Announced that WordPress ``automatically invalidates'' Google's new system ``FLoC'', which is criticized as ``worst''

WordPress , an open source blogging software, has taken measures to 'automatically disable' Google's new advertising API ' FLoC ' , which has been criticized as 'worst', as a security concern. Announced.

Proposal: Treat FLoC as a security concern – Make WordPress Core
https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/04/18/proposal-treat-floc-as-a-security-concern/

WordPress to automatically disable Google FLoC on websites
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/wordpress-to-automatically-disable-google-floc-on-websites/

In Internet advertising, a method called ' behavioral targeting ' is generally used to display advertisements in a manner that matches the user's tastes and interests. Behavioral targeting is known to lead to purchases and has very high performance. We have announced that we will phase out third-party cookies by 2022. And what we are trying to introduce as an alternative is 'FLoC'.

FLoC, which stands for 'Federated Learning of Cohorts,' uses machine learning algorithms to analyze website visitor data and create cohorts of thousands of users. . According to a test conducted by Google, targeted advertising using FLoC achieved more than 95% performance of third-party cookies.

What is 'FLoC', a new advertising mechanism without third-party cookies proposed by Google? -GIGAZINE

The reason why FLoC is criticized by the Electronic Frontier Foundation as ``worst'' andOracle is ``trying to solidify its superiority on the pretext of strengthening privacy'' is that users' browsing history and behavior tracking are easily possible. The FLoC issues are detailed below.

Why is 'FLoC' under development by Google 'harmful' and what is the damage caused to users and websites? -GIGAZINE

As mentioned above, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Oracle, Brave, Vivaldi , etc. are openly criticizing FLoC, but WordPress has newly joined the anti-FLoC camp. WordPress plans to automatically block FLoC by inserting the following code into the created website by default.

According to WordPress, while explaining to administrators who want to enable FLoC that they should have the technical know-how to overwrite the above code, there is a possibility of adding a setting to allow FLoC ' commented. The next major version upgrade is WordPress 5.8 scheduled for July 2021, but the function to automatically block FLoC will be implemented in a minor version upgrade that will be released before WordPress 5.8.