Google’s changing the privacy game, but its not “real privacy” and you’re likely not to benefit. YOU are still the product, but instead of selling YOU personally, they’re going to be selling your in a FloC or Cohort. You still have no control over what cohort they put you in or how that will be used.
“Here’s the big change: Google currently uses third-party cookies to make more-relevant ads. The company is doing away with that in favor of a new system called Federated Learning of Cohorts, or FLoC.
Google’s FLoC replaces these individual identifiers with a system that puts users into groups, or cohorts, based on common interests. The company’s Chrome browser will track sites visited, the content there and other information. But that data will be kept on users’ devices. Only the information about the larger groups will be shared for advertising.
The company will try to avoid sensitive categories such as race and sexuality. If a FLoC starts to mirror one of these categories, the system is designed to spot this and reconfigure it. Users can also opt out.
Still, not everyone loves FLoC. The proposal has been roundly criticized by privacy advocates, many in the digital ad industry and even some on Wall Street. These people don’t agree on much, so it pays to listen when they do. “
