Google on Monday announced that it will keep Chrome users on a ‘diet’ of cookies while working on an updated approach to allow them to make informed choices about how they are tracked on the web.
The internet giant had been working on phasing out third-party cookies from its popular browser for over four years, while pushing for the adoption of mechanisms such as the Privacy Sandbox for preserving user privacy online.
Cookies, small pieces of code that websites place on visitors’ machines and which are used to deliver tailored advertisements, have been used for user tracking across the web for a long time, raising concerns about privacy violations.
In early 2020, Google called browser makers, publishers, developers, and advertisers to its open source Privacy Sandbox initiative that would deliver new mechanisms for a more private and secure web, while making third-party cookies obsolete.
One year later, the internet giant announced Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), a new system that would effectively hide individuals in the crowd, but said a few months later that the deadline to remove third-party cookies from Chrome would be delayed by roughly two years. The latest announced deadline is April 2025.
On Monday, three years after first delaying the phase-out, Google announced that, following discussions with the stakeholders, including regulators, publishers, developers, and other entities, cookies will remain in Chrome while alternatives are underway.
“Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time. We’re discussing this new path with regulators, and will engage with the industry as we roll this out,” Privacy Sandbox VP Anthony Chavez said.
The Privacy Sandbox that Google has been working on for the past four years will also stay. According to Chavez, it has the potential to support a competitive and thriving landscape for publishers and advertisers, and it will improve over time as its adoption grows.
“As this moves forward, it remains important for developers to have privacy-preserving alternatives. We’ll continue to make the Privacy Sandbox APIs available and invest in them to further improve privacy and utility,” Chavez added.
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