Chrome's private mode may soon get the same scam-site checks as normal tabs

Google is testing a change that would give Chrome's Incognito and Guest modes the same up-to-the-minute checks for scam and malware sites that regular tabs get. Right now, private browsing does not always get them, according to Digital Trends, which cited a report from Windows Report.

What changed

Chrome's Safe Browsing feature warns you before you open a dangerous page. In regular tabs under the default Standard Protection setting, Chrome checks an online lookup through a privacy server, which catches newly found threats fast. Google's support pages say Incognito can instead fall back on a stored list of unsafe sites. Google has said those lists update every 30 to 60 minutes, while many malicious sites exist for less than 10 minutes.

The proposed change would bring real-time checks to private browsing, reportedly for both Standard and Enhanced Protection users. Temporary security-key updates created during Incognito sessions would stay in memory instead of being saved to the device.

What is not known yet

The feature is still in testing and is turned off by default behind an experimental Chrome flag. Google has not announced a release date or said when it might reach stable versions of Chrome. Also remember that Incognito does not make you anonymous. Websites and network administrators can still potentially see your activity. Until this arrives, stay careful with links and logins in private windows.