UK competition watchdog secures Google commitments on third-party cookies

Google had said its new technology would allow users to receive relevant advertising without being tracked on an individual level. (Reuters)

• Third-party cookies are used by digital advertisers to personalize and target advertising

LONDON: Britain’s competition regulator said on Friday it had secured commitments from Google about the tech giant’s proposal to remove third-party cookies from its Chrome browser.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the commitments were a result of action it launched against the US company in January following concerns that its proposals could restrict competition in digital advertising.
Third-party cookies are used by digital advertisers to personalize and target advertising.
Google had said its new technology — called the Privacy Sandbox — would allow users to receive relevant advertising without being tracked on an individual level.
The company said on Friday it had welcomed the opportunity to work with a regulator on its initiative with the aim of reconciling privacy and competition concerns.
“Today we are offering a set of commitments — the result of many hours of discussions with the CMA and more generally with the broader web community — about how we’ll design and implement the Privacy Sandbox proposals and treat user data in Google’s systems in the years ahead,” the company said in a blog post.
It said there would be no data advantage for Google advertising products under its proposals, and its advertising products or own sites would not have preferential treatment.
The CMA said it would now consult on the commitments.