Google finally getting rid of third-party cookies in Chrome
World's most popular web browser follows Firefox and Safari in privacy-protecting measure
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Google will end support for third-party cookies that track users in Chrome within two years, the tech giant has announced.
The world's most popular web browser said it would "phase out" support in order to "fundamentally enhance privacy" for hundreds of millions of users around the world.
It follows other popular web browsers like Firefox and Safari, which already block third-party cookies by default.
Third-party cookies are used by websites other than the one the user is visiting, and are particularly popular among advertisers. First-party cookies created by the website the person is on will not be affected.
Google announced on Tuesday evening that it wants to make third-party cookies "obsolete" and hopes to develop alternative standards to "sustain an ad-supported web" that may be less invasive.
Rivals such as Safari and Firefox have already moved to block third-party cookies, but Google suggested changing too fast could have "unintended consequences that can negatively impact both users and the web ecosystem".
The work is part of the company's Privacy Sandbox initiative announced in August, which aims to build a more private but "healthy, ad-supported web" for users.
"Users are demanding greater privacy, including transparency, choice and control over how their data is used, and it's clear the web ecosystem needs to evolve to meet these increasing demands," Justin Schuh, director of Chrome engineering at Google, wrote in a blog post.
"After initial dialogue with the web community, we are confident that with continued iteration and feedback, privacy-preserving [mechanisms] can sustain a healthy, ad-supported web in a way that will render third-party cookies obsolete."
It will take two years for Google to completely phase out support for third-party cookies but it will begin limiting cookies in Chrome from February.
Additional reporting from agencies.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments