18 September 2023 , 21:21
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Tech experts have issued an urgent warning has been issued for anyone who uses Google Chrome.
Earlier this week a new Google Chrome feature was quietly rolled out for many of its users. The Privacy Sandbox, which has been in development since 2019, is set to reach all users in the coming months.
Google said the features are a series of proposals to satisfying cross-site use cases without third-party cookies or other tracking mechanisms The Privacy Sandbox has two core aims: phase out support for third-party cookies when new solutions are in place as well as reducing cross-site and cross-app tracking while helping to keep online content and services free for all.
In January 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced plans to investigate the Privacy Sandbox initiative - with a focus on its potential impacts on both publishers and users, reports BirminghamLive. CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli said in a statement that "Google’s Privacy Sandbox proposals will potentially have a very significant impact on publishers like newspapers and the digital advertising market," and that there were also "privacy concerns to consider."
CMA also reported that Google was complying with its legally-binding commitments between July 2022 and September 2022. It said: "Finally, we will be continuing to work with the Monitoring Trustee to ensure that there is a robust framework for ensuring compliance with the commitments.
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"In all of this work our ambition is to be as open as possible with market participants, through our published quarterly updates, other publications and through talking directly to stakeholders." If you don’t mind receiving some potentially useful targeted advertising then you can leave the Chrome Privacy Sandbox settings on.
However, if you want to switch it off or adjust the settings then simply click the three dots in the upper-right corner and go to Settings > Privacy and Security > Ad privacy and toggle them off.