Google is finally killing tracking cookies in Chrome – here’s what that means
As part of its Privacy Sandbox project, Google has announced that it will soon end support for third-party cookies in its Chrome web browser. It is a measure designed to improve user privacy and prevent websites from tracking you as you visit different URLs.
As explained in a recent blog postGoogle will begin testing a new Chrome feature called Tracking Protection on January 4, 2024. By default, this automatically blocks tracking cookies so that your data cannot be tracked anywhere on the internet.
What if a website depends on cookies to function properly? Well, if Chrome thinks a site won't work without cookies and you're having issues with it (such as refreshing the page multiple times), you can re-enable cookies for that website.
Google says it will initially roll out Tracking Protection to 1% of Chrome users in early 2024, so the chances of this affecting you immediately are slim. However, the goal is to completely block third-party cookies for all users in the second half of the year, so it's a big change worth knowing about.
What happens now?
Third-party cookies are not only used to track your browsing activity; they also have other uses, such as keeping you logged in to different websites.
To ensure functionality continues to work while protecting your privacy, Google has provided alternatives such as APIs that developers can use in certain cases. It has encouraged developers to review their cookie use to ensure their sites continue to work if change comes.
Google is far from the first browser developer to restrict third-party cookies. Rivals like Safari, Firefox, and Brave have long blocked trackers this way, allowing them to serve as some of the most secure browsers out there.
Google's slow approach is likely due to its somewhat vested interests in business. After all, tracking cookies are an important part of online advertising, one of Google's most important business activities. But as Firefox developer Mozilla has pointed out, this more measured tactic means Google can give website owners tools to keep their sites working, rather than motivating them to lock content outside paywalls or switch to more secretive forms of tracking.
It is worth remembering that despite not taking first place in our ranking of the best browsers, Chrome is incredibly popular and has a huge lead in usage among web browsers. That means its efforts to increase the privacy of its users could affect a large number of people — and will likely be welcomed by privacy advocates.
So if you're tired of shady websites following you around the web, Google's latest announcement will undoubtedly feel like good news. Despite the slow rollout, this means that a large portion of internet users will get a much more private experience by default.