As the internet becomes a necessary part of our lives, advocates are putting pressure on big corporations like Google to protect users’ privacy. The most significant privacy-based movement was the European Union’s implementation of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), a series of laws that made it illegal to install cookies on a user’s browser without consent. In April 2021, the EU also began formalizing its ePrivacy Regulation, which further expands privacy protections established by the GDPR.
All of this public and legislative pressure has forced Google to figure out a better way to help third-party advertisers deliver targeted ads. FLoC attempts to balance the need for user privacy with digital advertisers’ needs to know enough about you to deliver targeted ads.