W3C appeals to Google: ‘Third party cookies have got to go’

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the international standards organization for the internet, is disappointed in Google’s decision not to phase out third-party tracking cookies.

Third-party cookies aren’t good for the web, because they enable online tracking of internet users, which is an outright violation of their privacy according to the W3C.

“Third-party cookies can be helpful for use cases like login and single sign-on, or putting shopping choices into a cart, but they can also be used to invisibly track your browsing activity across sites for surveillance or ad-targeting purposes. This hidden personal data collection hurts everyone’s privacy,” the Consortium states in a blog post.

The W3C argues that third-party cookies have “inherent privacy issues” and therefore can’t be trusted by any web browser in the foreseeable future. Furthermore, third-party cookies are means used for micro-targeting political messages and fake news, which can have a harmful impact on society.

That’s why the W3C’s Technical Architecture Group (TAG) has recently updated its online testimonial ‘Third-party cookies must be removed’. With it, the taskforce tries to provide guidance in order to avoid trouble in the future.

Google has been promising for years to get rid of third-party cookies in its web browser Chrome. Last week however, the tech company went back on its promise to no longer install third-party cookies via its browser.

“Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time,” Google said.

The W3C reports that Google’s announcement came out of the blue and undermines a lot of the work they’ve done together to make the internet work without third-party cookies.

“The unfortunate climb-down will also have secondary effects, as it is likely to delay cross-browser work on effective alternatives to third-party cookies. We fear it will have an overall detrimental impact on the cause of improving privacy on the web,” the Consortium stresses.

The W3C concludes its blog post by stating it sincerely hopes that Google will reverse its decision and recommit to a world wide web with no third-party cookies.