Hush adds protected bookmarks to Chrome's incognito mode

Martin Brinkmann
Jul 16, 2013
Google Chrome, Google Chrome extensions
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If you are sharing your PC and the same user account with someone else, you are doing it all wrong. While it may be convenient as you do not have to configure different accounts and make sure all users log into theirs all the time, it may have serious privacy implications as everyone may access everything on the system.

This includes the browsing history, bookmarks, emails, documents, games and every single application installed on the system. There are ways to mitigate some of this, for instance by using encryption and portable software, but it is still not ideal.

The Google Chrome extension Hush has been designed specifically for shared systems, or at least situations where someone else may use the browser on your PC. It is only enabled in private browsing mode (called incognito mode in Chrome) and protects bookmarks in that mode from prying eyes.

Protected Bookmarks

chrome protected bookmarks

The first thing you need to do after you have installed Hush in the browser is to open the extensions manager (chrome://extensions/) and check the "Allow in incognito" option there so that the extension can be run in the browser's private browsing mode.

Once that is out of the way it will displays as a black lock in Chrome's address bar when you open the private browsing mode.

It displays a password prompt and buttons to bookmark the current page or to view all bookmarks protected by that password. So, you will always have to enter the password to display or bookmark. What may be interesting is that you can select different passwords for different websites. You can also select the same one as it is easier to remember, but you do not have to.

If you select view all, an internal page is opened that displays all bookmarks protected by the password that you have entered.

chrome incognito mode private bookmarks

You can visit the sites in question with a click on the url, use the edit button to modify the address or title, remove them again, or rearrange the order of bookmarks via drag and drop on the page.

The settings button on the top right lets you import or export passwords which can be useful if you want to use the information on a different system or different version of Chrome as well.

Bookmarks can also be accessed by typing hush in the Chrome address bar, followed by a space and then the password that you have set. This will open the bookmarks panel as well with the display of passwords.

Verdict

If you use the same computer and account as someone else, you may want to consider using the extension for that extra bit of privacy. Then again, if you are in control, you may prefer to create different user accounts instead which may take you half an hour or so tops but ensures that every user on the system has a private environment they can work in. (via Lifehacker)

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Comments

  1. alex said on July 16, 2013 at 2:48 pm
    Reply

    hello
    Is there a way to move the new ‘create bookmark’ look back to previous one that isn’t created for touchscreens???

    1. alex said on July 16, 2013 at 2:49 pm
      Reply

      forgot to say that it is question related to chrome 29.0.1547.22 beta-m

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