Chrome's New “Enhanced Autofill”: Is Your Passport Data Really Safe? 

Your passport is now just another field in Chrome's autofill.

Illustration: Tech Bird

Google has just rolled out a major expansion to its autofill feature, and it's a significant one. We’re not just talking about your address or credit card anymore. Chrome can now offer to save and fill in your passport number, driver's license, and even vehicle information like your VIN.

The appeal is obvious: no more digging through a bag or drawer for your passport when booking a flight.

But you're right to be concerned. This convenience places your most sensitive identity documents directly into your web browser. This has immediately become the top-trending concern for users, who are all asking the same critical, human question: Is this Google Chrome update actually safe?

Let's break down the technology, the real-world data privacy concerns, and the exact steps you need to take to stay in control.

Google's Security Promise: How It's Supposed to Work

Chrome autofill on a form highlights passport & PII data safety risk. Gif: Google | Licensed by: Kinghacks365

Google Chrome has just announced a new feature, essentially an expanded version of its existing autofill. Previously, this feature only stored names, addresses, and credit card details. But now, it's expanding to include your driver's license, vehicle information, and most importantly, your passport ID, all under the new term “Enhanced Autofill.”

Before we get into the risks, it's crucial to understand what Google claims it's doing to protect this new "Enhanced Autofill" data. 

Google’s defense rests on three main pillars:

• It’s Opt-In, Not Automatic: This is the most important detail. This feature is off by default. Chrome will not save your passport number unless you explicitly give it permission to do so, just like it asks to save a new password.
• Data is Encrypted: Google states that this sensitive ID data is protected through encryption. This means that even if a bad actor intercepted the data, it would be scrambled and unreadable without the proper decryption keys.
• You Must Confirm: Before Chrome splashes your passport number onto a web form, it will ask you to confirm the action. This is designed to prevent a malicious or invisible form from silently scraping your information.

On paper, this sounds secure. But as a security-conscious user, you know that a system is only as strong as its weakest link.

The Real-World Risks: Where Your Data is Vulnerable

The "Chrome autofill security" risks are not about a hacker breaking Google's encryption. The risks are, as they almost always are, human.

Here are the actual security scenarios you should be worried about:

• Risk 1: The High-Value Target
  
  By saving your passwords, credit cards, and now your government ID in one place, you are turning your Google account into a "master key" for your entire life. If a hacker gains access to your Google account (perhaps through a phishing email), they don't just get your passwords—they get your passport and driver's license, too, creating a one-stop-shop for identity theft risk.
  
  
• Risk 2: Phishing and Social Engineering
  
  The "confirmation" prompt is a good step, but sophisticated phishing attacks are designed to trick you. A malicious website could create a fake, official-looking form (e.g., "Confirm your identity to keep your account active") that prompts Chrome to ask for your autofill data. You, thinking it's legitimate, click "confirm," and you’ve just handed over your ID.
  
  
• Risk 3: Physical Device Theft
  
  What happens if your laptop or phone is stolen? If your device isn't locked or if the thief can bypass your lock screen, the first place they will go is your browser's saved data. Having your passport number saved there makes a stolen device infinitely more dangerous.
  
  
• Risk 4: The Privacy Trade-Off
  This is less a security risk and more of a privacy one. For "Enhanced Autofill" to work, Google's help documents state that the URL and content of the form you're on may be shared with Google to provide better suggestions. This means you are trading a piece of your browsing privacy for the convenience of autofill.

How to Control Your Data: Manage or Disable Enhanced Autofill

Trust is about control. Whether you decide to use this feature or not, you must know where the "off" switch is. These are the high-intent keywords users are searching for right now.

Here is how you take back control:

1. Open Chrome on your computer.
2. At the top right, click the three-dot menu and go to Settings.
3. In the left-hand menu, click on "Autofill and passwords."
4. You will see the new option: "Enhanced autofill."
5. From this menu, you have two choices:
6. To Disable It: Simply toggle "Enhanced autofill" to the Off position. This is the safest, most secure option if you have any doubts.
7. To Manage It: If you've already saved data, you can click into the "Enhanced autofill" menu to see, edit, or delete any saved ID information.

Our Verdict: Should You Trust Chrome With Your Passport?

This feature is a glimpse into a future where our digital and physical identities are one. However, the convenience it offers is marginal compared to the potential risk.

For the vast majority of users, I recommend leaving this feature OFF.

The few seconds you save by not typing your passport number are not worth the risk of centralizing your most critical identity data in a web browser—a piece of software that is, by its very nature, the number one target for attackers.

If you are a high-security user, a dedicated password manager (which also stores secure notes) remains a much safer, more contained solution for storing this kind of sensitive data.

The "Chrome enhanced autofill" feature is a powerful new tool, but with great power comes the need for great caution. Your passport data is simply too important to be treated as just another "autofill" field.