Security News > 2021 > September > New Chrome feature can tell sites and webapps when you're idle
The new Idle Detection API gives Chrome the ability to register whether a user is active, and has drawn concerns from privacy advocates.
Google Chrome version 94 was recently released with a long list of patch notes, and buried among it is the announcement of the stable release of Chrome's Idle Detection API, which has drawn criticism from privacy advocates.
As described by the Chrome Platform Status page for the Idle Detection API, it can "Notify developers when a user is idle, indicating such things as lack of interaction with the keyboard, mouse, screen, activation of a screensaver, locking of the screen, or moving to a different screen."
The Idle Detection API, Çelik said, is too tempting of a target for surveillance-minded companies and websites.
With the release of Chrome 94 on September 21, the Idle Detection API is now installed and enabled by default.
We've finally arrived at Figure E, where you can see the option to toggle the Idle Detection API off.