Chrome again exempts Google from user site data settings
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Chrome exempts google.com site data from deletion despite user settings to clear all site data on window close.
Jeff Johnson reports that Chrome 152.0.7977.83 on macOS persists google.com site data (cookies, local storage, session storage) even when the user sets on-device site data to delete data on closing all windows and is not signed into Chrome or Google. The issue reproduces across two Macs and does not affect other sites. Johnson first reported a similar bug in 2020, which Google then fixed. He attributes the recurrence to incompetence rather than malice but criticizes Google's QA given its resources.
What commenters are saying
Commenters split into two camps: those faulting corporate malfeasance and those citing likely bugs. One user reproduced the behavior in Chromium 152 on Debian, confirming it's not Chrome-specific. Others noted that Chrome's background processes could persist data, but several pointed out the selectivity-only Google's data survives-suggests intent beyond mere process handling. Some argued the pattern mirrors Google's broader monopoly behavior, referencing the recent antitrust ruling, while others defended Hanlon's razor. The thread also criticized Google's redirect URLs in search results as a tracking mechanism.