Cookies: Google Backtracks on Removal, Keeps Tracking at Bay for 3 Billion Chrome Users

Bukola Olanrewaju July 23, 2024 TECHNOLOGY Leave a comment

Google has killed plans for cookies removal that would have stopped advertisers from tracking its three billion Chrome users.

The tech giant made the announcement Monday, saying it will no longer cancel and replace third-party cookies – small pieces of online data used by advertisers to serve people targeted ads on the web.

The proposal, known as Privacy Sandbox, had instilled fears in the online advertising industry that any replacement technology would leave even less room for online ad rivals.

Google has been promising it would deprecate cookies from Chrome since 2020 and the decision has left the public outraged who believe they have been misled.

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Google revealed earlier this year that it collects your data if you use Google Chrome, even if you use Incognito Mode,’ Jake Moore, a global security advisor for cybersecurity company ESET told Forbes.

‘Personal data is so valuable to companies and when terms and conditions are so difficult to understand, it can be easy for users to simply allow companies to collect data at their will.’

Making the announcement to its three billion users, the company said “We are proposing an updated approach that elevates user choice,” the company teased on July 22, before dropping its bombshell. “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.”

The company was struggling to agree on an approach with regulators that balanced its own interests with those of the wider marketing industry.

“We’re discussing this new path with regulators,” Google said, with the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority replying “we will need to carefully consider Google’s new approach.”