In the previous several days, Google has released a number of announcements. The company has been in the news for its recent announcements, which include the AI-powered Google search experience, setting passkeys as the default sign-in option, and making the discovery feed available to desktop users. Furthermore, the tech behemoth announced that it would soon do away with the requirement to allow third-party cookies to download files using Google Drive.
Currently, in order to download files from Google Drive, users must allow third-party cookies in their browsers. However, this is about to change. Continue reading to learn about Google’s latest announcement and how using Google Drive on a daily basis may be affected.
Google Drive to not require third-party cookies
“Starting January 2, 2024, Drive will start serving downloads without requiring third-party cookies,” Google reportedly stated in an update, as reported by IANS. Furthermore, you must transition to the Drive and Docs publishing flows by January 2 if you are working on projects that depend on Google Drive’s download URLs or use an app that does.
“For Workspace files (Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms file types) use the Google Docs publishing URL of the file,” the business stated in reference to the same.
This move will impact users of Google Workspace as well as those with personal Google accounts.
Although Google does not state in its blog post why Google Drive now employs third-party cookies, there is conjecture that this is because, as a security precaution, the service hosts user-uploaded content on a different domain (googleusercontent.com). Next, the cookies are used to confirm that you are authorized to download a specific file.
Other search engine manufacturers, such as Apple and Mozilla, currently do not require third-party cookies in order to download content. By default, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari both prohibit third-party cookies. The goal of this is to improve users’ internet security and safety.
For those who are unaware, cookies are little files that are used by various websites to monitor your preferences and online activities. While these cookies can make browsing easier, they may also cause privacy issues.
Google announces passkeys as default sign-in
Recently, Google said that passkeys would be the standard method of authentication for all user accounts on all of its platforms and services. This implies that you can access your Google accounts without typing a password or utilizing 2-Step Verification (2SV) when you’ve set up a passkey associated with a gadget.
According to the company, passkeys are a simple and secure substitute for standard passwords. Google first released passkeys in May 2022, and in October of the same year, they were integrated into Chrome and Android OS. Google had expanded support for passkeys to individual Google accounts by May 2023. It should be noted that passkeys are compatible with Windows, macOS, iOS, and ChromeOS, among other common operating systems and web browsers.