/industry-wired/media/agency_attachments/2024/12/04/2024-12-04t130344212z-iw-new.png)
/industry-wired/media/agency_attachments/2024/12/04/2024-12-04t130332454z-iw-new.jpg)
/industry-wired/media/post_attachments/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/How-Chromes-Tracking-Protection-Will-Affect-Web-Users.jpg){kind=tracking}
Chrome's tracking protection strikes a balance between personalization and user privacy
The most widely used web browser in the world, Google Chrome, is gaining a new feature dubbed "Tracking Protection" that will alter how users can manage their online privacy. The feature, which is presently accessible in the browser's experimental Canary version, will be made universally available in 2024, coinciding with the third-party cookie's deprecation. But what is tracking protection really, and how will it impact users of the internet?
Users can restrict or prevent websites and marketers from tracking them by using the tracking protection section of Chrome's settings. Tracking is the process of gathering information on users' identities, preferences, and online behavior and evaluating it—often without the users' knowledge or agreement. Ads, content, and services may be personalized, performance and analytics can be measured, research and experimentation can be carried out, and so on.
The third-party cookies area in Chrome's settings, where users can limit, prohibit, or allow third-party cookies, will be replaced by tracking protection. Third-party cookies are little data files that websites other than the ones a user is currently viewing store on their browsers. For instance, Google will install a third-party cookie on a user's browser to track their activity on several websites if the user visits a news website with Google adverts. One of the primary ways that users are tracked online is through third-party cookies, which raise privacy concerns since they can reveal private information about users, including their location, interests, health, and financial situation.
As part of its Privacy Sandbox program, which seeks to establish a more privacy-friendly web ecosystem, Google intends to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome by 2024. Third-party cookies, according to Google, are antiquated and ineffective and may be replaced with substitutes that respect users' privacy and choices while still assisting the online advertising sector. Several alternatives are available, such as FLEDGE, which allows marketers to conduct campaigns and auctions on users' devices without disclosing their identity, and Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), which uses their browsing history to combine individuals into big, anonymous cohorts.
Regulators, rival companies, privacy advocates, and others have expressed doubt and criticism towards Google's Privacy Sandbox. Since Google owns both the browser and the ad platform, some contend that Google's solutions offer it an unfair advantage over other competitors in the online advertising business and are not genuinely privacy-preserving because they still permit Google to gather and process user data. Google is one of the largest users of online tracking, so some people wonder about its motivations and incentives. They also think that Google's decision to exclude third-party cookies is a move meant to further solidify its control.
More options for users to select their preferred level of security and privacy in Chrome will be provided by tracking prevention. Tracking protection will be available in two flavors, standard and custom, per the experimental flag. As most websites may still track users' online activities, the basic setting will automatically limit third-party cookies and block them in incognito mode. However, it won't block them. The "do not track" header, which instructs websites not to track users, and the ability to ban all third-party cookies are provided via the custom option. Along with managing their site access and data, users will be able to tailor their behavior for individual sites by using the custom option.
Depending on their preferences and decisions, online users will be impacted by tracking protection in different ways. In addition to giving users who respect their privacy and security more control and transparency over their online identity and data, tracking protection may also lower their risk of identity theft, data breaches, and targeted assaults. Tracking protection may restrict users' access and experience, thereby lowering the caliber and variety of online offerings for those who value personalized and pertinent adverts, content, and services. Unless they have problems with specific websites or features, tracking protection could not have a big effect on users who are apathetic or ignorant of the ramifications of tracking.
Chrome's approach to online privacy and security has changed significantly with the addition of tracking protection, which will have an impact on web users, websites, and marketers. While tracking protection could give consumers more options and control, it might also present some difficulties, like compatibility and functionality problems, as well as unforeseen repercussions, like an increase in fingerprinting and methods of circumvention. In addition to additional privacy and security precautions like utilizing a VPN, a password manager, and a privacy-focused browser, tracking protection is not a panacea. While tracking protection is a good place to start, it is not the end goal.