Google's almost ironically named Privacy Sandbox or Ad Privacy feature is a hot topic of discussion. While it's true that it fundamentally changes online tracking by getting rid of third-party cookies, it still uses user profiles, and is said to give Google even more control over the ad market.
This is the first time that an ad tracking feature has been built natively into a browser.
Briefly: Topics is one of Google's efforts to replace third-party cookies as a means of identifying people online, striking a balance between preserving people's privacy and preserving companies' abilities to buy and sell targeted ads.
Read more about Privacy Sandbox: Google cooked up a user tracking platform in the new Chrome
Google is promoting the new features advertisings to Chrome Stable slowly but surely. Of course you'll know that since the company controls Chromium, the open source foundation that Google Chrome is built on, it incorporates these changes into that browser as well.
This practically means that as many Companies use Chromium as the base for their browsers, they'll also get the Privacy Sandbox as a gift.
For now, Brave Software has announced that it will disable these features. Vivaldi Technologies published a new article on her official blog yesterday, and it also says it won't enable Google Topics, a component of Google's Privacy Sandbox.
Google's new addition to the internet's most popular browser doesn't need to track individuals users, their activity and create profiles using the collected information.
However, Google Topics will analyze each activity and assign the individual user to groups. Analysis is done locally, according to Google. A user who visits many cat or dog websites will be included in the team Animals. Websites and advertisers can use the information to show ads to the user who has those interests.
Vivaldi Technologies says that this is a "fraudulent attempt by Google to appear privacy-oriented, while introducing new means of spying on its users." Integrating tracking and profiling into a browser is “fundamentally wrong,” according to Vivaldi, which is why it opposes it.
Google plans to turn off support for third-party cookies in the second half of 2024, after several delays. So then we'll see which of the Chromium-based browsers will allow Google Topics or disable it.
VAT: I am using Firefox
