The latest Canary version of Chrome has a new feature to turn off FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts) in Google Browser.
FLoC is part of Google's controversial plan to change the world of advertising. The basic idea is to change the way users track online. Instead of tracking individual users, FLoC brings technology that allows advertisers to track users based on groups with similar interests.
FLoC is of course beneficial to Google, but not to Internet users. The EFF called FLoC a terrible idea, mainly because it's not as private or as good as Google advertises.
Most Chromium-based browser makers reject FLoC entirely. Brave and Vivaldi already block FLoC in their browsers.
An option that was missing from Chrome came with Chrome Canary build 93.0.4528.0, as there is a setting for direct control of FLoC.
The setting is not yet visible by default, but you can enable it in Chrome by making a change to the browser's experimental features page.
Let's see how:
Open the internal chrome address: // flags / # privacy-sandbox-settings-2 in the browser's address bar.
Set the flag to Enabled.
and restart Google Chrome.
The flag is available in all versions of Chrome and has the following description:
Activates the second set of sandbox privacy settings. Requires # privacy-sandbox settings enabled
When enabled, it unlocks the FLoC switch that gives users control over the feature.
Google is conducting experiments in selected areas. Sandbox and FLoC tests can be turned off in the browser depending on the region and automatic participation in the experiment.
To manage FLoC, do the following:
Open the internal chrome address: // settings / privacySandbox
If FLoC is enabled, turn it off.
From the same page you can also enable testing in the Privacy Sandbox.
The only way to be sure that FLoC will not affect your browsing is to use a browser other than Google Chrome.
George is still wondering what he is doing here….
