Chrome again exempts Google from user site data settings

Six years ago, a blog post was published detailing a Chrome bug that inadvertently exempted Google sites from automatic deletion of site data. The post gained significant attention from various sources such as Hacker News, The Register, The Verge, and Gizmodo. Google later fixed the bug. However, the issue resurfaced recently.

The reporter tried reproducing the problem on two different Macs using Chrome version 152.0.7977.83. They changed the default search engine to DuckDuckGo, ensuring it wasn't the cause. They found that despite not being signed into Chrome and disallowing Chrome sign-in, some Google.com site data persisted even after closing the browser window. Deleting the Google site data and repeating the process led to the same result.

The reported data consisted of Cookies, Local Storage, and Session Storage. It's unclear when this issue was introduced. The reporter uses Safari as their primary browser but frequently uses Chrome and Firefox for testing. They suggest attributing the issue to Hanlon's razor rather than conspiracy theories, but they don't rule out Google's potential incompetence due to its scale and resources.

The reporter attributes the situation to Hanlon's razor before questioning Google's handling of the issue. They propose better QA and unit testing, and suggest that Google should consider breaking up its search monopoly. The reporter also notes that when not signed into Google, search results are now opaque and far from the actual site URLs.