[LINK] InnAus: Google again switches, refuses easy opt-out from cookies

[Roger Clarke]

 > ... [Google] wrote “divergent opinions” among the advertising 
industry, regulators and developers had emerged ...

[ I wonder what the people whose data is subject to appropriation, and 
whose behaviour is subject to manipulation, think about it, and why it's 
acceptable for a corporation to pretend people's views are irrelevant. ]


Google backtracks on cookies, again
Joseph Brookes
Innovation Aus
23 April 2025
https://www.innovationaus.com/google-backtracks-on-cookies-again/

Google has backflipped on a promise to allow users to easily opt out of 
third-party cookies in its market leading browser, announcing overnight 
it will not introduce the standalone prompt it flagged last year.

It means the ability to opt out of third-party cookies – the tiny 
packets of code that track users’ activity across the internet – will 
remain buried in the settings of Chrome.

The decision comes as Google parent Alphabet faces legal pressure in the 
US, where a judge has ruled it maintains illegal monopolies on online 
advertising technology.

Google had flagged the improved choice last June, softening news it was 
abandoning plans to phase out third party cookies altogether over 
growing privacy concerns, despite years of work on alternatives.

The cookies allow organisations to track users’ browsing habits and are 
a key pillar of the online advertising ecosystem and targeted 
advertisements.

But they raise issues with Australian privacy law, particularly if the 
data can identify a user. Australians have also repeatedly expressed 
discomfort with online tracking for targeted ads.

A review of Australian privacy law recommended a new unqualified right 
to opt out of receiving targeted advertising.

But after pressure about the review findings from tech companies, 
including Google, Attorney General Mark Dreyfus went against the 
recommendation, one of just 10 rejections from the landmark review’s 116 
recommendations.

In a blog post published Tuesday morning, Google’s Anthony Chavez wrote 
“divergent opinions” among the advertising industry, regulators and 
developers had emerged over moves that would limit third party cookies.

“… 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,” he wrote.

“Users can continue to choose the best option for themselves in Chrome’s 
Privacy and Security Settings.”

Google rolled out a Privacy Sandbox in 2020 to work on a third-party 
cookie replacement. Those alternatives now have a less clear future, but 
Mr Chavez wrote the tech giant will continue investing in them and share 
an updated roadmap with the industry.

The development of the Sandbox is being monitored by the UK competition 
regulator, which had expressed concerns about barriers to entry by 
Google’s removal of third-party cookies.

Earlier this month a judge in the US  ruled Google illegally dominates 
two markets for online advertising technology, raising the prospect of a 
forced break-up.


-- 
Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA 

Visiting Professorial Fellow                          UNSW Law & Justice
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University