After some years of work on its Privacy Sandbox suite of APIs, Google is keeping third-party cookies in its Chrome web browser.

The Privacy Sandbox was developed in the hope of improving online privacy by removing third-party cookies used to track people, the websites they visit and the search terms they use.

However, Google's VP of Google's Privacy Sandbox, Anthony Chavez, said that the combination of the amount of work this would involve, and the implications the block would cause for online advertisers, has caused Google to halt the project. Chavez said Google developed the Privacy Sandbox with the goal of finding innovative solutions that meaningfully improve online privacy while preserving an ad-supported internet.

The statement by Chavez said that Google has received feedback from a wide variety of stakeholders, including regulators like the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), publishers, web developers and standards groups, civil society, and participants in the advertising industry.

Many in the ad industry objected to Google's plans because it is itself a major player in the ad industry and would still have access to information relevant to placing advertisements while rival companies would be blocked from seeing that info.

Google's official line is that early testing of the Sandbox technologies from ad tech companies, including Google, has indicated that while the Privacy Sandbox APIs have the potential to improve privacy:

"this transition requires significant work by many participants and will have an impact on publishers, advertisers, and everyone involved in online advertising"

In light of this, Google has updated its approach to focus on user choice.

"Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they'd be able to adjust that choice at any time."

So it's back to relying on users to set things up rather than just selecting 'Accept all'.

Google says that, as developers, it remains important to have privacy-preserving alternatives, and the company will continue to make the Privacy Sandbox APIs available and invest in them to further improve privacy and utility. As part of the additional privacy controls, Google plans to introduce IP Protection into Chrome's Incognito mode.

More Information

Google Privacy Sandbox

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