Google is known for wanting to know as much as possible data about its users so those pieces of information can be worth more when selling. That is what FLoC, their new idea, basically does: they are trying to replace cookies with a new thing so they can go around regulations, especially in the EU. FLoC makes your profile by taking into account the websites you visit.

Basically, Google knows cookies and tracking users is in a bad state right now and they are trying new ways to track users because the internet would be a boring place without tracking users, right?

You can read more about FLoC but basically, this is a bad thing. We have to take bold stances and do whatever we can to protect our privacy. Do you know that option in your browsers, “do not allow trackers to track me”? Well, 99% of the advertisement companies ignore that. But still, if you want that you should do your part and let the authorities do their job. Try extra steps, like using Firefox instead of Chrome and enable “Containers” mode, so when you visit sites like Facebook you are in a container and FB does not know much of your internet activity anymore. And btw, if you ask me, Firefox is net superior to Chrome.

One bold stance I’ve recently seen is a decision on WordPress Core – Treat FLoC as a security concern. By treating it as a security concern, the header required for Google to ignore the site in FLoC data would be added to WordPress by default, and users that want it removed can simply remove it. And because it is a security concern, old WordPress versions would get this too, mostly because minor updates are automatically installed.

Protect your privacy, not because you’re doing super secret stuff and the government should not know about those, but because you bring big tech companies a lot of money by simply living your life and I think this is not fair. I’d rather see less relevant ads, because ads would not disappear, instead of creeping out when I see that I’ve looked at a certain office chair and now ALL I SEE IS DESK CHAIRS ADD. This is so annoying and not normal.