Googles Plan To Kill Cookies

Google proposes anonymous identifier for advertising, or AdID, to replace cookies used by third-party marketers. Google would benefit -- but would consumers?

Google Nexus 7, Chromecast: Visual Tour (click image for larger view)
Google is floating a plan to cease tracking Internet users with cookies, which are bits of code stored in browsers that allow third-party advertising and marketing firms to track consumers browsing habits.
Instead, Google is proposing a new system that would use an anonymous identifier for advertising -- or AdID -- to collect information on users,
USA Today
first
reported
. Advertisers and advertising networks that agreed to abide by Googles code of conduct -- which has yet to be detailed -- would then be given access to AdID. Theoretically, that code of conduct would enshrine some basic privacy protections for consumers, including the ability to opt out, or to assign different AdID policies to different sites, but any such details have yet to be released.
Asked to comment on the report, a Google spokeswoman emailed the following statement: We believe that technological enhancements can improve users security while ensuring the web remains economically viable. We and others have a number of concepts in this area, but theyre all at very early stages.
[ Heres how Google is personalizing its answers to your questions:
Google Search: 5 New Ways To Get More Personal
. ]
Google reportedly plans to meet with consumer groups, government agencies, industry groups and anyone else with a stake in the $120 billion online-advertising industry, which Google dominates. In addition, according to
Net Market Share
, Googles Chrome browser also enjoys a 16% share of the browser market. Although less than IE (58%) and Firefox (19%), that still gives Google added leverage.
Advertisers, however, have responded in a lukewarm manner to Googles suggestion, because it would largely consolidate advertising power in the hands of Google, as well as Apple, which last year introduced a unique Apple Advertising Identifier for all iOS devices, together with
prohibitions
on developers or marketers using a device UDID to directly track users. There could be concern in the industry about a system that shifts more of the benefits and control to operators like Google or Apple, eMarketers Clark Fredricksen, who tracks the digital ad industry, told
USA Today
. Perhaps not surprisingly -- given the amount of revenue Google derives from online advertising -- the Chrome browser has never
blocked cookies
by default. By contrast, Apple Safari, first introduced in 2003, has always blocked all third-party cookies by default. Mozilla, meanwhile, plans to follow suit this year with its Firefox browser, despite
strong protests
from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).
Internet Explorer 10
also ships with a Do Not Track (DNT) setting activated by default, indicating that users dont want to be tracked. Advertising networks, however, dont have to abide by that request.
Would Googles move benefit consumers? So far, the company has released scant details publicly, making any analysis purely speculative, said Stanford University professor Jonathan Mayer, who studies online advertising and privacy, and who until recently was working on the W3Cs DNT standard. But one question Google will no doubt face is this: From the consumer privacy perspective, how is AdID an improvement? said Mayer via email. Consumers can -- and increasingly will -- see Safari and Firefox defaults outright block third-party cookies. Accordingly, might Googles AdID push actually drive privacy-conscious consumers to adopt other browsers?
Furthermore, how exactly does AdID differ from DNT, which advertisers -- including trade groups to which Google belongs -- have
actively resisted
? Google still doesnt support Do Not Track, despite participating in an industry announcement a year and a half ago, said Meyer. Instead of starting from scratch, why doesnt Google support the consumer control technology thats already in every major Web browser? Twitter and Pinterest already do, in fact.
We also can expect Googles claims of anonymity for consumers via AdID to face strong scrutiny, especially given the vast quantities of data the company already can and does collect from peoples searches and YouTube viewing habits, as well as through its Admob mobile advertising and DoubleClick online advertising divisions.
Google needs to demonstrate this isnt merely a PR ploy designed to give increasingly privacy concerned users reassurance that they have nothing to fear, said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), via email. The reality is Google is addicted to gathering our data -- thats the source of its revenues. The AdID will likely help them expand their surveillance of online users, especially as it focuses on monetizing our mobile phone and location activities.
Also expect any formal AdID proposals from Google to have to pass muster with the Federal Trade Commission. Thats thanks to Googles
2011 privacy settlement
with the agency, stemming from privacy violations associated with the 2010 launch of the now-defunct Buzz social network, which lead to the search giant agreeing to submit to regular reviews of its privacy policies. The FTC will need to review AdID to determine whether it triggers a violation of Googles 20-year privacy consent decree, Chester said.
Interestingly, Google already has violated that settlement once, and triggered a record-setting $22.5 million FTC fine, after Stanfords Mayer discovered that the company was
bypassing Safari privacy settings
and placing tracking cookies directly on the computers of Safari users.

Last News
▸ Website hacks happened during World Cup final. ◂ Discovered: 23/12/2024 Category: security	▸ Criminal Possession of Government-Grade Stealth Malware ◂ Discovered: 23/12/2024 Category: security	▸ Senate wants changes to cybercrime law. ◂ Discovered: 23/12/2024 Category: security

**Cyber Security Categories**
Google Dorks Database	Exploits Vulnerability	Exploit Shellcodes

CVE List

Tools/Apps

News/Aarticles

Phishing Database

Deepfake Detection

Trends/Statistics & Live Infos

Tags:
Googles Plan To Kill Cookies