Chrome again exempts Google from user site data settings
a month ago
- Author previously reported a Chrome bug that exempted Google-owned sites from automatic site data deletion, which was fixed after his report.
- Now, a similar bug reappears in Chrome version 152.0.7977.83 on Mac, where google.com site data persists despite the setting to delete data on window close.
- The bug is reproducible: after a Google search, closing Chrome and reopening shows saved google.com data (cookies, local storage, session storage) that is not deleted.
- Only www.google.com is exempted; the author is not signed into Chrome and has disabled sign-in.
- The author attributes the issue to incompetence (Hanlon's razor) rather than conspiracy, but criticizes Google's quality assurance and suggests unit tests.
- The author calls for government action to break up the Google Search monopoly and criticizes opaque search result URLs.