How to disable idle detection in Chrome –

Constantly expanding its online services and tools, Google is not shying away from finding more methods to monitor users. It’s safe to say that with Chrome’s idle detection feature, many users feel that Google has gone a bit overboard. While it sounds controversial, there are always two sides to a story. Learn how to disable idle detection in Chrome

This article will tell you how to disable idle detection in Chrome, what it is, and its pros and cons.

How to disable idle detection in Chrome

What is idle detection in Chrome?

Released with Chrome 94, idle detection is an API that lets applications know if a user is inactive or active . While this detects user physical activity, some developers seem to accept and use the API to extend the functionality of their applications. The API notifies the developer when:

• The user is not interacting with their computer through a mouse or keyboard.
• The user has locked their screen.
• The user has switched to a new tab, leaving a tab inactive.
• The user activates a screensaver.

Advantages of idle detection

But why would developers need this kind of information? Google stated and suggested the following advantage through some use cases for the idle detection API:

• Social media apps may benefit the most as they can detect if a user is inactive and automatically detect the status and share it with their contacts.
• Apps on public kiosks can use the API, and the home view can be restored to the device if no one interacts with the apps.
• Applications that require calculations can use the API to limit calculations only when the user interacts with the device.

Disadvantages of detectionYoidle time

For certain reasons, Idle Detection invades the user’s privacy on a physical level and has caused many concerns to the user.

• Mozilla users believe this API helps surveillance capitalism , as it invades physical privacy. It can help keep long-term logs to store users’ daily behavioral patterns and can be used for “psychological manipulation.”
• The first giants of privacy Apple, also expressed concern by idle detection, as websites can use it to mine cryptocurrency when the user is idle. By the way, this is how you can block crypto mining in your browser.
• Idle detection can also increase the fingerprint problem as you can now add additional information about the user’s physical activity.

Ensuring privacy online is the need of the hour, and it is essential to do everything possible to disable any form of user tracking. We recommend that you use the methods mentioned to disable idle detection in Chrome.

How to disable idle detection in Chrome

Here is a step by step procedure to disable idle detection in Chrome. But before you start, make sure you have a version of Chrome higher than 94.

Step 1: Click on the three dots icon in the upper right corner.

Step 2: click on Help > About Google Chrome.

Step 3: Make sure you are running Chrome 94+. If not, update your browser in the same menu.

Step 4: Now click on the three dots icon on the top right corner and click on Setting.

Step 5: click on Privacy and security > Site settings.

Step 6: Click on the use of your device.

Step 7: Click on Additional permissions.

Step 8: check the option Do not let sites know that you are actively using your device.

That is all. You have successfully disabled the idle detection feature in your Chrome browser.

Can’t find idle detection in Chrome settings? You can get there directly by pasting e by entering chrome://settings/content/idleDetection in the address bar.

Bonus: extensions to prevent trackers in Chrome

As a bonus, here are some methods and extensions you can use to block trackers and fingerprints in Chrome.

1. uBlock Origin

uBlock Origin is an all-in-one fingerprint blocker and tracker extension available for Chromium and Firefox browsers. It is a fairly simple extension to configure, as shown below:

Step 1: Visit the page of the .

Step 2: click on Add to Chrome > Add extension.

Step 2: tap the uBlock Origin icon from the extensions menu on the toolbar.

Step 3: By default, uBlock Origin’s options help you prevent and block most website trackers and identifiers.

2.Privacy Badger

Blocking trackers and ads that track your web browsing activity can stop fingerprinting to some extent. Privacy Badger is a popular Google Chrome extension that helps you block trackers.

Step 1 : Visit the page of . Click on Add to Chrome > Add extension .

Step 2 : You must complete the first step to activate the extension and its features.

To explore the extension further, click the extensions menu in the top right corner and click Privacy Badger .

Step 3: The main interface shows the number of trackers you have blocked.

3.Canvas Fingerprint Defender

Canvas Fingerprint Defender is a super minimal extension available in Chrome. It defends you from fingerprinting by generating fake values ​​for the fingerprint, essentially keeping your personal information safe.

Step 1 : Visit the page of . Click on Add to Chrome > Add extension .

Step 2 : Once the installation is complete, click on the extension menu on the toolbar. Then click on the Canvas Fingerprint Defender extension.

Step 3 : The extension will now be active with protection features immediately.

For example, the image below shows how the extension notifies you every time it defends you against a fingerprinting attempt.

This is our guide to blocking fingerprints in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Brave browsers.

Opinion on how to disable idle detection in Chrome

This is everything you need to know about idle detection in Chrome. We hope this article helped you understand what it is and how to disable inactive detection in Chrome. Stay tuned for more such articles to understand how to maintain privacy in your web browser.

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