Chrome 76 prevents NYT and other news sites from detecting Incognito Mode

Enlarge / The Boston Globe and some other news sites prevent non-subscribers from viewing articles in a browser’s private mode. (credit: Boston Globe)

Google Chrome 76 will close a loophole that websites use to detect when people use the browser’s Incognito Mode.

Over the past couple of years, you may have noticed some websites preventing you from reading articles while using a browser’s private mode. The Boston Globe began doing this in 2017, requiring people to log in to paid subscriber accounts in order to read in private mode. The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and other newspapers impose identical restrictions.

Chrome 76—which is in beta now and is scheduled to hit the stable channel on July 30—prevents these websites from discovering that you’re in private mode. Google explained the change yesterday in a blog post titled, “Protecting private browsing in Chrome.”