We’ve all used Google to research products we may be interested in purchasing in the future to then spend the rest of our browsing time trying to ignore advertisements based on those previous searches. This is caused by cookies that attach themselves when we visit online stores and will follow users during the rest of their time browsing. It’s an invasion of privacy we’ve all become too familiar with.
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Last year, Google announced it was doing away with third-party cookies in an attempt to get the unsolicited user stalking under control. Currently, we are seeing the first versions of the Privacy Sandbox in Chrome Canary which is an unstable release used by developers and those who want to get an early look at upcoming features. The Sandboxing technology isn’t something new and has been available in incognito mode for a while. However, Google is now looking to enable it permanently in order to eradicate third-party cookies. Unfortunately, as TechRadar points out, this may lead advertisers to fingerprint users, which is an even more invasive and intrusive way of stalking browser users. Digital fingerprinting is a technique that builds a profile of your hardware and software, including installed fonts, apps, browser, preferences, and plugins, to identify you whenever you’re online. At the end of the day, the privacy and security of users must be at the forefront. Nobody likes a stalker, or needy advertisers, constantly invading our day as we try to surf the web.
