Chrome on Android: The Privacy Settings to Change

We all use Chrome. It’s fast, it syncs with our computers, and it’s already there when we turn on our phones. But because it’s a Google product, the default settings are designed to be "helpful" in a way that usually involves gathering a lot of data. I used to just accept the defaults, but after seeing how much Chrome was sharing about my habits, I spent an afternoon digging through the menus. You don't have to quit Chrome to be private, but you definitely need to change these five things.

Safe Browsing levels

Chrome has a feature called "Safe Browsing" that warns you about malicious sites. By default, it's set to "Standard protection." Google recently pushed "Enhanced protection," which sounds good on paper because it's faster at catching new threats. The catch? It sends much more of your browsing data—including snippets of pages and system info—directly to Google's servers in real-time.

I personally stick to **Standard protection**. To find this, tap the three dots in the top right, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Safe Browsing. Enhanced protection is a bit too much "sharing" for my taste. If you're someone who is very careful about the links you click, Standard is plenty. It still checks a list of known bad sites stored on your phone. It’s that balance between being safe from hackers and being "safe" from a company's data collection. I've never had a security issue on Standard, and it feels a lot less like someone is looking over my shoulder.

Cookie behaviour

Cookies are those little files websites use to remember you. Some are good (keeping you logged in), but "third-party" cookies are almost always for tracking you from site to site. Google has been saying they’ll get rid of them for years, but the current state of Chrome on Android is still a bit of a mess.

Go to Settings > Site settings > Third-party cookies. I highly recommend selecting **"Block third-party cookies"**. Some sites might break—I've seen some old corporate login portals get grumpy—but for 98% of the web, it works fine. If a site does break, Chrome makes it pretty easy to tap the little "eye" or "lock" icon in the address bar and temporarily enable them for just that one site. It’s a small price to pay to stop an ad network from knowing that you looked at a pair of hiking boots on three different websites.

Topics API and Privacy Sandbox

This is the "new" way Google wants to track you without cookies. It’s called the **Privacy Sandbox**. Instead of individual sites tracking you, Chrome itself watches what you do, decides you're interested in things like "Cooking" or "Running," and then tells advertisers your "Topics." Google calls this more private, but it’s still your browser building a profile of your interests.

If you're like me and find this a bit weird, you can turn it off. Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Ad privacy. You'll see three sections: Ad topics, Site-suggested ads, and Ad measurement. I turned all of them off. For example, when I looked at "Ad topics," Chrome had already labeled me as interested in "Software" and "News." Turning these off makes your browser a "dumb" tool again, rather than an active participant in the advertising ecosystem. It’s probably the most important change to make in 2024 and 2025.

Sync and account data

The most convenient thing about Chrome is also its biggest privacy hole: Sync. When you’re signed in, Google can see your history, bookmarks, and even your open tabs across all your devices. If you want maximum privacy, you’d sign out of Chrome entirely, but I know that’s a hard sell.

A better middle ground is to manage what gets synced. Go to Settings > Google Services and look at "Manage Sync." I personally turn off "Personalization" and "Autofill" for things like credit cards (I use a dedicated password manager for that). Also, check the "Autocomplete searches and URLs" toggle. When this is on, every single thing you type into the address bar—even if you haven't hit enter yet—is sent to Google. I find that deeply uncomfortable. Turning it off means you have to type a little more, but your accidental typos and half-formed thoughts stay on your device.

Alternative browsers worth trying

I know this article is about Chrome, but I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn't mention that sometimes the best privacy setting is a different app. If you find Chrome's settings too overwhelming or you just don't trust the "Privacy Sandbox" model, there are great alternatives that use the same "engine" (Chromium) so they feel familiar.

• Brave: It feels just like Chrome but blocks everything by default. No menus to dig through.
• Vivaldi: Great for people who love to customize their tabs and sidebars. Very privacy-focused.
• DuckDuckGo Browser: It’s very "light" and has a big "Fire" button that clears all your tabs and data in one tap. I use this for quick searches where I don't want any history saved.

I keep Chrome on my phone for the one or two government websites that refuse to work elsewhere, but for my daily scrolling, I've moved on. It’s surprisingly easy to switch once you realize your bookmarks can be exported.

Incognito reality check

We need to talk about Incognito mode. There's a common myth that Incognito makes you "invisible." It doesn't. Google even had to update the wording recently to admit that they still collect data in Incognito mode. What it really does is ensure that your history and cookies aren't saved on your phone after you close the tab.

If you're logged into Facebook in an Incognito tab, Facebook still knows it's you. Your ISP still knows you're visiting that site. Your boss still knows what you're doing if you're on work Wi-Fi. I use Incognito only for two things: checking how a website looks when I'm not logged in, and searching for things I don't want to show up in my "Suggested" results later. Don't rely on it for actual privacy. It’s more like a "tidy house" mode—it cleans up the local mess, but the neighbors can still see through the windows.