![]() Once a eTLD is classified as having the ability to track a user cross-site, several preventative measures were implemented in ITP version 1.0 and 1.1. ![]() All data collection and classification happens on-device. ![]() According to the WebKit blog, a machine learning model is used to classify which top privately-controlled domains have the ability to track the user cross-site, based on the collected statistics. An example of an eTLD+1 would be .uk, but not .uk (eTLD+2) or co.uk (just eTLD). The statistics are put into buckets per top privately-controlled domain or eTLD+1, shorthand for an "effective Top Level Domain" consisting of a typical base website URL. The ITP function within WebKit collects statistics on web page resource loads as well as user interactions such as "taps, clicks, and text entries". The WebKit open source web browser engine is used by Safari and many other apps on macOS, iOS and Linux. “We will report on our experiences of full third-party cookie blocking to the privacy groups in W3C to help other browsers take the leap.The latest release of Apple's web browser, Safari 12, will provide "Intelligent Tracking Prevention" (ITP) 2.0, which aims to reduce the ability of third-parties to track web users via cookies and other methods. We know Chrome wants this behavior too and they announced that they’ll be shipping it by 2022,” he writes. As far as we know, only the Tor Browser has featured full third-party cookie blocking by default before Safari, but Brave just has a few exceptions left in its blocking so in practice they are in the same good place. “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. But in general, he says Safari is again setting a new bar for web privacy that he and Apple hope other companies will follow. Wilander goes on to detail some other, more technical elements of the ITP update. (Apple had to disable the Do Not Track feature in Safari in 2019 for similar reasons.) We’d like to again thank Google for initiating this analysis through their report,” he writes, referencing Google’s research published earlier this year on ITP that revealed the possibility of using some elements of it as a fingerprint. ![]() “Full third-party cookie blocking makes sure there’s no ITP state that can be detected through cookie blocking behavior. Wilander thanks Google for helping Apple improve ITP He adds that the new feature set also ensures that websites and trackers can’t use login IDs to digitally fingerprint users who might otherwise be using tracking prevention or other privacy tools. In addition to blocking third-party cookies across the board and by default, Wilander says ITP now has safeguards against trackers using the very nature of tracking prevention as a way to keep tabs on users. Alongside the substantial privacy work of Mozilla’s Firefox, which also blocks third-party cookies by default as of last summer, Apple has been pioneering a machine learning approach to web tracking prevention that has made Safari one of the most widely used and secure web tools available. How to use Safari’s tools to protect your privacy while browsing How your browser protects your privacy Advertisers are furious with Apple for new tracking restrictions in Safari 11Īpple first launched ITP within Safari nearly three years ago, where it immediately set a new bar for web privacy standards on both desktop and mobile by blocking some, but not all, cookies by default. But we’ve added so many restrictions to ITP since its initial release in 2017 that we are now at a place where most third-party cookies are already blocked in Safari.” “It might seem like a bigger change than it is. Wilander notes that users might not notice a big change because ITP has been doing this more or less already. This is a significant improvement for privacy since it removes any sense of exceptions or ‘a little bit of cross-site tracking is allowed,’” Wilander notes in the announcement post on the blog for WebKit, which is Apple’s in-house browser engine that powers many of its features under the hood. “Cookies for cross-site resources are now blocked by default across the board. We will report on our experiences of full third-party cookie blocking to the privacy groups in W3C to help other browsers take the leap.- John Wilander March 24, 2020 This update takes several important steps to fight cross-site tracking and make it more safe to browse the web.
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