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“The abolition of third-party cookies will make it possible to protect privacy-related data such as what sites users visit and what pages they view from advertising companies,” notes the Japan-based site Gigazine.
And this month “Google has confirmed that it is on track to start disabling third-party cookies across its Chrome browser in a matter of weeks,” writes TechRadar:
An internal email published online sees Google software engineer Johann Hofmann share with colleagues the company’s plan to switch off third-party cookies for 1% of Chrome users from Q1 2024 — a plan that was shared months ago and that, surprisingly, remains on track, given the considerable pushbacks so far… Hofmann explains that Google is still awaiting a UK Competition and Markets Authority consultation in order to address any final concerns before “Privacy Sandbox” gets the go-ahead.
The Register explores Google’s “Privacy Sandbox” idea:
Since 2019 — after it became clear that European data protection rules would require rethinking how online ads work — Google has been building a set of ostensibly privacy-preserving ad tech APIs known as the Privacy Sandbox… One element of the sandbox is the Topics API: that allows websites to ask Chrome directly what the user is interested in, based on their browser history, so that targeted ads can be shown. Thus, no need for any tracking cookies set by marketers following you around, though it means Chrome squealing on you unless you tell it not to…
Peter Snyder, VP of privacy engineering at Brave Software, which makes the Brave browser, told The Register in an email that the cookie cutoff and Privacy Sandbox remains problematic as far as Brave is concerned. “Replacing third-party cookies with Privacy Sandbox won’t change the fact that Google Chrome has the worst privacy protections of any major browser, and we’re very concerned about their upcoming plans,” he said. “Google’s turtle-paced removal of third-party cookies comes along with a large number of other changes, which when taken together, seriously harm the progress other browsers are making towards a user-first, privacy-protecting Web.
“Recent Google Chrome changes restrict the ability for users to modify, make private, and harden their Web experience (Manifest v3), broadcasting users’ interests to websites they visit (Topics), dissolving privacy boundaries on the Web (Related Sites), offloading the battery-draining costs of ad auctions on users (FLEDGE/Protected Audience API), and reducing user control and Web transparency (Signed Exchange/WebBundles),” Snyder explained. “And this is only a small list of examples from a much longer list of harmful changes being shipped in Chrome.”
Snyder said Google has characterized the removal of third-party cookies as getting serious about privacy, but he argued the truth is the opposite. “Other browsers have shown that a more private, more user-serving Web is possible,” he said. “Google removing third-party cookies should be more accurately understood as the smallest possible change it can make without harming Google’s true priority: its own advertising business.”
The Register notes that other browser makers such as Apple, Brave, and Mozilla have already begun blocking third-party cookies by default, while Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge “provide that option, just not out of the box.”
EFF senior staff technologist Jacob Hoffman-Andrews told The Register that “When Google Chrome finishes the project on some unspecified date in the future, it will be a great day for privacy on the web. According to the announcement, the actual phased rollout is slated to begin in Q3 2024, with no stated deadline to reach 100 percent. Let’s hope Google’s advertising wing does not excessively delay these critical privacy improvements.”
TechRadar points out that after the initial testing period in 2024, Google will begin its phased rollout of the cookie replacement program — starting in June.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader AmiMoJo for sharing the news.
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