Google Wants to Make Sure You Actually Understand Chrome's Privacy Settings

pcmag.com:

Google is making it easier to figure out what Chrome's various privacy settings actually do.

The company says a feature called Privacy Guide, which it developed at the Google Safety Engineering Center, will offer "a step-by-step guided tour of some existing privacy and security controls in Chrome" when it rolls out to version 100 of the browser in the coming weeks.

Google says that Privacy Guide will launch with "controls for cookies, history sync, Safe Browsing, and Make Searches and Browsing Better" and that it "may add more settings to the guide over time" based on the feedback it receives for this initial version of the utility.

A preview of Privacy Guide shared by Google shows a fairly simple utility with a toggle for specific privacy settings augmented by two lists: "When on," which is where the company explains what each setting actually does, and the self-explanatory "Things to consider."

Privacy Guide will be added to the "Privacy and security" page of Chrome's settings menu. The preview shared by Google makes it seem like the guided tour will augment, rather than replace, the existing menus. (Which is good news for people who already understand the settings.)

We should know more about how accurate the information Google provides via Privacy Guide is when the feature rolls out to Chrome users over the next few weeks. Hopefully the guidance prioritizes accuracy—and the user's best interests—over Google's data collection efforts.

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