CNBC: Fed up with endless cookie consent boxes? The UK plans to kill them off. “Britain wants an end to the barrage of cookie consent pop-ups. The government says new data reforms will heavily reduce the number of banners that appear on websites asking people to consent to cookies. The plans are part of a broader package of reforms from the U.K. seeking to diverge from EU data protection rules.”
ReviewGeek: Firefox Now Protects Its Users From Third Party Cookies by Default. “The Firefox desktop browser now enables Total Cookie Protection by default. This feature, which initially launched in 2021 to enhance the security of Private Browsing mode, limits the third-party cookies’ ability to track you throughout the web.”
PC World: This obscure Firefox tool is a must-use for privacy buffs. “I’ve seen other people online who say they sandbox their social media accounts in Edge, work email and services in Firefox, and personal stuff in Chrome (for example)…. Maybe you’ve been wanting this kind of tidy, privacy-friendly setup too, but just don’t want to learn a new browser. Or your taskbar has precious little real estate. I’ve got great news for you: With the Firefox Multi-Account Containers add-on, you can achieve the same effect in just one browser.”
AFP: Google makes cookie opt-out easier after France fine. “Google announced on Thursday it was starting to roll out an option for European users to reject ‘cookies’ with a single click, months after it was slapped with a massive fine. Google, along with Facebook, has faced an onslaught of legal cases and punishments over its use of web-tracking technology, which breaches EU privacy legislation.”
Reuters: German consumer group files legal complaint against Google over cookie banners. “A German consumer office has submitted a legal complaint against Google over its use of cookie banners, which the office argues are designed in a way that violates data protection rules.”
BBC: Google slammed over ad-cookie replacement flip-flop. “Google’s ‘indecision’ over what system it wants to replace cookies has been criticised by some in the ad industry. It comes as the technology giant said an interest-based user-tracking system, Topics, would now replace its earlier proposal, Floc.”
New York Times: Google will introduce a new system for tracking Chrome browser users.. “Google’s plan to eliminate cookies by the end of next year is a potentially huge shift for the digital advertising industry, though it is not clear if the new method, which the company will start testing in the first quarter this year, will be any less alarming to advertisers and regulators. Google Chrome, the world’s most widely used web browser, is used by two of every three people surfing the internet, according to StatCounter.”
Bloomberg: Google, Facebook Slapped With French Privacy Fines Over Cookies. “Alphabet Inc.’s Google was slapped with a record French fine of 150 million euros ($170 million) by the nation’s privacy watchdog, together with a 60 million-euro fine for Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook, over the way the companies manage cookies.”
Reuters: Google makes pledges on browser cookies to appease UK regulator. “Google has pledged more restrictions on its use of data from its Chrome browser to address concerns raised by Britain’s competition regulator about its plan to ban third-party cookies that advertisers use to track consumers.”
Reuters: Google’s browser cookies plan anti-competitive, advertisers tell EU. “Google’s GOOGL.O plan to block a popular web tracking tool called ‘cookies’ is anti-competitive, a group of advertisers, publishers and tech companies said in a complaint to EU antitrust regulators. The grievance could boost the European Commission’s investigation opened in June into Alphabet unit Google’s Privacy Sandbox which the company said could allow businesses to target clusters of consumers without identifying individuals.”
Benedict Evans: Ads, privacy and confusion. “Privacy is coming to the internet and cookies are going away. This is long overdue – but we don’t know what happens next, we don’t have much consensus on what online privacy actually means, and most of what’s on the table conflicts fundamentally with competition.”
BBC: Data protection ‘shake-up’ takes aim at cookie pop-ups. “The UK’s new Information Commissioner will be charged with a post-Brexit ‘shake up’ of data rules, including getting rid of cookie pop-ups. John Edwards has been named the next head of data regulator the ICO.”
BetaNews: Firefox 91 improves its Total Cookie Protection to block more third-party trackers. “Another month, another major Firefox update. This time, Firefox 91 brings with it two major changes of note: improvements to its Total Cookie Protection feature, and support for logging into Microsoft, work and school accounts through Windows single sign-on.”
The Register: Google updates timeline for unpopular Privacy Sandbox, which will kill third-party cookies in Chrome by 2023 . “The new timeline has split the bundle of technologies in the Privacy Sandbox into five phases: discussion, testing, implementation in Chrome (called ‘Ready for adoption’), Transition State 1 during which Chrome will ‘monitor adoption and feedback’ and then the next stage that involves winding down support for third-party cookies over a three-month period finishing ‘late 2023.’”
Reuters: Exclusive: Google’s privacy push draws U.S. antitrust scrutiny – sources. “Google’s plan to block a popular web tracking tool called ‘cookies’ is a source of concern for U.S. Justice Department investigators who have been asking advertising industry executives whether the move by the search giant will hobble its smaller rivals, people familiar with the situation said.”
