- Bagnaia eyeing summit on home ground in 100th MotoGP
- 'Something was wrong', defendant in French mass rape tells court
- Hezbollah chief admits 'unprecedented' blow in device blasts
- Sales of US existing homes slip slightly in August
- Fear, panic haunt Lebanese after devices explode
- Labuschagne sparks Australia fightback in England ODI opener
- S.Africa's HIV research power couple says fight goes on
- Why is Israel focusing on border with Lebanon?
- Mpox vaccines administered in Rwanda, first in Africa
- US Fed rate cut is 'very positive sign' for economy: Yellen
- Unknown Mozart string trio discovered in Germany
- 'Are we five-year-olds?' F1 drivers won't mind their language
- Brazil judge orders X to reimpose block or face hefty fine
- Munich to rename stadium street after Beckenbauer
- Champions Italy to face Argentina in Davis Cup Final 8
- The winding, fitful path to weight loss drug Ozempic
- Italians defeat American Magic to reach Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Norris has 'nothing to lose' as he hunts Verstappen in Singapore
- Kyiv 'outraged' at Swiss showing of Russian war film
- French city renames Abbe Pierre square after abuse claims
- Footballer charged after huge cannabis seizure at UK airport
- Vatican recognises Medjugorje shrine, but not Virgin's messages
- Israel bombs Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon after wave of deadly blasts
- Bank of England freezes rate after jumbo US cut
- Playing Nadal is 'kind of a nightmare', says Alcaraz
- Portugal tackles last of deadly northern forest fires
- Ton-up Ashwin lifts India to 339-6 against Bangladesh
- Departing NATO chief warns US against 'isolationism'
- Coming winter 'sternest test yet' for Ukraine energy grid
- Evacuations as tail of Storm Boris floods northeast Italy
- Lebanon's Hezbollah reeling after second wave of deadly blasts
- Taiwan recognises same-sex marriages between Chinese, Taiwanese
- Stock markets rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Gabon's ousted leader Bongo says renouncing politics for good
- Lebanon device blasts: what we know about deadly attacks
- Equity markets rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Late Harrods owner Al-Fayed accused of rape: BBC
- Hong Kong man sentenced 14 months for wearing 'seditious' T-shirt
- Lebanon's Hezbollah in disarray after second wave of deadly blasts
- Equity markets, yen rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Meta and Spotify blast EU decisions on AI
- Hasan takes three as Bangladesh rattle India in first Test
- Two killed during police operation in New Caledonia
- Flood-hit region leaders to meet in Poland to discuss EU aid
- Sri Lanka to vote in first poll since economic collapse
- Hong Kong probe finds Cathay Airbus defect could cause 'extensive' damage
- AI development cannot be left to market whim, UN experts warn
- All Blacks primed for 'hell' of a Wallabies clash
- Japan firm says no longer makes radio reportedly used in Lebanon blasts
- Zoom fatigue? Try some nature in your background: study
Google pushes new plan to overhaul web-tracking cookies
Google on Tuesday announced a new plan to stop using small files known as cookies to track people's web browsing habits, after its previous proposals were roundly criticised.
US tech giants are under huge pressure to overhaul the way they collect data -- Google was fined 150 million euros ($169 million) by France earlier this month over its cookie policies.
Privacy campaigners have pushed hard against the use of cookies, which transmit users' information often to dozens of companies each time they visit a website.
But the files form the backbone of the online advertising industry that has proved hugely profitable for Google and their customers.
The company said on Tuesday it would trial a new system called "Topics", which it said would protect privacy while continuing to allow targeted advertising.
Chrome users will still be tracked and the websites they visit and advertising partners will be given three topics -- broad themes supposed to correspond to their interests -- based on the user's browsing history.
However, the firm said the process of generating topics would take place entirely on the user's device -- even Google itself will not have access.
Advertisers will only be able to retain the topics for three weeks, and Chrome users will have the option of opting out entirely.
"Topics" replaces an earlier idea floated by Google called "Federated Learning of Cohorts", which caused consternation among advertisers and the media industry.
Critics said the FLoC system would allow Google to hoard user data for itself and cut third parties out of the loop.
"Topics was informed by our learning and widespread community feedback from our earlier FLoC trials, and replaces our FLoC proposal," said senior Google official Vinay Goel.
Internet companies have faced stricter rules since the EU passed a massive data privacy law in 2018 obliging firms to seek direct consent of users before installing cookies on their computers.
Privacy campaigners have filed hundreds of complaints against companies including Google and Facebook arguing that they make it much easier to opt in than to opt out.
D.Schneider--BTB