How to Find Out If You're Part of the Google FLoC Experiment

With FLoC, Google is on track to disrupt the world of internet advertising as we know it. But before the rest of the world joins in, a handful of Google users are going to be the first to experience it through the FLoC origin trial.

Unfortunately, Google does not really ask users if they are okay with being test subjects. If you're wondering if you should be worried, we have to talk about what the FLoC is actually about.

What Is FLoC?

FLoC or Federated Learning of Cohorts is Google’s attempt to solve the decades-old cookie problem.

With FLoC, the intent is for your user data to be processed within the Google Chrome browser itself and aggregated with other users into a cohort. Supposedly, this method can anonymize users in a way that prevents individual browsing from being pinpointed by advertisers.

While many of us should be happy that cookies are half way out the door, FLoC is not without its share of possible risks and issues. Only time will tell if Google can avoid the pitfalls of algorithmic bias.

But for now, you need to know how to find out if you’re on track to be a FLoC beta tester (even without your consent).

How to Check If You Are A FLoC Beta User

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) created a tool called “Am I FloCed?” that you can use to check if you are part of the 0.5 percent of users included in this experiment.

On your Google Chrome browser, open the website and click Check for FLoC ID.

Your FLoC ID determines whether or not you have already been assigned to a cohort wherein your data is analyzed to interpret things like age, location, interests, or propensity to buy. For the origin trial, beta users are placed into 33,000 possible cohorts using the data from the domains they have visited within the preceding week.

As advertisers eventually lose visibility on several things that cookies used to track, many of them will have to either trust the Google algorithm or move into more controlled environments like Facebook, Twitter, or TikTok.

Since this is a trial, FLoC IDs are likely to change as the algorithm becomes better at grouping similar profiles together. On the other hand, whether these cohorts are ethically grouped or not is something that we’ll still have to wait and see.

What to Do If You’ve Been FLoCed

While FLoC aims to take cookies down for good, it needs to track you with cookies as much as possible before the implementation for all users.

If you are pretty lax with your cookies anyway and don’t mind the possibility of more relevant ads, you can proceed as normal.

However, if you are not comfortable with being a guinea pig for the FLoC experiment, that's okay too.

While there is no outright way to opt-out of the FLoC experiment, you can disable third-party cookies on your Google Chrome browser or use another alternative browser in the meantime. You can also double down on your data decentralization practices.

What’s Next?

That being said, Google Chrome, even with this trial, is still one of the most secure, mainstream browsers out there. It is important to understand that Google Chrome is not the only browser using this method of aggregation. If you also use Safari and Firefox, you are probably already experiencing something similar.

However, whether or not it remains private is up for debate. Unlike Safari and Firefox, Google’s hold over the internet gives it access to data like no other company. As Google commands unbeatable browser usage and ad distribution, it has never been so easy for one company to have sole access to so much information.

source https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-find-out-if-youre-part-of-the-google-floc-experiment/