The Brave browser has recently come forth to object to Google’s FLoC scheme implementations and has stated that its browser will not execute the feature.
What is FLoC?
To the unaware, Federated Learning of Cohorts i.e. FLoC is a privacy-focused solution keen on dispensing targeted ads “by clustering large groups of people with similar interests”. To protect user privacy, accounts are made anonymous and grouped into similar interests.
Google has recently decided to implement the FLoC feature on its browser by talking up the results from early tests simulating transactions “based on the principles defined in Chrome’s FLoC proposal”. Google says it is an “effective replacement signal” for third-party cookies.
Why does Brave oppose Google’s FLoC:
Brave browser’s announcement comes right after DuckDuckGo’s announcement noting that it is also abdicating the new user tracking system implemented by Google.
To further solidify its claims, Brave has already disabled FLoC in its nightly builds for PC and Android with plans to release a stable version with the changes.
Defending its decision to oppose Google’s newest ad targeting policy, Brave has stated that the FLoC feature is in itself user-compromising while masking it as being privacy-friendly.
Also read,
FLoC, as Brave puts it, incorporates peculiar privacy features.
Upon implementation, FLoC will notify its advertisers and sites about a user’s browsing history and surfing behavior, etc.
Such user information is usually not accessible to advertisers and sites.
Brave also states that FLoC jeopardizes advertisers and sites themselves because it will display their targeted audience’s information in a grouped unit to unrelated sites as well. This can entail the potential loss of revenue for small businesses.
Brave has also made statements that blame Google for not prioritizing user policy and misleading users into believing that this a privacy-improving move when that is not the case.
Brave also notes that Google’s nature of only comparing Chrome to the status quo and not to the browsers that do not send cookies or data to any sites at all is inherently misleading and self-serving.
“Run from Chrome!” :
Brave is also opposed to Google’s concept that privacy is “only the absence of cross-site tracking” whereas it should be that no personal data should be exchanged in the first place.
The browser organization is of the opinion that user privacy is more than just the absence of cross-site data tracking which Google primarily implements.
Brave is urging internet users to “run from Chrome” and start using their browser platform that provides better privacy policies compared to Chrome.