Google announced new privacy and security updates to Google Chrome in a blog on Tuesday, with the tech giant promising that it will be more “intuitive.”
These updates include making it easier to manage cookies and website permissions, a new tool that tells you if any of your saved passwords have been compromised, a safe browsing tool, and a customizable secure domain name system (DNS).
Here’s how to activate all the new Google Chrome safety features.
Managing cookies
Chrome’s most recent update will allow you to manage your cookies easier, as well as block third-party cookies.
- Click the three dots in the upper-right-hand corner
- Go to Settings
- Under the new You and Google section, click Turn on sync… if you want to sync bookmarks, passwords, history, and more.
- In the pop-up that appears after you click Turn on sync…, you can further choose which items you want to sync in your settings.
Using safety check for your saved passwords
The new safety check tool will tell you if the passwords you’ve asked Google Chrome to remember have been compromised and how to fix them.
- Go to Settings
- Find the Safety Check tool and click Check now.
- Google will find any potential passwords that have been compromised and flag them to you. You will have the option to review and change your password.
Using the safe browsing tool
Google is allowing Chrome users to opt into Enhanced Safe Browsing, which Google says will give you “more proactive and tailored protections from phishing, malware and other web-based threats.”
If you choose to opt into the feature, safe browsing will send Google URLs of some pages you visit when your security is at risk, although it does mean you will be handing over some of your data.
- Go to Settings
- Click Privacy and Security on the left-hand menu
- You can toggle the Safe Browsing feature on or off
To configure secure DNS:
“By default, Chrome will automatically upgrade you to DNS-over-HTTPS if your current service provider supports it. You can also configure a different secure DNS provider in the Advanced security section, or disable the feature altogether,” wrote AbdelKarim Mardini, a senior product manager at Google, in the blog post.
- Go to Settings
- Click Privacy and Security on the left-hand menu
- You can toggle Use secure DNS on or off
- You can also customize your DNS provider
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