Google is officially changing the way things work by taking the step of blocking third-party cookies on its web browser which is similar to what Safari and Firefox have already done. However, the difference here is instead of blocking the cookies by default the company will set certain technical solutions.
One of them is a new system called FLOC (A Federated Learning Of Cohorts) which enables interest-based advertising on the internet without revealing the user’s identity or data. Google further claimed that FLOC will work on making its users semi-anonymous by associating them with a ‘cohort’ which is basically a group of users that are large enough to make the users invisible to the companies that are targeting them.
In order to create these cohorts, the Chrome browser will utilize a series of algorithms that are dependent upon the qualities and interests of the users. However, the company adds that the browser history of each user will be kept private and will not be shared with other users but the browser itself may look at the history to assign these cohorts.
This may seem a new secure way for Google to ‘protect’ its users but it’s well known that Google is one of the biggest key players in collecting user data hence many users find it unlikely that this change will make their browsing more secure.
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