Google Chrome Can Now Make Its Own Decisions On Your Safety
The browser's newest version can act by itself to snip out unwanted permissions.
Google has enhanced Chrome's Safety Check feature, allowing it to act on its own in some circumstances.
The sort-of-autonomous Safety Check will run in the background in the newest version of Chrome. While it will alert you to tell you what it's done, it will take action on its own. According to Google, its features include "revoking permissions from sites you don't visit anymore," and "flagging potentially unwanted notifications."
Chrome determines those notifications by a low site engagement score and notification frequency above a certain threshold per day.
In a related vein, Safety Check will automatically revoke notifications from sites Safe Browsing "finds to be deceiving users into granting the permission."
It will also remind you of things that need your attention, like security issues that need resolving.
Google first introduced Safety Check in 2020. It's the feature that tells you if your stored passwords have been compromised, if a website is deemed unsafe and if you need to update Chrome. Since its release Google has also continued to add new features, like alerts about potentially unsafe browser extensions.
Google is also making it easier to opt out of site notifications on mobile. Starting on Pixel phones and tablets, and then rolling out to other Android devices, there will be a new "Unsubscribe" button on notifications, which the company says "has already resulted in a 30% reduction in notification volume on supported Pixel devices."
Finally, users will be able to grant more limited, one-time permissions to sites that need to access phone settings like your calendar, microphone or contacts. Chrome will revoke the permissions as soon as you leave the site.
Google first added support for one-time permissions a year ago, in Chrome 116, but only for desktop users.
This article originally appeared on our sister site, Computing.