Google is ready to end third-party cookies on the Internet; a change which will begin on January 4 and which can completely change the privacy of Internet usersalthough we still don’t know if it’s for better or worse.
Cookies are small files created by our browser to store information relating to our browsing. For example, to log in to a service or to store our preferences. But decades ago, it was discovered that they could also be used for less noble purposes: track everything the user does.
If a third party installs a cookie in our browser, it may store the pages we visit, the news we read or the products that interest us; Advertisers can use this information to show us personalized advertisements, although there are also more malicious uses.
Chrome ends cookies
Google’s empire was built using third-party cookies because it was able to display highly personalized ads using user data. It may therefore seem curious that it is Google that wants to put an end to this practice.
Since January 4, the browser Google Chrome will stop accepting third-party cookies, something that will be called “Tracking Protection”, or anti-tracking protection. Initially, it will only be enabled for 1% of users, which doesn’t sound like much but it means it will reach tens of millions of people. Third-party cookies will be completely removed for all users in the second half of 2024.
The message that will appear in Chrome for desktop and mobile throughout 2024
Users will be able to tell that their browser has abandoned cookies by a pop-up message which will appear in the Chrome address bar, both in the desktop version and in the mobile version. For the first few months, Google will offer the option to revert to third-party cookies, but this will only be a temporary solution, as part of the testing program.
This process was of course started because Google already has a replacement. It’s called Privacy Sandbox and has been the protagonist of several controversies and has changed several times in response to criticism. This system is based on the recording of “themes” based on the pages we visit; For example, if we like football or if we are interested in a cell phone. The big difference with cookies is that it is the browser itself that will record the pages we visit and assign “themes” to them; Instead of viewing the cookie, advertisers will have to ask the browser what topics we are interested in in order to display related advertisements.
Google presents this as a big step forward in user privacy, while allowing the online advertising industry to continue generating revenue for free pages and services. However, Chrome is left alone in implementing this technology, and other browsers are not planning to take the same step at this time. It should be added to this that certain European regulators have already warned that they are “monitoring” this approach by Google, in case it abuses its dominant position on the market (Chrome is used by 63.6% of Internet users according to Stadista ) to favor its own advertising platform over those of the competition.
This won’t be the only major controversial change affecting Chrome. Google has already confirmed that it is moving forward with plans to remove certain extensions from Chrome, thereby limiting their possibilities. Therefore, 2024 could be the year of truth for the browser, if it manages to implement two such controversial changes consecutively.
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