Are browsers really phasing out tracking support? Probably not

Removing third-party tracking would be ‘absolutely devastating for the digital marketing ecosystem’

Major browser makers including Google, Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla have made great play out of promises to remove support for third-party cookies to address privacy concerns. But should these claims be believed?

No, said, Moira Carriere, group privacy manager at Vodafone, speaking on a webinar organised by GRC World Forums. Particularly in the case of the world’s most popular browser.

"Honestly, I don't see this happening. When Google pulled out in July, I was like, it's never happening. I did not believe that they were going to do that at Google, and when they said they weren't, I was like, oh quelle surprise!"

Google had long promised to discontinue using tracking cookies in the name of improving people’s privacy and had previously dismissed ‘digital fingerprinting’ as privacy-undermining. It then introduced concepts like the privacy sandbox, which was anything but private, according to regulators. The company recently said it would kill off tracking cookies in Chrome browser and Android operating system, with the caveat that it will continue tracking users using digital fingerprinting technology capable of following people across all their devices, including smart TVs, and will now also enable advertisers to collect IP addresses.

Removing third-party tracking would be "absolutely devastating for the digital marketing ecosystem," said Carriere, which is why Google "won't let it happen."

Then again, for those concerned about privacy, there a third-party cookies and third-party cookies. Carriere believes most companies don't have the capacity to make much use of the data they gather through cookies, although AI will likely change that. But cookies served by companies with the big budgets and with "deep, strong relationships with the likes of Google and Meta," can be detrimental.

"Effectively, what they do is they share that information. And if you've ever read Google's cookie policy, they take that information and they use it for their own commercial gain."

However, Carriere said people and companies should take a pragmatic view of cookies. Certain third-party cookies can be very useful in improving user experience and security, for example. She added that mobile apps are often far more intrusive than third-party cookies.

Elzira Batyrbekova, a financial services lawyer, felt that regulatory pressure would spell the end of the use of third-party tracking cookies by companies.

"The main interest for companies is to stay compliant with the GDPR and other data protection regulations, right? So phasing out third-party cookies allows them to improve compliance and to avoid any penalties from their regulators. I would say that yes, it is happening."

Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari block most third-party cookies by default, or offer controls, although the extent to which both companies track users for their own purposes has been questioned recently. Edge currently allows users to block third-party cookies, although they are allowed by default.