Safari eliminates third-party cookies

Cookies! © iStock.

The new versions of Safari for all platforms (macOS, iPadOS, iOS) will block third-party cookies by default. This means that when you use Safari, no advertiser or website is able to follow you around the internet using the commonplace tracking technology. Of course, this is a nightmare for marketing and advertising professionals, but there have been so many abuses and violations of privacy that something drastic needed to be done. “Safari continues to pave the way for privacy on the web, this time as the first mainstream browser to fully block third-party cookies by default,” said John Wilander, WebKit Security & Privacy Engineer. Since cookie blocking can also hamper legitimate uses, like authenticating users across sites through a central server, Apple recommends using the Storage Access API for this purpose. Google, whose business model is anchored in advertising, was more cautious, announcing in January that Chrome would start phasing out third-party cookies but not fully until sometime in 2022. Hopefully, Apple’s move will shorten Google’s timeline.

⇨ WebKit, John Wilander, “Full third-party cookie blocking and more.”

⇨ The Verge, Nick Statt, “Apple updates Safari’s anti-tracking tech with full third-party cookie blocking.”