Security News > 2021 > March > Critics Blast Google’s Aim to Replace Browser Cookie with ‘FLoC’
This month Google begins a public test of a technology it says will eventually replace browser cookies in an effort to boost Chrome browser user privacy.
The as-yet unproven technology allows browsers to group people together by their interests and give them more anonymity yet still allow for appropriate targeted advertising, which remains at the core of the company's interest in outfitting their Chrome browser with FLoC. Google's stance is that it will balance the need to preserve people's privacy by preventing individual tracking with giving advertisers and publishers the relevant info they need to recognize their target audience.
Why EFF is Critical of FLoC. Others worry that FLoC is just Google attempting to dress up what ostensibly is at its core another, albeit potentially less obtrusive way to track people's behavior to suit its targeted advertising agenda to ensure the company will continue to drive the market.
That's the central question that will become even relevant than ever now that FloC is reaching a broader audience, given Google Chrome's strong position in the browser market and the company's broad influence in the tech sector in general.
While Google has promised that the vast majority of FLoC cohorts will comprise thousands of users each, so a cohort ID alone shouldn't distinguish someone from others in their group, it "Still gives fingerprinters a massive head start" that "Will make it much easier for trackers to put together a unique fingerprint for FLoC users," Cyphers wrote.
Technology like FLoC raises the question of whether behavior targeting is actually a good idea in the first place and if it should continue, calling the end of the cookie a "Fork in the road" with two possible future scenarios ahead. "In one, users get to decide what information to share with each site they choose to interact with," Cyphers wrote.
News URL
https://threatpost.com/critics-googles-browser-cookie-floc/164540/