Google will offer a new option to hide the IP address of the device in order to reduce advertising targeting.
Google is preparing an “IP protection” function in its Chrome browser according to an article from the American media Bleeping Computer published on October 22. This new option should route the stream to a Google proxy server to hide the Internet user’s IP address. This address is a “license plate” of each electronic object which allows it to be located and its activity tracked. Marketing services rely on these identification numbers for advertising targeting or to produce statistics based on the information collected.
This “IP protection” will act as a VPN and will anonymize the IP address, preventing Internet users from being tracked. The site consulted will always be able to retrieve an approximate position, such as the region for example.
Authentication to avoid abuse
Since servers could hide the origin of traffic, Google is considering ways to limit abuse of its service. A cybercriminal who launches a denial of service (DDoS) attack, for example, could camouflage the source of the attack or at least the device relaying the connection.
To avoid misuse of its service, Google is considering prior authentication to use IP protection. Rate limits per Internet user are also in question to reduce the possibilities of using the proxy server.
IP protection will first be entitled to a testing phase in the United States. In the future, an option may be rolled out to Chrome.
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