Chrome for Android Will Soon Censor Personal Data When You Share Your Screen
Google and privacy don’t always go together, but when they do, it’s a pleasant surprise. That’s the case with a new Chrome for Android feature the company is working on: Soon, when you share or record your Android phone’s screen, Chrome will automatically lock sensitive information like passwords and credit card numbers.
The new feature was spotted by user X Leopeva64 , who monitors upcoming changes in browsers like Edge and Chrome, and found this option as a flag in the Canary version of Chrome for Android. (A flag is an experimental feature in testing that users can enable manually, and Chrome Canary is a version of Chrome on which Google tests new features before releasing them to the public.)
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The flag reads: “When enabled, if sensitive form fields (e.g., credit cards, passwords) are present on a page, the entire content area is edited during screen sharing, screen recording, and similar activities. This feature only works on Android V. or higher.” (Android V presumably refers to Android 5.0.) The flag doesn’t describe the technical process for hiding this material, so it’s unclear whether Android will blur these areas or cover them with some kind of block.
Leopeva64 has not tested this feature at the time of publication, but MSPowerUser has confirmed that the flag is appearing in the latest beta version of Chrome Canary. It may not be enabled currently, but if you enable this flag now, you’ll be able to try out this new security feature when Google releases it.
How to Lock Personal Information When Screen Sharing on Android
Here’s how to set yourself up to block credit card numbers and passwords when you share or record your display on Android:
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Download Chrome Canary from the Google Play Store . This version of Chrome is similar to the one already installed on your phone, but includes new features that Google is currently testing. As such, it is unstable and should not be used as your primary browser.
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Open Chrome Canary, tap the address bar and type chrome://flags/ .
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On the Flags page, look for #sensitivity-content , which should trigger the “Edit sensitive content during screen sharing, screen recording, and similar activities” flag.
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Tap the drop-down menu and select Enabled .
As stated earlier, this feature may not work at this time, but continue to try it out in the coming weeks. Google will eventually roll out this capability, and when they do, you’ll be able to automatically censor sensitive information whenever Android accesses the contents of your screen.