Chrome Will Start Blocking Websites From Tracking Us in January

In a major move that would delight privacy flag bearers, Google will start by blocking third-party cookies for only 1% of people using its Chrome web browser and plans to expand to everyone later in 2024.

Google Chrome from Jan. 4 will begin blocking websites from using third-party cookies, the easiest way to track our online behavior as we move around the web. The browser will block third-party cookies for 1% of users on computers and Android phones, said Anthony Chavez, leader of Google's Privacy Sandbox project, in a blog post. Google will extend the block to all Chrome users by the end of 2024 under a schedule that has been pushed back several times in recent years.

The Chrome change, even though it so far only affects a small portion of people, is a momentous change for the web. Cookies, small text files that websites store on phones and PCs, have been used nearly since the dawn of the web, and ejecting them has been tough despite a growing effort to protect privacy online. Chrome is the dominant browser, accounting for 63% of web usage. Cookies have plenty of benign uses, like remembering your language preferences, protecting against fraud, or making it easier to return to a site without having to log in again. Many of those uses involve first-party cookies, though, not third-party cookies that can be set by advertisers showing ads or social networks adding share buttons. And worse things can happen than seeing an ad for a particular shoe on Amazon after you'd looked at the product elsewhere on the web. "In the worst cases, third-party cookies are used to track users around the web, building up a detailed profile of them that could include not only interests but also deeply personal information such as gender, sexuality, religion, political affiliation, etc.,". This information can be used to build creepy, invasive online experiences and is also sold to other third parties that disturbs our privacy!! "As we work to make the web more private, we'll provide businesses with tools to succeed online so that high quality content remains freely accessible — whether that's news articles, videos, educational information, community sites or other forms of web content," Chavez said.

HAPPY BROWSING!! SORRY CHROMING!!