Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/NurPhoto
Topics: Google, Apple, News, Technology
Niamh Shackleton
Google has made a U-turn on its plans to scrap third-party cookies.
To most people, a cookie is something you buy from the grocery store, but it's something quite different when it comes to technology.
Internet cookies store your information on your computer (or your iPhone) in a bid to supposedly enhance a user's experience.
Then there are third-party cookies — and this is where things get a bit messy.
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Third-party cookies 'allow companies to build detailed profiles of your online activities, which can be used for targeted advertising or sold to the highest bidder' digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) explained last year.
Going on to express concerns about this, the group's post went on: "The consequences are far-reaching and deeply concerning. Your browsing history can reveal sensitive information, including your financial status, sexual orientation, and medical conditions.
"Data brokers collect and sell this information without your knowledge or consent."
One of the highest-profile apps to have third-party cookies is Google Chrome; a search engine that's used by approximately 3.45 billion people.
A lot of people are aware of this - Apple included - and the tech powerhouse made a thinly-veiled swipe at its competitor last year with a Safari commercial called 'Flock'.
Taking inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, the ad sees people using their cellphones to browse the internet as flying CCTV cameras swarm around them.
"Your browsing in being watched," Apple says. It then goes on to describe Safari as 'a browser that's actually private'.
See it here:
In the wake of people's concerns, Google has long teased that it was considering getting rid of third-party cookies that track people's data, but it's backtracked yet again.
Google Privacy Sandbox VP Anthony Chavez penned in a blog post published on Tuesday (April 22): "We’ve made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies.
"Users can continue to choose the best option for themselves in Chrome’s Privacy and Security Settings."
Chavez went on to note that Chrome's 'Incognito Mode' already blocks third-party cookies by default and will continue to do so.
"We'll continue to enhance tracking protections in Chrome's Incognito mode, which already blocks third-party cookies by default," he said.
"This includes IP Protection, which we plan to launch in Q3 2025."
Chavez also pledged that Google will continue to invest in making Chrome 'the world’s most trusted browser'.