Announced back in August 2019, Google originally planned to roll out Privacy Sandbox this year. A year ago, the company pushed back the deadline to the end of 2023 because it needed more time to get things right across the ecosystem. It turns out an extension of one year won’t be enough. The tech biggie is needing even more time to get the tech ready for prime time. According to Google, it released multiple trial versions of Privacy Sandbox over the past several months for developers to test and provide feedback. And, the most consistent feedback it received is that developers need more time to evaluate and test the new technology. As such, the company is expanding the testing window before it starts disabling third-party cookies in Chrome. Google says Privacy Sandbox trials will expand to millions of users globally next month. Users will be able to manage their participation in the trials. The company will gradually cover more people with the new tech throughout this year and into 2023. All this while, it will continue to listen to feedback from users. By the third quarter of 2023, Privacy Sandbox APIs to be widely available in Chrome. And as developers adopt these APIs, Google will begin removing third-party cookies from the browser. The last step is projected to kick off in the second half of 2024. Of course, these timelines may still change as the development progresses. We will keep you posted.
Privacy Sandbox will change how websites track your online activities
You are probably familiar with the term “cookies” that websites use to track your online activities. Cookies help companies create a profile of what you do on the internet. As such, they can serve you targeted ads based on your interests. Google wants to change this system with the Privacy Sandbox initiative. Instead of creating a profile for every user using cookies, it will make groups of multiple users with similar interests. Your profile is hidden inside the groups, preventing websites from tracking you individually while they can still serve you targeted ads. The idea is to add a layer of privacy to your online activities. Hopefully, Google will be able to finally roll out Privacy Sandbox in 2024.
