Google halts its 4-plus-year plan to turn off tracking cookies by default in Chrome - Enlarge / Google, like most of us, has a hard time letting go of cookie... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=2038576 #thirdpartycookies #trackingcookies #privacysandbox #googlechrome #firefox #mozilla #google #chrome #apple #tech #floc
Google admits it can’t quite quit third-party cookies https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2024/07/google-admits-it-cant-quite-quit-third-party-cookies #thirdpartycookies #privacysandbox #Privacy #chrome #Google #News #floc
Firefox 128 實作廣告投放蒐集功能 (Ad measurement)
六月底的時候就有一些消息，然後這幾天熱起來了，先是 Hacker News 上這兩篇，在講 Firefox 128 (現在的 stable 版) 預設開啟了廣告蒐集行為：「Firefox 128 enables "privacy-preser
@oblomov My initial gut reaction was the same. And I still think it may be wise to opt out of this experiment until it is better understood.
But what if this initiative could indeed serve as a privacy-preserving replacement for #tracking? It looks better than all the terrible ideas Google came up with to replace cookies (#FLoC #PrivacySandbox #TopicsAPI) let alone #browserFingerprinting.
Here is my take on Mozilla's #privacyPreservingAttribution aka #privateAttribution: https://suma-ev.social/@christian/112761712837712799
#DataPrivacyWeek Day 5
Since #privacy online became a broader concern, #BigTech companies now attempt to appear privacy-oriented while just changing the way they spy on their users.
Such is the case with #Google disabling third-party cookies in #Chrome and developing technologies such as #FLoC or #Topics, both of which we've opposed from the very beginning.
Yes, our browser is based on #Chromium, but we do a lot of modifications to the code and take special measures to always protect our users and their privacy.
Read more: https://vivaldi.com/blog/news/alert-no-google-topics-in-vivaldi/
@dangillmor Coincidentally, I just noticed that, on Linux at least, the chrome-sandbox binary is installed setUID root. This appears to be related to Google’s forthcoming cookie-less tracking but WTF is it doing?
Flipping the s bit off doesn’t cause any immediately obvious problem.
#spyware #FLoC
GOV UK @GOVUK @GDSTeam Cookie banner and why it “won't go away”
by Matt Hobbs (@TheRealNooshu)
@TheRealNooshu
#cookie #cookiebanner #FloC #Topics
https://nooshu.com/blog/2023/12/12/govuk-cookie-banner-browser-privacy-and-security/
And Google has abandoned #WebEnvironmentIntegrity. Yay! The End!
Mm... No! Google has 'heard your feedback' and has instead created 'WebView Media Integrity API' that is 'narrowly scoped' and 'only targets' #AndroidWebView.
Think about it - now they don't have to listen to anyone's 'feedback'. And if you think the scope is going to remain narrow, boy! I have news for you! #FLoC/Topics anyone? Fool me once - shame on you! Fool me twice...
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2023/11/increasing-trust-for-embedded-media.html
We'd opposed #Google's 'dangerous' Web integrity API proposal. Now they are backing off!
This is massively positive for the neutrality of the open Web. Though Google is so heavily driven by its interests rather than the benefit of the Web in general, it remains to be seen (and we strongly suspect it won’t take long) what they choose to replace it with.
Are they, for example, preparing a seemingly less obnoxious spec that is actually just as harmful to users (as they did with #FLOC & #Topics)?
It is highly suspicious that it coincides with their recent announcement to move from pay-per-click to pay-per-impression for ads.
Generally, Google hasn’t shown itself to be a trustworthy custodian of the web & we can’t let this apparent victory lure us into resting on our laurels.
A strong diversity of browsers & browser engines is going to be crucial to counteract any future attempt by a single party to dictate the future of the web.
For more on this, head to our blog. 
https://vivaldi.com/blog/googles-new-dangerous-web-environment-integrity-spec/
How To Turn Off Google’s “Privacy Sandbox” Ad Tracking—and Why You Should https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/09/how-turn-googles-privacy-sandbox-ad-tracking-and-why-you-should
If you use Chrome, you can disable this feature through a series of three confusing settings.
#Google #AdTracking #Privacy #DataProtection #FLoC #Cookies: "Don't let Chrome's big redesign distract you from the fact that Chrome's invasive new ad platform, ridiculously branded the "Privacy Sandbox," is also getting a widespread rollout in Chrome today. If you haven't been following this, this feature will track the web pages you visit and generate a list of advertising topics that it will share with web pages whenever they ask, and it's built directly into the Chrome browser. It's been in the news previously as "FLoC" and then the "Topics API," and despite widespread opposition from just about every non-advertiser in the world, Google owns Chrome and is one of the world's biggest advertising companies, so this is being railroaded into the production builds.
Google seemingly knows this won't be popular. Unlike the glitzy front-page Google blog post that the redesign got, the big ad platform launch announcement is tucked away on the privacysandbox.com page. The blog post says the ad platform is hitting "general availability" today, meaning it has rolled out to most Chrome users. This has been a long time coming, with the APIs rolling out about a month ago and a million incremental steps in the beta and dev builds, but now the deed is finally done."
#Google gets its way, bakes a #UserTracking #ads platform directly into #Chrome | #ArsTechnica
> Chrome now directly tracks users, generates a "topic" list it shares with #advertisers.
#floc #surveillance #surveillancecapitalism
PS: It's a nice touch that the Google logo in the picture is seemingly made out of #tinfoil.
Remember the huge outcry when Google originally announced FLoC?
Yeah, Google simply renamed it and progressively rolls it out with the new Chrome version. You can't win.
Use Firefox.
"While Apple’s advertising business is rapidly growing, Google will still be Google. The company owns the world’s largest browser and search engine, and a huge advertising network. Topics might differ from FLoC, but it’s purpose remains the same: to maintain Google’s control over the ads we see."
#MattBurgess, 2022
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/google-floc-cookies-chrome-topics
