What is the difference between browsing and data

In order to customize your browsing experience based on the languages that you prefer to read, Chrome will keep a count of the most popular languages of the sites you visit.

This language preference will be sent to Google to customize your experience in Chrome. View Activity Controls. Web Apps on Android. On Android devices, if you select "add to homescreen" for a website that has been optimized for fast, reliable performance on mobile devices , then Chrome will use a Google server to create a native Android package for that website on your device.

The Android package allows you to interact with the web app as you would with an Android app. For example, the web app will appear in your list of installed apps. Usage statistics and crash reports. By default, usage statistics and crash reports are sent to Google to help us improve our products.

Usage statistics contain information such as preferences, button clicks, performance statistics, and memory usage. If you have enabled Chrome sync, Chrome may combine any declared age and gender information from your Google account with our statistics to help us build products better suited for all demographics.

For example, we may collect statistics to identify web pages that load slowly. We use this information to improve our products and services, and to give web developers insight into improving their pages. Crash reports contain system information at the time of the crash, and may contain web page URLs or personal information, depending on what was happening at the time the crash report was triggered.

We may share aggregated, non-personally identifiable information publicly and with partners — like publishers, advertisers or web developers. You can change whether usage statistics and crash reports are sent to Google at any time.

If Google Play apps are enabled on your Chromebook and Chrome usage statistics are enabled, then Android diagnostic and usage data is also sent to Google.

Media licenses. Some websites encrypt media to protect against unauthorized access and copying. In the process of allowing access to this media, session identifiers and licenses may be stored locally.

These identifiers can be cleared by the user in Chrome using Clear Browsing Data with "Cookies and other site data" selected. For sites that use Adobe Flash Access, Chrome will provide a unique identifier to content partners and websites. The identifier is stored on your system. You can deny this access in the settings under Content Settings, Protected content, and reset the ID using Clear Browsing Data with "Cookies and other site data" selected. If you access protected content in Chrome on Android, or access higher quality or offline content on Chrome OS, a content provider may ask Chrome for a certificate to verify the eligibility of the device.

Your device will share a site specific identifier with the website to certify that its cryptographic keys are protected by Chrome hardware. Other Google services. This notice describes the Google services that are enabled by default in Chrome.

In addition, Chrome may offer other Google web services. For example, if you encounter a page in a different language, Chrome will offer to send the text to Google for translation. You will be notified of your options for controlling these services when you first use them.

You can find more information in the Chrome Privacy Whitepaper. Chrome includes a number of unique and non-unique identifiers necessary to power features and functional services.

For example, if you use push messaging, an identifier is created in order to deliver notices to you. Where possible, we use non-unique identifiers and remove identifiers when they are no longer needed. Additionally, the following identifiers help us develop, distribute, and promote Chrome, but are not directly related to a Chrome feature.

Installation tracking. Each copy of the Windows desktop version of the Chrome browser includes a temporary randomly generated installation number that is sent to Google when you install and first use Chrome. This temporary identifier helps us estimate the number of installed browsers, and will be deleted the first time Chrome updates. The mobile version of Chrome uses a variant of the device identifier on an ongoing basis to track the number of installations of Chrome.

Promotion tracking. In order to help us track the success of promotional campaigns, Chrome generates a unique token that is sent to Google when you first run and use the browser. In addition, if you received or reactivated your copy of the desktop version of the Chrome browser as part of a promotional campaign and Google is your default search engine, then searches from the omnibox will include a non-unique promotional tag.

All mobile versions of the Chrome browser also include a non-unique promotional tag with searches from the omnibox. Chrome OS may also send a non-unique promotional tag to Google periodically including during initial setup and when performing searches with Google.

Field trials. We sometimes conduct limited tests of new features. Chrome includes a seed number that is randomly selected on first run to assign browsers to experiment groups. Experiments may also be limited by country determined by your IP address , operating system, Chrome version, and other parameters. A list of field trials that are currently active on your installation of Chrome is included in all requests sent to Google.

You also have the option to use the Chrome browser while signed in to your Google Account, with or without sync enabled.

Sign in. On desktop versions of Chrome, signing into or out of any Google web service, like google. You can turn this off in settings. On Chrome on Android and iOS, when you sign into any Google web service, Chrome may offer to sign you in with the Google Accounts that are already signed in on the device.

If you are signed in to Chrome with your Google Account, Chrome may offer to save your passwords, payment methods and related information to your Google Account. This personal information will be used and protected in accordance with the Google Privacy Policy.

When you sign in to the Chrome browser or a Chromebook and enable sync with your Google Account , your personal information is saved in your Google Account on Google's servers so you may access it when you sign in and sync to Chrome on other computers and devices. This type of information can include:. Sync is only enabled if you choose. To customize the specific information that you have enabled to sync, use the "Settings" menu. You can see the amount of Chrome data stored for your Google Account and manage it at Chrome data from your account.

For Google Accounts created in Family Link, sign-in is required and sync cannot be disabled because it provides parent management features, such as website restrictions. However, children with Family Link accounts can still delete their data and disable synchronization of most data types. When you enable sync with your Google Account, we use your browsing data to improve and personalize your experience within Chrome. You can change this setting on your Account History page or manage your private data whenever you like.

If you don't use your Chrome data to personalize your Google experience outside of Chrome, Google will only use your Chrome data after it's anonymized and aggregated with data from other users. Google uses this data to develop new features, products, and services, and to improve the overall quality of existing products and services.

If you would like to use Google's cloud to store and sync your Chrome data but you don't want Google to access the data, you can encrypt your synced Chrome data with your own sync passphrase.

In this blog, we will clarify the difference between your browser cache and browsing data, explain why and how you clear it. Simply put, your browser cache stores information you accumulate from websites. It is also where downloaded files are kept temporarily, as they are being processed. Browsing data is sometimes confused with the cache. An accumulation of data in your browser cache will slow down your browser. This may seem counter-intuitive since the whole point of a cache is stored information that helps websites download faster.

However, the fact of the matter is, any excess amount of files on your computer will slow things down. Another part of this is security. If you visit a site that may seem a little phishy pun intended , the first thing to do is clear your browsing data immediately. Once you clear your cache, run a virus scan. The way you clear your browsing data depends on your browser of choice. In some cases, it's simply to make your browsing experience faster and more convenient.

But this data can also be used to determine your browsing habits and preferences—information that is frequently used by advertisers in determining what ads to show you online.

Here are a few common examples of when a website might track your online activity. Cookies can store specific information on the websites you visit and the things you click on different sites.

If you don't have an account on a particular site, this information is typically saved in a cookie to your web browser. For example, a news website might use cookies to see if you've previously visited its site—and what articles you read on your last visit—so it can suggest more articles based on your previous choices.

Watch this video from Adversitement to learn more about cookies and how they work. Generally speaking, cookies don't pose a serious risk to your online security—you're unlikely to acquire malware or expose sensitive financial information by using cookies. Still, if you don't like the idea of websites collecting information about you this way, there are options for limiting cookie tracking on your computer. There are a few different ways to avoid cookie tracking.