Parental Controls Coming to Google Chrome

Google Chrome, just like Mozilla Firefox, allows users to setup multiple user profiles for different users on a shared computer or for different work environments for the same user. Currently, all user accounts have same privileges and access to all features and settings. The way it sits right now, any user can change his settings and customize the browser as per his requirements all by himself, without any interference from other users.

The Google Chrome team is working on a new feature called “Managed Users” which will allow creation of of less-privileged user accounts in Chrome. This will allow one user with a privileged user account, such as a parent, to manage the Chrome experience for another person, such as a child, by pre-configuring their accounts and then locking the User profile.

chrome-managedUser

Managed users will have restricted access to sites and apps that the Chrome “root user” thinks appropriate. The root user can setup site whitelists and blacklists, disable incgonito mode, disable deleting of browser history, and enable Google Safe Search.

The Managed Users settings page also hints at “content packs” which are likely to be pre-configured packs of sites that the root user can download from the Web Store. These packs will dictate what managed users can access.

To check it out for yourself, download the latest Chromium Canary build from here, and run the browser using the –enable-managed-users switch. Then visit the chrome://settings/managedUser page to access the new user management pane.

[via TechCrunch]

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