Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source<!–> on Google.
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Google’s new enhanced autofill can store and fill in more types of info.
- You can save your driver’s license, passport number, and more.
- Although the data is encrypted, you’ll still want to take precautions.
Filling out an online form that requests your driver’s license or passport information can be a hassle. You have to dig up your license and passport and then manually enter the requested numbers. Now, Google is enhancing the autofill option in Chrome to store and automatically fill in these details when required.
Also: Are AI browsers worth the security risk? Why experts are worried
Basic autofill has already been available in Chrome and other browsers. Typically, this option stores and can fill in such details as your name, address, phone number, email address, and even payment information. However, Google is taking the concept a couple of steps further.
With the new enhanced version of autofill, you can automatically add your driver’s license number, passport number, and car’s information (license plate number or VIN) to any supported online form. The enhanced version is also designed to handle complex forms and different formatting requirements, improving the accuracy of the process, Nico Jersch, senior product manager for Chrome, explained in a Monday blog post.
–>
The enhanced autofill is now rolling out, so it may not be available for you just yet. To check in Chrome, click the ellipsis icon in the upper right and select Settings. At the Settings screen, select “Autofill and passwords.” If the enhanced version has reached you, you’ll see an option for Enhanced autofill. If so, just turn on its switch to use it.
Sounds like a handy and helpful feature, especially if you fill out a lot of forms online. But what about privacy and security? Do you want your browser storing sensitive information, such as your driver’s license or passport number? Here’s how Jersch answered that tricky question.
“We’ve designed enhanced autofill to be private and secure,” Jersh said. “When you enter relevant info into a form, Chrome will save this data only with your permission and protect it through encryption. And before filling in saved info on your behalf, Chrome will ask you to confirm, keeping you in full control of your data.”
Also: Is OpenAI’s Atlas browser the Chrome killer we’ve been waiting for? Try it for yourself
Furthermore, enhanced autofill is turned off by default, so you must manually enable it. You can also manage the information that’s saved, opting to add only certain details or deleting items you no longer want Chrome to store.
“Autofill can be reasonably safe when the device and account are well protected, and you stay attentive to what you approve,” Jason Soroko, senior fellow at certificate lifecycle management provider Sectigo, told ZDNET. “Chrome encrypts saved data and asks for explicit confirmation before filling, which helps prevent accidental disclosure, and you can add a sync passphrase to protect data even if your account password leaks.”
However, potential risks can still arise, just as with any kind of online data.
“No browser feature is perfectly safe because it must eventually place real numbers into a form, and any site that receives them can misuse them,” Soroko said. “So the practical safety hinges on your device lock strength, your Google account security, the extensions you install, and your ability to spot phishing pages,” Soroko said.
Also: The best secure browsers for privacy: Expert tested
With autofill enabled, you want to watch out for lookalike or scam sites that trick you into filling out and approving a form. Also, beware of extra fields on a form that try to capture more info than you might expect. Another threat comes from overprivileged extensions that can access content on a form. And if someone gains access to your computer or mobile device with your Chrome profile unlocked, your autofill data could be exposed.
To protect yourself from potential risks, Soroko offers the following tips:
- Keep your operating system and Chrome updated.
- Use two-factor authentication or passkeys to enhance the security of your Google account.
- Set up a Chrome sync passphrase to encrypt sensitive autofill data end-to-end.
- Store only the data you need on a regular basis and delete other entries after one-time use.
- Never use autofill on a shared, public, or work device.
- Use this feature only on secure HTTPS pages and double-check the URL before submitting a form.
- Review and delete browser extensions that seem suspicious.
- Use Enhanced Safe Browsing to combat phishing attempts.
- If a site feels off, but you still need to fill out a form, go back to manual entry.
Here’s one more idea, as suggested by Nivedita Murthy, senior staff consultant at application security firm Black Duck. Use a password manager as your autofill provider.
“If your email account is compromised, not only could your emails get leaked, but [so can] any personal information that is also stored within that account (in this case: licenses, VIN numbers, passport details, etc.),” Murthy said. “One needs to balance the convenience with the potential repercussions of storing information in a location that is used across multiple platforms with the high-level risk it presents.”
Also: The best password managers: Expert tested
As an alternative, most password managers let you store sensitive data to populate online forms, Murthy noted. These tools already have the necessary protections in place to secure your autofill information. Although there’s always a risk that your password vault could be compromised, this risk is significantly lower than the risk of your email being hacked.
Get the morning’s top stories in your inbox each day with our Tech Update newsletter.
