Thanks to extensions, web browsers have become programs that offer a totally personalized and renewed experience when surfing the net. Chrome, Firefox, Edge … nowadays, any browser supports extensions. Thanks to them we can customize websites, obtain information about the page we are viewing (for example, control the price of a product on Amazon) and even hide certain annoying elements. However, extensions are just as useful as they are dangerous, and they are one of the turning points by which they can steal our data. And Google wants to end that.
Virtually all the extensions that we install on the PC have access to all of our data. And many of them even collect them without permission and use them for purposes they don’t even indicate. This is not the first time that we have heard of this, just as it is not the first time that we have seen an extension used for malicious purposes.
It is true that Google is not the best place to talk about privacy. However, although this company does what it wants with the data of its users, it does want them, at least, to know how other developers use the information they collect. And, therefore, from 2021 an important change will come to the Chrome Store extension system. A change that, hopefully, is for the better.
Google will force Chrome extensions to make clear what data they collect
As of January 2021 , developers who have an extension published in the Chrome Store will have to indicate in their file what data they collect in the browser and, in addition, how they process and use said data. All developers will have to fill in this information before March 2021 , otherwise the extension will be blocked in the Chrome Store and, in addition, users who have it installed will be automatically disabled. From January to March a notice will be displayed when a developer has not provided this data.
To do this, developers will have to fill out a form where they will have to complete all the information that Google asks of them. Users, when downloading a new extension , will be able to see a new privacy tab where they will see, in a clear and easy to understand way, everything related to browser privacy. Of course, developers will have to certify whether or not they sell the data they collect to third parties.
Developers can already see this new section in their corresponding panels, and in the extensions store the privacy section will begin to be displayed from January 18 of next year.
New rules for more private extensions
In addition, Google is updating the extension rules to prevent some developers from abusing this service (and, of course, to protect Chrome’s business with advertising):
- Collecting data and using it to display personalized advertising is prohibited.
- The transfer of user data to check solvency, credits, data brokers or information resellers is prohibited.
- The sale of personal data of users will never be allowed.
- In case of data transfer, this must be done to benefit the user and be related to the general purpose of the extension.
Of course, a good measure to help us protect our privacy when downloading and installing extensions in Chrome. The only problem with this system is that it is the developers who provide this information, and Google cannot verify its veracity. So, in reality, it won’t do much good (or so we fear).