18:30Machine-translated from Azerbaijani by AIRead in Azerbaijani
Android 17 Will Hide the Websites You Visit From ISPs
Google has begun supporting a new internet security standard called Encrypted Client Hello (ECH) at the system level in the Android 17 operating system. This makes Android 17 the first major mobile operating system to broadly support ECH. The new feature helps conceal from internet service providers which websites and services users access online.![Google announces Android 17 Beta 1, officially signaling the death of Developer Previews [UPDATE]](/media/techspace/public/images/8bc794e57638370ef1b379c2d0414b70d90e4b63e47c1dd31299ca0700fcdbe9/card.webp)
Currently, although most data exchanged when accessing HTTPS-protected websites is encrypted, an internet service provider can still identify the domain to which a user is connecting. This information can be used to track the user’s internet activity and create a profile of them. Encrypted Client Hello encrypts information about the website the user wants to access from the initial stage of the connection. As a result, the internet service provider cannot see exactly which website or application the user is accessing. For example, if a website uses a CDN service such as Cloudflare, the provider can see that a connection has been established with Cloudflare’s infrastructure and how much data has been transmitted. However, determining exactly which website on that infrastructure has been opened becomes considerably more difficult. Google will enable ECH support by default in Android 17. Jigsaw, a project operating within Alphabet, believes this technology closes one of the major long-standing privacy gaps on the internet.
Currently, although most data exchanged when accessing HTTPS-protected websites is encrypted, an internet service provider can still identify the domain to which a user is connecting. This information can be used to track the user’s internet activity and create a profile of them. Encrypted Client Hello encrypts information about the website the user wants to access from the initial stage of the connection. As a result, the internet service provider cannot see exactly which website or application the user is accessing. For example, if a website uses a CDN service such as Cloudflare, the provider can see that a connection has been established with Cloudflare’s infrastructure and how much data has been transmitted. However, determining exactly which website on that infrastructure has been opened becomes considerably more difficult. Google will enable ECH support by default in Android 17. Jigsaw, a project operating within Alphabet, believes this technology closes one of the major long-standing privacy gaps on the internet.