Google has been taking steps to improve the security of Chrome users for years. One of the most important of these is users’ data controlled by cookies. As part of its “Privacy Sandbox” initiative, the company has started to remove third-party cookies in Chrome.

Google Chrome ends third-party cookie support

According to the statement, Google has officially disabled third-party cookies for about 30 million Chrome users worldwide as of January 4. This represents about 1 percent of the total user base.

For those who don’t know, third-party cookies are small text files that allow advertisers to track users across different websites. While useful for ad tracking, they raised privacy concerns when browsing the web. Users argued that these cookies violated privacy.

Google said it randomly selected 30 million users for the first implementation of Privacy Sandbox. When these users open Chrome, they will see a notification informing them that “Tracking Protection” limits sites from using third-party cookies.

While the tech giant will make this feature the default, users will be able to disable it if they wish. This means that you will continue to allow third-party cookies and continue to see personalized ads.

Google will also replace cookies with alternative techniques that it claims are more privacy-friendly. Under Privacy Sandbox, the company will keep user data and transactions on local devices. It will assign users to interest-based categories based on their browsing.

It is worth remembering that third-party cookie support will be completely removed from Chrome in mid-2024.