Google will try a new function at Chrome (v119) which it calls IP Protection. It is designed to protect users' IP addresses using proxy servers.
The IP address can reveal a lot about a user. It can reveal the approximate location and information about the network operator. It can also reveal the owner of one connectionon the Internet, for example in police investigations.
IP addresses may also be used for online tracking purposes. The effectiveness of tracking of course depends on how often a device changes new IP addresses.
Tools like proxy servers, VPNs or services like Tor are often used for this protection of users' IP addresses. So Google seems to have decided to bring a native option to the Browser Chrome.
Google defines the IP Protection feature in Chrome as follows:
“IP Protection is a feature that sends third-party traffic for a set of domains through proxy servers in order to protect the user by masking their IP address from those domains”
The feature will be enabled and rolled out over time to users with US IP addresses. Google says that "a small percentage of customers will be automatically signed up."
The first phase will limit functionality to a proxy server owned by Google and to domain also owned by Google.
In other words: users will be able to choose to have some traffic to Google routed through the proxy to Chrome using a Google proxy.
This will be done to test the infrastructure and ensure that other companies are not adversely affected by using the new feature.
