Warning to urgently check if Google Chrome has secretly installed ‘nasty’ new tracking on your iPhone

GOOGLE Chrome may have secretly installed a "nasty" new tracking device on your iPhone, experts have warned.

The tech giant came under fire earlier this month after a number of privacy-oriented tech firms asked regulators to take a stand against Google's secret "collection of data from across websites and services."

The firms argued that the data collection in question is enabling “dominant platform actors to abuse their positions by giving preference to their own services.”

Google was specifically outed by the complaining firms, however, the campaign - dubbed #BanSurveillance - was organized by Google Chrome rival Vivaldi.

'NASTY AND DANGEROUS'

Vivaldi recently blasted Google's secretive new web tracking tool, called FLoC, a “nasty... dangerous step that harms user privacy.”

FLoC (The Federated Learning of Cohorts) is currently being trialed in Google Chrome and is a part of the Chromium browser engine.

"At Vivaldi, we stand up for the privacy rights of our users. We do not approve tracking and profiling, in any disguise," the company said.

"We certainly would not allow our products to build up local tracking profiles."

So-called surveillance advertising has come under increasing fire in the last few months, with Apple even eroding its ability to harvest data from its billion or more iPhone users

APPLE USERS 'SHOULD DELETE' CHROME

Speaking to Forbes, a spokesperson for Mozilla Firefox warned that under no circumstances should an Apple user have Google Chrome installed on their devices.

“Chrome is the only major browser that doesn’t offer meaningful protection from tracking,” the spokesperson said.

Apple also took indirect shots at Google, introducing a "privacy by design" update to its Safari browser which highlighted the stark differences with Chrome when it comes to a user's digital fingerprint.

Fingerprinting is when apps or websites draw data from multiple sources, tracking, correlating, cross-referencing behind the scenes to later target you with things like ads.

"The opportunities for fingerprinting have been removed,” Apple said of its Safari update.

Mozilla also warned that Chrome’s latest update poses “significant [fingerprinting] risks.” 

One of the most pressing issues surrounding Google's FLoC is that the company decided to trial the technology on millions of real-life users without informing them.

They offered no post- or prior warning, no way of opting-in or even instructions telling users how to opt-out.

CRITICISM MOUNTS

This has all resulted in serious confusion about who might be impacted by FLoC, Forbes reported this month.

For those on macOS or non-Apple devices, Google has now added controls to disable FLoC.

“Under settings in Chrome,” Google says, “you can choose to turn off Privacy Sandbox trial features, which includes FLoC… We are working to offer even more controls and transparency in the future as we incorporate feedback.”

Justifying the decision to trial FLoc without notifying users, Google said the data secretly harvested does not leave their browser and is used to assign them to a legion of like-minded users.

However, the lobby of privacy firms said that once an ID is linked to another user, then the anonymity of those users is compromised.

Google, meanwhile, argues FLoC will “provide the best privacy protections for everyone… By ensuring that the ecosystem can support their businesses without tracking individuals across the web, we can ensure that free access to content continues.”

The Alphabet-owned company also said it will be ending the FLoC trial in the coming weeks.

“We must take time to evaluate the new technologies, gather feedback and iterate to ensure they meet our goals for both privacy and performance," a spokesperson said.