What Google’s U-Turn on Third-Party Cookies Means for Chrome Privacy
This summer, Google conspicuously paused its long-held plans to abolish third-party cookies in its Chrome browser after failing to please a mix of privacy campaigners, regulators, and advertisers. The backlash was immediate, with critics seeing the move as a disaster and admission of failure.
Soon after the announcement, an article in Digiday described how Google execs were now “in full-on damage control mode, trying to soothe everyone’s nerves, both publicly and behind the scenes.” Meanwhile, digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called the move “bad for your privacy and good for Google's business.”
“By abandoning this plan, Google leaves billions of Chrome users vulnerable to online surveillance,” the EFF’s Lena Cohen wrote.
Other browsers including Apple’s Safari have already eradicated third-party cookies that track people across the web and target them with adverts amid concerns about privacy. But as the world’s biggest browser with more than 65 percent share, Chrome’s decision to phase out cookies was set to be the final nail in the coffin for the intrusive trackers.
