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Google Chrome is to clamp down on unsecure websites as part of an update to the web browser.
The latest beta for Chrome 56 is making changes regarding sites that do not support HTTPS, the secure protocol on the web that encrypts data such as passwords or credit card details.
The change will see a new “not secure” alert appear in the address bar on sites that only support Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
Google has warned webmasters in the past that it would get stricter on sites that didn’t update to HTTPS – something that seems to have worked, as Google themselves acknowledged in their Transparency Report earlier this year, which highlighted an increase in the number of sites migrating to encryption as standard.
According to the report, the number of secure sites visited in Chrome has risen from 40% to around 66% in a year.
Messaging apps on mobile have been doing it by default – and praised for it – as a way of protecting users and their data, and now websites are beginning to follow suit.
Elsewhere in the update, Chrome has an interesting feature around Bluetooth, which adds Web Bluetooth support and enables developers to connect web pages with Bluetooth devices, such as smartphones.
The feature could allow connections between devices that lets users view their heart rate, as detected by their wearable, on a website.
