Google Chrome coders really, truly, absolutely ready to cull third-party cookies from 2024

Google on Monday began the formalities of phasing out third-party cookies from Chrome during the first quarter of 2024, signaling the beginning of the end for legacy online advertising. It will be a baby step, with just one percent of Chrome browsers tossing their third-party cookies initially. That's still a significant …

[captain veg]

a spokesperson for Google told us...

Well, bollox to that. I've been rejecting third party cookies since I first noticed that Opera could do that, more than 20 years ago. Degradation to the user experience: precisely zero.

-A.

[Sampler]

Re: a spokesperson for Google told us...

You're lucky, I have third party cookies disabled too and come across a situation about once a month where it fails and they need to be enabled for that site (or I go elsewhere, which happens a good third of the time).

So I feel it'll be an interesting time coming up, whilst the laggards finally do what they should've done years ago.

[Neil Barnes]

Purpose of a browser?

Is there any use pretending that Chrome is anything more than a device for ensuring users can't avoid advertising, while simultaneously forcing the bulk of that advertising to use Google?

I've been blocking third-party cookies as long as Firefox allowed it... among other approaches.

[Lord Elpuss]

"One element of the sandbox is the Topics API: that allows websites to ask Chrome directly what the user is interested in, based on their browser history, so that targeted ads can be shown."

There's nothing altruistic about Google's motives here. Third-party cookies provide a way for websites to gain information about a user's browsing habits without having to go through the do-no-evil Chocolate Factory; they can build their own marketing database outside of Google's control. Google doesn't like that. Google wants to kill that. So Google is removing that functionality and replacing it with a database of user info that they control and own, meaning when websites want to gather this info, they have no choice but to go to Google to get it.

It's a nefarious competition killer masquerading as 'privacy protection'.

[fpx]

I Don't Care

I don't care about third-party cookies. I flush all my cookies down the drain after each browsing session, and each session is to one site only. For example, I have this browser open to read El Reg and nothing else. When I'm done with El Reg, I close the browser, which is set to delete all cookies upon exit.

As the commenter above already said, the big advertisers have no problem to track you across the entire web anyway.

[Alumoi]

Re: I Don't Care

You may want to give Cookie AutoDelete a chance.

[sabroni]

Re: I have this browser open to read El Reg and nothing else

So you need a browser per site you visit.....

Sounds like your cure is more of a pain in the arse than the problem.

[Neil Barnes]

Re: I have this browser open to read El Reg and nothing else

Hmm. There's a missing option in the Firefox settings, in the tabs section: "[ ] Open links as new private window"

[The Sprocket]

Re: I have this browser open to read El Reg and nothing else

It's a right-click option. I use it routinely.

[fpx]

Re: I have this browser open to read El Reg and nothing else

Yes, it's a pain in the ass.

But, unlike merely refusing third-party cookies, it is actually a solution to the problem, which is that Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook etc. are all tracking you with their first-party cookies.

I wish browsers were able to sandbox cookies into windows or tabs.

[Neil Barnes]

Re: I have this browser open to read El Reg and nothing else

I've suggested previously that cookies associated with a tab - first or third party - should be nuked when that tab is closed. And they should certainly be sandboxed.

[Grogan]

Re: I Don't Care

I don't give a fuck about cookies either. I probably wouldn't get most 3rd party cookies anyway since I block things that irk me.

If I cared about being "tracked" I'd take other steps. Most of the time, tracking just makes it easier for people to find my ass, so they can crawl up it and die.

[4t0m1c4]

Re: I Don't Care

I do similar, and it's a pain in the butt. You might want to look at Firefox Multi-Account Containers extension (by mozilla). From the description:

"Firefox Multi-Account Containers lets you keep parts of your online life separated into color-coded tabs. **Cookies are separated by container**, allowing you to use the web with multiple accounts and integrate Mozilla VPN for an extra layer of privacy."

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't use Chrome...

... will this impact me? i.e. will advertisers still try to push 3rd party cookies at FF users for example?

[Arthur the cat]

"one percent of Chrome browsers tossing their third-party cookies initially"

Instant mental image of techno-norovirus

[katrinab]

"This comes up in scenarios like Salesforce for Microsoft Teams, where Salesforce services utilize Microsoft authentication services and blocking Microsoft as a third-party would cause things to break."

I'm pretty sure this is a solved problem with OAuth2.

The only thing is, if you are signed into your Microsoft account at office.com, you would have to sign in again at Salesforce. But that also means you could be signed in with a different Microsoft account on both sites.

[Tom Chiverton 1]

Nah, JWT has solved the problem of one site passing it's attested claims to another.

[really_adf]

SAML seemed to do the job 20 years ago. Albeit with horrendous XML baggage.

[mattaw2001]

I just had one hell of a fight when my idp was upgraded, and went down the rabbit hole of how incredibly broken XML security is on RHEL 7.

[CowHorseFrog]

Said before and ill say it again third party cookies and any equivalent technology needs to be made a violation of human rights by the UN and countries need to make it a criminal matter for any internet company to try tracking of any kind just like stalking is a crime.

[Tree]

My cat poops in a sandbox

I do not trust Gurgle to build a privacy sand box or a litter box. IF THEY WANT TO BECOME ETHICAL, then their former motto "DON'T BE EVIL" would be a good one. They will probably be tempted to be unethical by sharing our secrets. My browser of choice is DuckDuckGo.