Google Chrome to Phase Out Third-Party Cookies in Effort to Boost Privacy
January 14 2020 - 2:03PM
Dow Jones News
By Bowdeya Tweh
Google plans to restrict the use of third-party cookies in its
Chrome internet browser, a move it says is aimed at bolstering
users' privacy while they visit websites.
The Alphabet Inc. unit has been signaling for months that it had
interest in adding more controls on the small data files that help
website operators, and potentially other entities including
advertisers, gain information about visitors. But it has stopped
short of actions taken by Apple Inc.'s Safari and Mozilla Corp.'s
Firefox to roll out broader restrictions on tracking cookies.
Google said Tuesday that it would phase out support for
third-party cookies in its browser within the next two years,
according to a blog post by Justin Schuh, director of Chrome
engineering.
Third-party cookies, which can be used by ad-tracking or
analytics services, are designed to follow users across the
internet to learn their browsing habits. Those insights can be
valuable to advertisers but have generated consumer privacy
concerns for years.
The two-year phaseout, he said, is designed to give users,
publishers and advertisers an adjustment period. It will also
provide time for the development of new tools like a "privacy
sandbox," which would allow users to be served personalized ads
while minimizing advertisers' access to certain data that makes it
easier to identify individuals.
"Users are demanding greater privacy -- including transparency,
choice and control over how their data is used -- and it's clear
the web ecosystem needs to evolve to meet these increasing
demands," Mr. Schuh said in his post. "Some browsers have reacted
to these concerns by blocking third-party cookies, but we believe
this has unintended consequences that can negatively impact both
users and the web ecosystem."
Google, whose eponymous internet-search platform is the world's
largest, also dominates the world-wide browser market, with Chrome
accounting for about 56% of browser usage in December, according to
online statistics service W3Counter. The nearest competitor,
according to W3Counter data, was Apple's Safari browser at 18%.
Write to Bowdeya Tweh at Bowdeya.Tweh@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 14, 2020 13:48 ET (18:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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