Google is putting the brakes on third-party cookies in Chrome, the world’s most popular web browser, starting next year. As you’re probably aware, these data files, placed on our browsers by websites other than the one we’re visiting, track our internet activities in often intimate detail. The files are sold to advertisers who, when we visit a new site, can target us with ads based on the data.
Google’s decision is part of a much wider trend. Firefox and Safari withdrew support for third-party cookies in 2019 and 2020 respectively, and Chrome already allows you to opt out in the settings. And, as the information in cookies can be used to identify you, the EU’s and UK’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) require you to grant consent to them through those annoying pop-ups.
