When you work in an environment with other people or if someone has borrowed your laptop, you must keep in mind that other people have free access to your browser (and the passwords in it). Browsers not only store the history with the related sites visited but also the passwords used, the favorites and the extensions installed. In this sense, Google Chrome seems to have never taken a firm direction and, at the current level, lacks a real feature to prevent other people to take a look at what you do and how you use the browser.
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Protect Google Chrome from prying eyes – what solution?
To block Google Chrome by password, there was a method that few people knew – you had to change the guest settings from chrome – // flags / . Unfortunately, Google has long disabled this feature. Since then there is a new method which appears, however, rather tortuous and confused. You can access your Google account and set up multiple browsing profiles, although to do so you should switch profiles before switching your computer to your colleague/friend/acquaintance.
Protect Chrome’s history with PassBrow
Fortunately, there are easier ways to keep your privacy on shared devices. One of these uses a third-party Chrome extension: PassBrow. This is an extension that is compatible with both PCs and Android phones. This is an addon not too complex to use that guarantees total browser privacy. After downloading the extension, simply enable it to protect your browsing activity. PassBrow Authenticator is a Google Play app that lets you use your privacy settings on Android phones.
Configure your account information, security question, and alphanumeric password. Write it somewhere so you can remember it (maybe on a paper notebook). The password is quite important because if you forget your password, you will have no choice but to uninstall Google Chrome from your device and install it again from scratch. As soon as you save your password in PassBrow, the add-on will save your information in an encrypted file extension called .passbrow . Now, every time you open the browser, you will need to enter the saved password to access the contents. This may seem boring, but at least this ensures the utmost security of your laptop / PC compared to prying eyes. With the combination of the Ctrl keys –Shift – 9 can immediately block access to your browser when someone is browsing around your desk. The best part of PassBrow is its mobile extension unit, PassBrow-Authenticator. As soon as you check it, a code will be revealed. The Google Play app is automatically installed on your Android phone or tablet. Now you just need to enter the code to protect the activities of the Chrome browser on other devices. There is also a QR code that can be used to this effect. PassBrow works on Mac but currently, there are no iPhone apps available.
Waiting for Google to work in this direction …
PassBrow is definitely an extension that, at the current level, does its job well. Given the attention of Google for details (especially when it comes to privacy and security), it is reasonable to expect that soon will be introduced news directly on the browser in this regard.
