NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Google Chrome Apparently *Removing* Key Privacy Feature
Warning: Google Chrome Apparently *Removing* Key Privacy Feature
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000763.html
Greetings. Last March, in "Why I'm Switching to the Google Chrome
Browser (New Privacy Enhancements)" -- I enthusiastically endorsed
Google's Chrome browser, and explained why I have switched to it from
Mozilla Firefox ( http://bit.ly/bwUzMo [Lauren's Blog] ).
I hope I'm not forced to reverse that decision. But I am quite
concerned about a new development.
Google announced today that their URL shortening system "goo.gl" had
gone public for general use. (I discussed an issue related to this in
an NNSquad posting earlier today: http://bit.ly/bTNAI1 ).
In the process of experimenting with goo.gl, I ran into some login
problems that appear to have related partly to my use of the "block
third party cookies" option in Chrome -- this sort of setting is
widely recommended by various parties regardless of your browser
choice.
But looking deeper, and after seeing different behavior in Firefox
testing, I discovered what appears to be a much more serious Chrome
cookie-related problem.
It seems that the new Chrome beta (7.0.517.24) -- being automatically
pushed out now -- has (with no warning whatsoever) removed what I
consider to be a key functionality, the cookie control setting that
allows you to be queried for a decision whenever new cookies are being
offered, and permits you to determine how cookies from related site
will be handled in the future.
Suddenly I realized why I've been getting e-mails today from people
complaining about Chrome cookie problems that they didn't understand.
It was the original appearance of this extremely useful setting in
Chrome (it has long been available in Firefox) that allowed me to
personally move to Chrome as my browser of choice, and to also
recommend Chrome to individuals and enterprises who are concerned
about privacy and security issues.
Without such a setting, or an alternative means to access equivalent
functionality (e.g. through a browser plugin), I will likely be forced
to move back to Firefox, and recommend the same course for most other
individuals and firms.
It's no doubt true that many Chrome users have never accessed this
feature, and choose rather simply to accept all cookies on a
willy-nilly basis. But this simply is not an acceptable modus
operandi for vast numbers of users and organizations who need
convenient site-by-site cookie control. Nor is manually entering
cookie exceptions into tables a practical solution on a routine basis.
I believe I originally noticed that this option had been removed from
the Canary (bleeding edge development) build of Chrome sometime back.
But I saw no reason to be alarmed -- not all aspects of the dev
versions will necessarily find their way into stable versions.
But the beta path leads in a much straighter line to the stable
releases, and sudden disappearance of this crucial cookie control
feature for stable version users would likely cause a great deal of
confusion and consternation in many quarters.
To be very clear about this, the current stable chrome release
apparently still has this feature present. If you are a Chrome stable
version user (check the About Google Chrome function to query your
current version) you do not have an immediate concern, but note that
updates can occur at any time automatically.
The new beta version (and I assume the "standard" dev version, though
I don't have that here to check immediately) appear to now be missing
the site-by-site query cookie functionality.
Right now I'm temporarily running with all cookies enabled just to get
this blog posting out, but this is not a viable solution for long. I
am now looking at either downgrading to Chrome stable -- for however
long that continues to include the key functionality of concern -- or
moving back entirely to Firefox.
Frankly, there is no good excuse for removing this feature without
replacing it in an equivalent way (and at this time I know of no
Chrome plugin that can do this -- I'd be very happy if someone could
inform me otherwise).
Even given that most people probably haven't used this function, and
even if using it wrong causes some users confusion -- it could have
simply been moved to a somewhat "deeper" settings level (this is how
Firefox has been handling this function as of late).
Site-by-site query cookie control is an extremely important capability
for the users and enterprises who need to carefully control cookie
use. Not having this ability can absolutely be a deal killer.
I am attempting to learn Google's intentions regarding this issue.
I'll report back when I know more.
Take care, all.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com)
http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
Co-Founder, PFIR (People For Internet Responsibility): http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad (Network Neutrality Squad): http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, GCTIP (Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance):
http://www.gctip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Google Buzz: http://bit.ly/lauren-buzz