I’m still annoyed that Chrome has gone to mandatory Google login — exactly the same way Android did (and has received enormous criticism for) — and people at Google are acting like they’re surprised people are upset.
I mean it is, after all, Google’s browser and they can do whatever they want (modulo GDPR concerns). I just wish folks would acknowledge the difference.
I intend to die on this hill.
I do wish the mandatory login change to Chrome would get some more mainstream (tech) coverage.
I’m also annoyed at the people who say “it’s just all your browsing data so what’s the big deal?” It’s my *browsing data* that’s exactly why it’s a big deal!!!
There’s an entire class of browsing many folks will feel uncomfortable doing if their browser has a little icon in the window that says “Hi <User> I know this is you!” This is Human Behavior 101.
And sure, I’m talking about porn. But honestly, that’s probably the least of it. Political opinions. Mental health websites. Abortion clinic websites. Who would think forced identification is a good thing?
Also deeply fed up with people saying “Google et al. already track you around the web, so why is this a big deal?” First off: just because there are abusive practices on the web does not justify layering on the mother of all privacy abuses.
Secondly, people: there is a *reason* Google works so hard to encourage logins on Android and Chrome. And the obvious reason is that those platforms provide user data they *can’t get from their other sources*.
One last thing about this Google Chrome mandatory login policy. It completely makes hash out of the Chrome privacy policy.
The Chrome privacy policy (google.com/chrome/privacy/ ) articulates two separate “browser modes with different privacy properties. One is “basic” and the other is signed in”. Compare them. 
The entire document can be summarized as a promise that if you aren’t logged in, data will only be stored locally, and if you *are* logged in, all bets are off. It’s pretty darn clear.
In the face of that kind of detail, it’s utterly bonkers to add a “security feature” that arbitrarily switches you from one mode into the other with no obvious notice or warning. It renders the entire document meaningless.
