Google Reverses Its Decision to Disable Cookies
If you’ve been waiting for a cookie-free internet, I’m sorry to have to break the bad news: Google is officially canceling its plans to kill off cookies.
The company announced its decision in a blog post on Monday , citing feedback from regulators, publishers, developers and individuals in the advertising industry. Google says that while the company still believes it can find a balance between the online advertising market and user privacy, it understands the challenges in doing so with so many moving parts. The company says: “This transition requires significant work on the part of many involved and will have an impact on publishers, advertisers and everyone involved in online advertising.”
So Google has announced that it’s changing tack with its privacy plans for online advertising: While the company will give up trying to remove cookies, it will introduce a new option in Chrome that “allows people to make informed choices that apply to all of their web browsing.” . Google couldn’t explain exactly how this “informed choice” works, but users will have the option to change their choices at any time. The company also confirmed that it is currently working with regulators on this feature and will keep the industry updated as it rolls out to users.
However, the feature works, so putting the onus on users instead of turning off tracking by default (as it does in Safari and Firefox) is a shame, especially considering how popular Google’s browser is. However, this may be similar to how Apple’s ” App Tracking Transparency ” works: you can open Chrome and be asked if you want to block cookies from tracking your online activity. You can then choose whether to block or allow this tracking. Most people, of course, will likely choose to block this tracking, as has happened on iOS.
Google should really disable cookies
At the same time, refusing to use cookies will forever be the best way to preserve user privacy on the Internet. While some cookies are essential for websites to function properly (ensuring you are logged in, remembering what’s in your shopping cart, etc.), most cookies are used by advertisers and other companies to track your activity on websites. You can think of them as an ID badge containing a ton of personal information about you, your device, and your past activity.
Google wanted to replace cookies with a new policy: Privacy Sandbox. The idea is that instead of tracking the activity of individual users, Google will aggregate your browsing data with other similar users and anonymize it. It will then share this pool of data with advertisers. These companies will still receive relevant data, but will not be able to directly link it to you and your activities. This isn’t good because we’ll still be sharing a ton of data with Google, but it will be better than today’s cookies. You can read more about how cookies and Privacy Sandbox work in my explainer here .
How to Block Cookies in Google Chrome
Even though Google doesn’t permanently destroy cookies, Chrome still allows you to block them if you want. To get started, go to the Privacy & Security section of Chrome’s settings. Under Default Behavior, select Block third-party cookies . Please be aware that without cookies enabled, some site features may not function. If you notice that your websites aren’t working properly, try changing this setting. You can always use the “Block Third Party Cookies” feature in Incognito mode if you prefer your private sessions to be cookie-free.