Google’s New Patent Would Auto-Enable Private Browsing When You Visit a Porn Site
We’re sure that we don’t know anyone who would ever make use of this innovation. But a patent that was recently granted to Google looks to make online viewing of pornographic materials a bit more discreet.
Under the system, Google’s Chrome browser would automatically detect when you were visiting an NSFW site and put you into private browsing mode, based on the content of the site.
Chrome’s Incognito mode, which temporarily disables the automatic storing of your Web history, can of course be used to browse sites that contain sensitive financial information. But did you know it’s also a handy way to view pornographic materials on the Internet without logging those sites in your browsing history?
Well, it is! And Google’s new patent could make sure that, should you happen to forget to select Incognito mode when visiting an NSFW site, Chrome will automatically default to it.
An excerpt from Google’s patent filing:
“Privacy mode enabler may analyze the metadata of web page to determine whether web page should be automatically opened in the privacy mode. In doing so, metadata that identifies adult content may automatically trigger that web page be automatically opened in the privacy mode.”
This service assumes that those who view “adult content” online often choose to do so in Incognito mode, something we’ll take Google’s word on. In that context, Google can save Internet browsers a step, or possibly save them from forgetting to enable Incognito mode.
The patent description goes on to outline additional user-specified preferences for detecting other SFW content that can initiate auto-private mode, like instances of sites asking for credit card info, for example. So, yes, the patent isn’t just for mind-in-the-gutter applications.
Chrome extensions that automatically launch Incognito mode have been available for years. The ones we’ve come across, however, lack the content detection feature outlined in the Google patent and instead require you to manually flag each site as Incognito.
Even though this recently approved patent for the Chrome auto-Incognito concept was originally filed in 2011, the feature is still just that: a mere concept. So, if for some reason the service sounds like something you’d make use of, we’d say you should probably keep your pants on for now.
That’s a figure of speech, people. Grow up.
Email me at danbean@yahoo-inc.com. Follow me on Twitter at @danielwbean.
