular topic without the search engine identifying it as an area of interest to push into its News or Discover section.
In short, the incognito mode is a tool for those who want to make sure to keep a minimum of confidentiality. With this in mind, Google is introducing a new option on Chrome for Android to enable fingerprint authentication to resume interrupted private browsing.
Google Chrome: enable fingerprint for private browsing
This feature already exists on iOS and is currently rolling out to Android. To find out if you benefit from it, here is how to proceed:
- tap the three dots at the top right;
- go in Settings;
- select Privacy and Security;
- see if you have an option like “Lock incognito tabs when you quit Chrome“. If so, enable it.
So if you interrupt a private browsing session and reopen the browser, the browser will only let you access the left incognito tabs if it recognizes the correct fingerprint.
Google slipped this information in the middle of other small advice on the occasion of the European day of the protection of personal data. A good opportunity in particular to remember the importance of password managers or good reflexes to have to secure your devices.
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