• Google disables cookies
• Millions affected
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Google has initiated its crackdown on third-party cookies, which are diminutive files that are downloaded to a user’s computer or mobile device during a website visit.

Approximately 30 million Chrome users were selected at random. This represents 1% of the global user base. They were chosen by the tech behemoth to be the first to utilize a feature known as “Tracking Protection.”

The move is a component of Google’s controversial Privacy Sandbox. It prohibits websites from employing third-party cookies to monitor users’ web activity to deliver pertinent advertisements.

It follows rival web browsers, including Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox, which by default blocked third-party cookies, by a number of years.

Learn about Chrome’s recent adjustment and how to tell if you’re affected.

On Thursday, January 4, Google implemented Tracking Protection for one percent of its users, as promised last month.

Randomly selected Tracking Protection recipients will receive a pop-up box from Chrome for desktop or mobile.

It will read, “You are among the first users to experience Tracking Protection, which prevents websites from tracking your browsing activity using third-party cookies.”

The modification will be implemented automatically. Therefore, third-party cookies will be banned by default when you browse the web, preventing tracking.

Chrome’s third-party cookies can be enabled by clicking the eye with a diagonal line in the search bar.

Upon selecting, users will have the ability to enable the acceptance of third-party cookies, which will result in the elimination of the diagonal line and the display of the following message in the search bar: “Third-party cookies permitted.”

Google’s Cookie Deactivation Policy

Google warns users that enabling cookies will deactivate them again after 90 days.

Regardless of whether you are among the one percent affected, third-party cookies on Chrome are quickly becoming obsolete.

Subject to regulatory sanction, Google intends to completely phase out the use of third-party cookies. This will happen when Tracking Protection becomes available to all users in the second half of 2024.

Chrome is utilized by more than 3.22 billion internet users, according to Statista. But many are unaware of what cookies are or what they do.

Third-party cookies are produced when a user visits a website with ads or graphics from other websites.

In contrast, these are not like first-party cookies, which are typically beneficial because they enable the browser to retain critical user data and are established by the website the user is accessing.

As Google stated in a blog post from the previous month, third-party cookies have been a “crucial component of the internet for almost thirty years.” However, their monitoring of user activity across websites has generated controversy.

Google objects to the fact that third-party cookies are typically installed on a user’s device by digital advertising agencies or other websites other than the one the user is currently accessing.

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Google’s Privacy-Enhancing Cookie Replacement

Google intends to substitute third-party cookies with a novel system. This system restricts data exchange within its organization to safeguard privacy.

In essence, advertisers will be required to request Chrome to suggest topics of interest, such as travel, cuisine, or fashion, as opposed to having direct access to our browsing history.

The shift is controversial because regulators worry it will strengthen Google’s online advertising monopoly.

The elimination of cookies from the most widely used web browser in the world will, according to advertisers, restrict their capacity to gather data for the purpose of customizing advertisements and force them to rely on Google’s user databases.

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