Chrome’s New Protections Include an Upgraded Safety Check

Google has updated its Safety Check feature in Google Chrome to protect users’ data from online threats and ensure they’re always in control of what data they share with websites.

The updated Safety Check feature will run automatically and notify users about various actions it takes, such as revoking permissions from websites they no longer visit. The Safety Check feature will also work with the Google Safe Browsing feature to detect websites that send abusive notifications. When it detects any of these sites, it will automatically revoke notification permissions.

Additionally, the Safety Check feature will continue reminding users of any security issues it detects that require their attention. This is a significant improvement by Google, as these issues often go unnoticed until users manually check the Safety Check section of Google Chrome—something that rarely happens.

The updated Safety Check feature also carefully monitors the extensions installed on the Chrome desktop version. If it finds an extension that poses a security risk to user data, it will automatically direct users to the Chrome extensions page, where it provides a summary of how the extension could threaten personal data, along with an option to remove the extension.

In addition to all these Safety Check feature changes, Google is also adding two new features that focus on improving overall privacy and security in the browser. The first feature makes it easier to opt out of unwanted website notifications. Users can quickly unsubscribe from a website notification by simply tapping the “Unsubscribe” button that appears in the notification drawer. This feature is currently available on Pixel devices, and Google plans to roll it out to more Android devices soon.

Google is also introducing the ability to grant one-time permissions to sites for accessing specific hardware on the device. For instance, users can choose to provide microphone access to a website for a special video call. Once the user leaves the website, Chrome automatically revokes that permission. It’s similar to the permissions requests you get with newly installed apps on Android and iOS, but now tied to the web.