Third-party cookie blocking in Chrome postponed

Google announced that it will be moving plans to deactivate third-party cookies in the Chrome browser to the second half of 2024 from late next year, according to The Hacker News. Such delay has been prompted by calls for extending testing of Privacy Sandbox technologies prior to the removal of third-party cookies, said Privacy Sandbox Vice President Anthony Chavez. The latest postponement comes after Google scrapped plans to launch the feature early this year. "It's become clear that more time is needed across the ecosystem to get this right," said Google. Google introduced Topics API to replace FLoC in January, while the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority agreed to collaborate with Google in the development of Privacy Sandbox the following month. Users around the world would be part of expanded Privacy Sandbox trials beginning next month, with more users to be added throughout the year and in 2023. APIs are expected to be available by the third quarter of 2023.