Google is met with yet another complaint from German publishers on their new alternative towards third-party cookies
German publishers have raised a complaint with the EU antitrust on Google and its “Privacy Sandbox.” The Privacy Sandbox will end support for third-party cookies on Google Chrome and replace it with a more privacy-respecting alternative.
This complaint was submitted to the bloc’s competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, stating that this plan will breach the EU competition law. This is not the first time the Privacy Sandbox has been under scrutiny, and previous complaints have already delayed its implementation. However, it is set to be implemented in January 2023.
Google’s way forward
Recently, Google announced that if a single country accepts the Privacy Sandbox, it will be applied globally. This was met with further disagreements and a 108-page complaint. Currently, Google has two open antitrust investigations against them by Germany’s Federal Cartel Office.
For now, Google needs to deal with all these antitrust complaints before they can even start considering implementing the new plan. Google has even taken to Twitter to defend themselves, stating that the new plan will not interfere with how publishers use their customers’ information from their own sites. Google believes that people want privacy and don’t want to be tracked by third parties that they don’t know about or cannot see.
Google is also leveraging EU laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation to support their case and highlight the inefficiency of cookie consent forms on websites.
That being said, Google still needs to get done with the standing cases before implementing. Only time will tell whether the Privacy Sandbox plan will be accepted or if it will be a constant back and forth of lawsuits and complaints against the global giant.
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