Summary: Google is addressing a significant privacy vulnerability in Chrome that allowed websites to access users’ browsing history by styling visited links. The upcoming Chrome version 136 will implement a triple-key partitioning system to prevent cross-site history leaks, while still maintaining usability with a self-links exception. This change aims to enhance user privacy without completely removing useful user experience cues associated with visited link styling.
Affected: Google Chrome
Keypoints :
- Google is fixing a long-standing issue with the ‘:visited’ CSS selector that exposed user browsing history.
- The new method will partition visited link data based on link URL, top-level site, and frame origin, enhancing privacy.
- Users can enable the feature in experimental settings from Chrome version 132 to 135, with a stable release in version 136.
- The solution maintains a self-links exception to ensure usability while preventing unwanted history leaks.
- Other major browsers like Firefox and Safari have partial protections but lack complete isolation from threats.