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Google’s Chrome is one of the best browsers and is the go-to for most people; that’s one of the reasons why it has a massive market share. I’ve used Chrome for as long as I can remember, and it has served me well except for the usual: high memory usage and privacy issues. Its Sync functionality is what makes the browser convenient for people who own devices across ecosystems.
Using Sync, you can switch from one device to another and continue browsing the web from where you left off because Chrome saves your history to the cloud. But while this feature makes it convenient to switch from mobile to PC and pick up from where you left off, I’ve recently stopped using Sync after discovering just how much of my data is uploaded to the cloud.
What Chrome’s Sync feature uploads to the cloud
It uploads a staggering amount of data to the cloud
For the uninitiated, Chrome’s Sync feature links your Google account to the browser, saving various types of data to your account. To enable you to switch between devices and pick up from where you left off without missing a thing, Chrome has to upload various types of data to Google’s cloud to make Sync work.
These include data such as bookmarks, history, extensions, payment details, addresses, phone numbers, themes, settings, and reading-list entries. That means almost everything (if not everything) that you do in the browser is captured by Google and saved to the cloud. Every article you’ve saved for later and the tabs you’ve opened will also be uploaded—even stuff you wanted to be private.
That’s a lot of personal data, but it doesn’t stop there. If you’re using Google’s Password Manager built into Chrome, all your passwords will be uploaded to the cloud as well if Sync is enabled. While Google gives you some flexibility on what to sync, all this data will be synced by default if you don’t do anything. That means most people have all their data sent to Google’s servers without a second thought, in the name of convenience.
Why Chrome’s Sync feature is a privacy nightmare
It’s convenient, yes, but the price you pay is high
The upside of Chrome’s Sync feature is, of course, convenience and how easy it makes switching from one device to another. It works like magic. You pick up your tablet or phone, and everything that you were reading on your laptop is instantly available. How cool is that? But after my research into the data uploaded to Google’s servers, I began to think about just how much this convenience is costing me in terms of privacy.
The biggest drawback is that all of this data is not just uploaded to cloud servers somewhere, but it’s linked to your Google account. That means Google comes into possession of a detailed snapshot of nearly everything about you. It’s not just your personal data—like your name, date of birth, or location—but also details you were never asked to provide and would never willingly share, such as what you read, what you buy, and even what you plan to do or where you plan to go next.
And while Google says that this synced data is secure, the problem isn’t just security. Unauthorized access is another major concern. If someone gains access to your Google account, they have everything about you—your passwords, browsing history, and almost everything else that is synced. There’s also the cross-device tracking issue because all your activity across devices is saved to one account. That makes it easy for Google to create a timeline of your online activity by tracking your every move for seamless switching across devices.
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By syncing all your browser data across devices, the company actually knows more about you than you might think. Of course, that benefits the company when it comes to its vast advertising business, which heavily leans on tracking user activity and building user profiles to serve targeted ads. So don’t be surprised if you search for rental houses and start seeing more ads from real estate companies—you let Google know you’re looking for a new place to live.
Google has even been fined for tracking user activity in Chrome’s Incognito mode in the past. That shows the extent the company was willing to go in order to track your activity, and why you shouldn’t trust Chrome’s Incognito mode. That’s just one example. Google’s privacy issues are well-documented on the internet. The company’s past privacy practices certainly didn’t help because, after learning this, I was ready to pull the plug and stop using Sync.
My decision to stop using Chrome Sync
It was time to pull the plug
Knowing that I needed to stop using Chrome Sync was the easy part after learning the staggering amount of data I’m willingly submitting to Google. However, the decision to switch off Chrome Sync wasn’t easy. It seemed scary when I put some thought into it. I knew I didn’t care about missing out on syncing my browsing history across devices because I didn’t rely on the feature much. Personally, I mainly do all my reading on my laptop, and once I’m out of my work-from-home office, I’m done for the day. I rarely have the energy to pick up my phone and continue reading or researching about something I started doing on my laptop—I switch off and resume everything the following day on the same device.
As a result, my main concern was about how else I could store and access my passwords. I considered leaving Chrome to handle my passwords and only syncing them while everything else is turned off. However, after learning the disadvantages of storing passwords in a browser, I decided to look elsewhere because I couldn’t afford to miss out on such essential software, which could compromise my password security. I ditched Chrome’s password manager for Bitwarden, and I was ready to pull the plug on Sync.
You can disable Chrome’s Sync feature by clicking the three-dot menu in the top right, then navigating to Settings > You and Google, selecting Turn Off, and confirming your action by selecting Turn Off again in the pop-up. Alternatively, you can enter chrome://settings/people in the address bar, select Turn Off, then confirm by selecting the same option in the pop-up. In the pop-up, there’s also an option to remove all the synced data from your current device, including bookmarks, history, and passwords.
You can select the option if you prefer, but I wanted to keep my bookmarks, so I didn’t select it. It’s a shame that Google doesn’t give you an option to choose what to delete and what to keep when turning Chrome’s Sync feature off—you have to remove or keep everything. With that, I stopped Chrome from uploading my browser data and syncing it across devices.
You don’t need to sync your browser data to Google’s servers
Chrome’s Sync feature seems like an absolute must, but you don’t need it. It has its benefits, but the price you pay for convenience is high. Like me, if you certainly don’t take advantage of its main selling point—seamlessly switching from one device to another—then there’s no point in having it. If you have worries about what to use in place of Chrome’s password manager, there are various options on the market, such as Bitwarden, 1Password, Keeper, and Dashlane.
