This is the endgame of a three-year arc: Apple introduced Intelligent Tracking Prevention in 2017 over the objections of the IAB and other ad trade groups, then extended it in 2018 to cover fingerprinting and tracking via share and like buttons. Each step narrowed what trackers could do inside Safari without ever flipping the default.
Ad networks and measurement vendors lose third-party cookie access across Safari's entire user base immediately, with no consent prompt or opt-out to preserve their existing pipelines.
Google's 2022 Chrome timeline is now a follow-on commitment rather than an industry-leading move, raising pressure on it to accelerate or explain the gap.
Second-order effects
Publishers and ad-tech firms shift spend and identity infrastructure toward first-party data and contextual targeting for Safari traffic, since the trade groups' 2017 request that Apple rethink ITP failed to stop the ratchet.
Chrome's dominant market share becomes the last major reservoir of third-party cookie data, concentrating ad-tech dependence on Google's browser even as Google itself plans to cut it off.
Third-order effects
Browser defaults are becoming the de facto privacy regulator for the web, displacing both self-regulation by ad bodies and slower legislative processes — whoever ships the default defines the standard.
If the pattern holds, privacy becomes a headline browser feature that platforms compete on, pushing the ad industry toward post-cookie identity solutions regardless of what any single regulator mandates.
The trend: Browser makers are converting privacy protections from optional settings into shipping defaults, with Apple forcing the pace and Google's Chrome following on a delayed schedule.
• Every other browser vendor: We're halting updates to give devs the ability to just focus on keeping things running during this COVID-19 outbreak. • Apple: We went ahead and made breaking changes to Safari. Test them now on your premium priced iOS, iPad OS or macOS device. https…
Amazing the number of developers who think “Oh yeah, of course every web page you visit should be a full-fledged app that has permanent storage on your computer” https://ar.al/...
Apple's WebKit will now block 3rd party cookies and delete offline storage after 7 days if you don't visit the site in a week. This basically kills offline web apps and makes me wonder why if it's for privacy the same doesn't happen for iOS apps? 🤔 https://ar.al/...
@rmondello So, nobody fixed this bug that I reported about Twitter's zoom level problem in Safari... It worked fine in 10.15.3, now tweets are collapsed in 10.15.4. https://twitter.com/...
@johnwilander Good update. I would not count a few exceptions as us not “paving the way” by blocking almost all 3p cookies for years, though :-P. Multiple paving jobs along the longer road. Congrats anyway. https://twitter.com/...
Love how Apple Safari thanks Google team for helping them close off a loophole in the same story where we also learn they're dusting Chrome on browser privacy by more than two years. Hat tip. https://www.theverge.com/...
Safari continues its crusade against tracking, denying publishers' ability to fund free access to content and services with ads. Irrespective of the relationship between publishers and their audiences. Abuse of power anyone?! @adexchanger @OSchiffey https://www.adexchanger.com/ .…
Safari now fully blocks third-party cookies by default. This is a significant improvement for privacy since it disables login fingerprinting and brings other additional benefits. https://webkit.org/...
Wow. Cheers! A great win for privacy. “Full third-party cookie blocking makes sure there's no ITP state that can be detected through cookie blocking behavior. We'd like to **again thank Google** for initiating this analysis through their report.” https://webkit.org/...
So Apple just threw the baby out with the bathwater and killed offline web apps (unless you're cool with all your data being deleted if you don't use an app for a week). You'd almost think they had an App Store to promote or something. https://webkit.org/... 🤦♂️
Safari 13.1 shipped for iOS and macOS today with full third-party cookie blocking. It's a big, positive change for privacy on a web. It was previewed for months in Safari Technology Preview and OS betas to help ensure it's a non-disruptive change. https://webkit.org/...