Chrome's Windows Incognito mode is now more private than before thanks to a recent update
Google Chrome for Windows 11 has rolled out a major improvement to Incognito mode, which is now more private by not copying data to the Windows 11 clipboard. This improvement was suggested by Microsoft itself and also affects its own Microsoft Edge browser.
Google Chrome's Incognito mode has been a big lie for years. because it had little to do with privacy. It's gotten a little better lately, but it's still not 100% private.
Until recently, if you were using Incognito mode in Google Chrome for Windows and you copied some text, that text would be copied to your clipboard. If you turned on Chrome Sync, the contents of your clipboard would be sent to the Google Cloud and to all of your devices that use Google Chrome.
Where’s the privacy of Incognito mode if what you copy gets pasted into your clipboard, goes through Google’s cloud, and ends up on one of your other devices, which may not be as secure, or may be used by other people? Well, that’s how Incognito mode has worked for years.
Microsoft engineer Anupam Snigda noticed this a few months ago, Windows Latest reported, and sent a report to Google to fix it in the Chromium engine.
It's actually an interested party because Microsoft Edge also uses the Chromium engine. But Chrome has benefited from that.
A Microsoft engineer suggested that Chromium use the same clipboard system as its operating system.
Windows, internally, has several clipboards that it uses depending on what the user is doing.
Google has embraced the idea, and now all browsers that use Chromium, such as Google Chrome or Edge, use the Windows clipboard system. Since a few weeks ago, anything you copy in Chrome’s incognito mode will no longer be copied to the clipboard. A good example of competing companies working together to preserve users’ privacy.