Google’s euphemistically titled Privacy Sandbox or Ad Privacy function has sparked controversy. While it is true that it fundamentally changes Internet tracking by eliminating third-party cookies, it still relies on user profiling, is said to give Google even more control over the advertising market, and is the first time that an advertising solution with tracking is integrated natively in a web browser.
Google is gradually but steadily integrating the new advertising functionality into Chrome Stable. Because the business also controls Chromium, the open source foundation of Google Chrome, it is incorporating these improvements into that browser as well. This connection puts other organizations and individuals that utilize Chromium as their browser’s source in jeopardy.
Several companies, notably Brave Software, have already stated that they will disable these functionalities in their browsers. Most people are concerned about user privacy and, to a lesser extent, control over Internet advertising.
Yesterday, Vivaldi Technologies published a new piece on its official blog revealing that it will not enable Google Topics in the browser. Google Topics is a component of Google’s Privacy Sandbox; it shifts monitoring from the user level, which is currently fueled primarily by cookies and site data, to the group level.
Google Topics will still evaluate the activity and assign the individual user to groups rather than tracking individual users, their activity, and generating profiles using the collected information. According to Google, the analysis takes place locally. A user who frequently accesses websites about cats or dogs may be assigned to the Animal group. Sites and advertisers may use this information to show the user advertisements that are relevant to their interests.
According to Vivaldi Technologies, it “never had any faith in the Topics API from the beginning,” describing Topics as a “deceptive attempt by Google to appear to be privacy-oriented while introducing new means of spying on their users.” According to Vivaldi, integrating monitoring and profiling into a browser is “fundamentally wrong,” which is why it will always reject it.
The Topics API will never be enabled in the Vivaldi web browser, according to the company. To enable Topics in Vivaldi, two “things” would be required, both of which have been disabled by Vivaldi engineers.
Not all browser developers have been as vocal about their worries as Vivaldi. After multiple delays, Google intends to terminate third-party cookie support in the second half of 2024. After that, all Chromium-based browsers will either enable or disable these features.