Google Chrome started to fight with bypassing Incognito mode

After Google separated AI Mode and Incognito in Chrome, the company has been working on additional security measures to ensure private browsing.

Some sites now use hidden background images to track users even when cookies are disabled. This method is known as Canvas fingerprinting. It relies on subtle differences in how different devices display such images, which allows for a unique identifier.

Google has begun testing blocking such fingerprints in Incognito mode. In the experimental version of Chrome Canary, a feature called Enable blocking canvas readbacks in Incognito appeared. When activated, the browser prevents sites from receiving hidden images. If a script tries to calculate this data, Chrome returns an error.

Incognito mode has traditionally been seen as a way to increase privacy, but techniques like Canvas ID have diminished its effectiveness. The new mechanism closes one of the most common methods of tracking and makes it harder to track users during private sessions.

For now, the feature is only available in Chrome Canary as a hidden flag. If testing proves successful, the protection could be implemented in stable versions of the browser, which will strengthen Incognito privacy and bring it closer to the level that users have long been waiting for.

In parallel, Chrome is working on other innovations. Among the planned ones are a new email verification protocol, revoking clipboard access for inactive sites, restoring tabs after a browser crash, and support for Windows touch drag.