Google Removes Privacy-Focused ClearURLs Chrome Extention

Google has mysteriously removed the popular browser extension ClearURLs from the Chrome Web Store. ClearURLs is a privacy-preserving browser add-on which automatically removes tracking elements from URLs.

In a mysterious move by Google last night, users saw ClearURLs disappearing from the Chrome Web Store with its page throwing a 404 (not found) error message.

In a copy of the email shared by the developer, Google claims that the description of the extension is “too detailed” and in violation of Chrome Web Store rules.

Chrome users can download and manually install the ClearURLs extension from the project’s GitHub releases page. Microsoft Edge users can also download the extension from the Edge Add-ons store. It’s also available on Firefox, where it’s a Recommended extension.