Google Chrome 115 arrives with the privacy sandbox
Google offers the stable version of Chrome 115 for download. The browser is entitled to some new features with this update, here they are.
Privacy Sandbox is coming
The main change is the full deployment of the Topics API and related technologies, which are also known as Privacy Sandbox. The API is Google’s planned replacement for cross-site tracking cookies, which are intended to be more secure, but still track you around the web for the purpose of targeted advertising. The main difference is that cookies can pass some of your browsing history directly to ad networks, whereas with Google’s API, Chrome itself analyzes your browsing history, your profile, and categorizes you into somewhat general categories (e.g., “cats” or “tennis”), which ads can then use.
Google’s first attempt to replace cookies with the Privacy Sandbox dates back to August 2019, with a technology called Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC). It wasn’t much different from the API currently deployed in Chrome 115, except that the categories were much more specific, to the point that they could be easily used to fingerprint specific users across different sites.
Other changes for Chrome 115
Other new features include:
- Chrome’s side panel adds Google’s search which allows for text and visual queries, page-related questions, and links to more details about the current site. Only a selection of Chrome users have the new feature. Google plans to roll it out to all users in Chrome 116, which will be released next month.
- Reading mode is another side panel feature that is coming. It displays an optimized version of articles in the sidebar of the browser. Only text and links are displayed in this mode.
- Some users see their HTTP requests automatically transformed into HTTPS by the browser. Google specifies that Chrome reverts to using the HTTP protocol if the site does not support the HTTPS protocol.
Google Chrome 115 is available now at google.fr/chrome.
