Google (illustration) -

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Respect privacy while continuing to track… Google has set out to find replacements for "cookies", these tracers that allow the online search giant to sell ultra-personalized advertising space, but which bristle the defenders of privacy. data.

The Californian group is working on an alternative system, supposed to improve respect for privacy while allowing brands to continue to target the audience they want.

"This approach hides individuals 'in the crowd' and uses the computing of the device to keep a person's history private in the browser," Chetna Bindra, Product Manager, explained during the month's presentation. last of this system called Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC).

Instead of targeting Internet users individually, advertisers will target audience segments - the “FLoCs” - comprising hundreds or thousands of people.

Google will define these segments based on user navigation.

Testing FLoCs

Google plans to start testing FLoCs with brands on its Chrome browser within the year.

“The results (of our studies) show that FLoCs are effective in generating audiences based on user interests and therefore replacing cookies,” continued Chetna Bindra.

"Advertising is essential to keep the web open to everyone, but the web ecosystem is at risk if data privacy practices are no longer aligned with expectations."

The Mountain View, Silicon Valley company is widely criticized by Western authorities and digital rights NGOs over the issue of user privacy.

Purely utility cookies

The growing disgust with cookies, synonymous with continuous tracking, was part of Brussels' motivations when MEPs voted for the European Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which guarantees users certain rights over their data ( how they are collected and used, for commercial purposes or not).

California has followed suit with the old continent with the "California Consumer Privacy Act" (CCPA), a similar text in force for over a year.

Google, which dominates the global digital advertising market, therefore has every interest in finding a way to reassure public opinion while satisfying advertisers anxious not to send their messages in a vacuum.

Some cookies fulfill a purely utilitarian role.

Each time a user arrives on a page that asks for their contact details, if they are displayed directly in the windows, it is thanks to these small text files which collect data as they navigate.

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