Bleeping Computer: TikTok slapped with $5.4 million fine over cookie opt-out feature. “France’s data protection authority (CNIL) has fined TikTok UK and TikTok Ireland €5,000,000 for making it difficult for users of the platform to refuse cookies and for not sufficiently informing them about their purpose.”
UC San Diego: New Web Tracking Technique is Bypassing Privacy Protections. “Two years ago, several browsers that prioritize user privacy — including Safari, Firefox, and Brave — began to block third-party cookies for all users by default. This presents a significant issue for businesses that place ads on the web on behalf of other companies and rely on cookies to track click-through rates to determine how much they need to get paid. Advertisers have responded by pioneering a new method for tracking users across the Web, known as user ID (or UID) smuggling, which does not require third-party cookies.”
Search Engine Land: Google to offer publisher first-party cookie support. “Google has just announced its plans to launch a number of features aimed at helping publishers monetize their websites and increase their emphasis on first-party data relationships. The features include support for ads personalization with publisher first-party cookies in Google Ad Manager and AdSense.”
Bloomberg: Google Delays Phasing Out Ad Cookies on Chrome Until 2024. “Google said it will delay a plan to phase out third-party cookies on its Chrome browser until late 2024, a move that will upend how ads are targeted on websites.”
The Register: Tracking cookies found in more than half of G20 government websites . “A study by IMDEA, a research facility in Madrid, Spain, evaluated more than 118,000 URLs of 5,500 government websites – think .gov, .gov.uk. .gov.au, .gc.ca, etc. – hosted in the twenty largest global economies (the G20) and discovered a surprising tracking cookie problem, even among countries party to Europe’s GDPR and those with their own data privacy regulations.”
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.”
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