Quote:This month Google begins a public test of a technology it says will eventually replace browser cookies in an effort to boost Chrome browser user privacy. However, critics say the switch is a half-measure and does not protect the web movements of Chrome users adequately.
 
The Google solution–called Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC)—is promoted as a way to put people’s privacy first by limiting the capability of third parties to track their activity across the web using Cookies.
 
The as-yet unproven technology allows browsers to group people together by their interests and give them more anonymity yet still allow for appropriate targeted advertising, which remains at the core of the company’s interest in outfitting their Chrome browser with FLoC. Google’s stance is that it will balance the need to preserve people’s privacy by preventing individual tracking with giving advertisers and publishers the relevant info they need to recognize their target audience.
 
However, FLoC also raises new questions of who should have the ultimate power when it comes to accessing private information about people’s online browsing habits, which privacy advocates think should ultimately be a far more egalitarian affair. The digital privacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has even gone so far as to call FLoC a “terrible idea” in a blog post published Wednesday by staff technologist Benett Cyphers.