Google Chrome will disable third-party tracking cookies for some users in January 2024
The tech giant plans to protect the privacy of users, by anonymizing their data and provide those to advertisers, as opposed to targeted advertising. It won't magically prevent cross-site tracking completely, the idea is to minimize the amount of tracking. That's a little odd coming from Google, especially considering the whole Manifest V3 Saga, and of course, the recent YouTube anti-ad blocker stance. But any effort to protect the privacy of users is worth applauding, though I think we ought to wait for a hands-on experience to see if it is actually useful. Even the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is not convinced by Google's idea, and is keeping a close eye on it to ensure that it does not favor the company's own interests.
Anthony Chavez, the VP of Privacy Sandbox has published an article at the Google Keyword blog (in German), to highlight the progress of the feature, and it appears that the Mountain View company is about to start phase one to test it. Don't get too excited about it, because chances are you may not get to test it just yet.
The article says that Chrome will start blocking third-party tracking cookies for 1% of users from next month, January 4th to be precise. The catch here is that the testers will be chosen randomly. If you have been selected to test the feature, you will see a notification on Chrome for desktop, or Chrome for Android.
