Google will soon test a new IP Protection feature in the Chrome browser. It aims to safeguard users' privacy and security by hiding their IP addresses through the use of proxy servers. This initiative, named IP Protection, was outlined by Google developers on GitHub.
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The IP Protection feature will assist in blocking websites and online services from tracking users by rerouting third-party traffic from specific domains through Google's proxy servers. By doing so, users' IP addresses will remain invisible to these domains. This way, Chrome will protect the user from cross-site tracking.
The developers will consider regional differences and prioritize user preferences.
The testing and implementation of the IP Protection feature will be done in multiple stages. Initially, Stage 0 will utilize one of Google's proxy servers, only routing requests to Google-owned domains. This initial phase will allow developers to test their infrastructure without affecting other companies and provide more time to refine the list of domains that will be proxified. For simplicity, access to the stage 0 proxy servers will be restricted to clients with IP addresses located within the United States.
To prevent potential misuse of the new feature, the authentication server managed by Google will distribute access tokens to the proxy server, setting a quota for each user.
During stage 1 of testing the IP Protection feature, the number of users utilizing the service will be increased. Additionally, Google plans to enhance privacy further by implementing a two-hop proxy system. This system will involve launching the first hop proxy through Google and the second hop proxy through an external CDN. By employing this approach, no single proxy will have access to both the client's IP address and the destination simultaneously (supporting CONNECT and CONNECT-UDP enabling proxy chaining).
As the ecosystem continues to evolve, Google will adapt the proxy server settings and expand the list of domains included in the proxied traffic to enhance the protective capabilities of the IP Protection feature.
Considering that many online services rely on GeoIP to determine users' locations for service provision, Google aims to allocate IP addresses to proxy connections that represent the user's approximate location rather than their precise location.
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I don’t trust Google at all, and I get chills in my body when I hear Google and privacy. An advertising company that makes a living by selling your data and everything else they do that we don’t even have a clue about.
I live in Sweden and have a very good ISP that doesn’t sell data and other things about their customers. We have open fiber and around 40 ISPs to choose from. My choice is Bahnhof, which has been fighting for privacy since 1994. We have speeds from 10 to 10,000 Mbps to choose from. Up/down.
If I were to use any kind of VPN, Mullvad and ProtonVPN would be at the top of my list!
A bit of a rambling of me! ;)