Google has just been given the official US Patent and Trademark Office thumbs-up for a new patent relating to private browsing.
The new feature would mean that your Chrome browser would automatically enter private browsing depending on what sort of content you’re browsing.
This is in contrast to the current system where a user must manually engage Incognito Mode through the menu or a keyboard shortcut.
The patent, spotted by Patent Yogi, is filed under the number 8,935,798 B1, and makes reference to both desktop and mobile browsing.
So how does it work? It all starts with you navigating to a particular webpage.
From there, Google analyses a list of ‘identifiers’ associated with the webpage to determine whether or not a ‘privacy mode condition’ exists.
Depending on home many identifiers the software picks up, Chrome will then choose to either activate private browsing or not.
Google notes some of these identifiers as things like secure log-in pages or payment pages that require the input of card information. We’d imagine adult content falls under this category too.
If you’re not yet savvy to what Incognito Mode actually is, here’s the skinny of it – it’s a feature available on most web browsers that lets you disable browsing history, web caching, and cookies.
This means your browser won’t store any data locally, but it doesn’t ensure anonymity – your IP address is still identifiable.
Related: Brits ‘lack basic smartphone security’ says new survey
Google applied for this patent back in 2011, but it was only granted two days ago.
This means that we might see the feature quite soon, as Google will have had plenty of time to work on it.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
